The Tata Group will temporarily increase its sponsorship commitment to Narain Karthikeyan and the HRT F1 team he races for by getting its beverage arm to sponsor them for the Singapore and Indian Grands Prix through its tea brand.
Tata Motors is already a sponsor for Karthikeyan and the
team and entered into a technical partnership at the beginning of this year.
"It is great news that Tata Beverages has joined not only Narain's image but also that of the team for two very important Grands Prix such as Singapore and India," said HRT F1 team principal Luis Perez Sala.
The move is in line with Indian corporates' involvement in F1 in the run up to and during the Indian GP weekend. Telecom major Airtel is the most visible amongst these, not just through its sponsorship of the race, but through its tie-up with the Mercedes AMG team that features Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.
Big Bazaar, Amul and Hero Motors were also amongst the Indian corporate bigwigs that bought advertising space on various F1 teams for last year's event.
"The Tata Group has supported me since my early days of competition so it is great to be associated with yet another world-class brand," said Karthikeyan.
The company first sponsored Karthikeyan when he raced in the British Formula 3 Championship from 1998 to 2000 and stuck with him during his four years away from F1 before the 2011 season.