Red Bull Racing to Close Out a Successful F1 Season with Azuki NFT Emblazoned on both Drivers’ Cars

The last Formula 1 race of the season will be held in Abu Dhabi, and Max and Checo will be driving two of Red Bull Racing's cars with the Azuki #8494 painted on the side. The action advances the intellectual property of Azuki #8494, which is currently up for auction on OpenSea with 13.8 WETH ($16,716).

In the constructor standings, Red Bull Racing won the F1 season, and Max Verstappen finished first in the drivers' standings for the second straight year. The team's vehicles will have an NFT on their livery in what is being described as a first in F1 as the curtain call for the 2022 racing season comes on Nov. 20 in Abu Dhabi.

In February 2022, Red Bull Racing announced a partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Bybit as a primary team partner, becoming one of only a few cryptocurrency companies to sponsor Formula 1 teams. Lei the Lightning Azuki, an NFT artwork and character from the anime-inspired Azuki collection, will appear alongside the exchange's logo.

Bybit will also start minting "Lei the Lightning Azuki" NFTs on the Tezos blockchain. On November 20, the 8,494 NFTs will be available to mint for free, and Lei's tale will "unfold" during the F1 2023 season, according to text on the Bybit website,

Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bulls Racing, emphasized the partnership's ongoing investigation of Web3 use cases in a statement. He said: 

“In many ways, it’s been an eye opener for us to the vast opportunities Web3 has to offer. This unique project is the perfect combination of creativity, innovation, and passion which matches our ethos on the track.”

Additionally, Formula 1 submitted a number of trademark applications in October 2022, indicating that it intends to fully control the intellectual property in the cryptocurrency industry as a whole.