F1 News: Ferrari's Ex-Crypto Sponsor Considering Legal Action Against Team

It was previously announced that Ferrari and Velas will not be continuing their partnership as well as chip semi-conductor company Snapdragon. It has now been revealed that both Ferrari and Velas are considering taking legal action against each other.

Decal Spotters posted to Twitter on the 2nd January

"#SponsorWatch: Velas and Snapdragon have been removed from @ScuderiaFerrari's list of partners. Ferrari announced a long-term partnership with Velas at the end of 2021 - and a strategic partnership with Snapdragon at the start of 2022."

Decal Spotters have now posted a further update on this stating that both Velas and Ferrari are looking to take legal action on one another. They wrote:

"UPDATE: According to @RacingLines, Ferrari did not comply with clauses that permit Velas to create NFT images, while the latter is said to be in financial breach - with both parties contemplating legal action. Meanwhile, Snapdragon is likely to move to another team in Formula 1."

UPDATE: According to @RacingLines, Ferrari did not comply with clauses that permit Velas to create NFT images, while the latter is said to be in financial breach - with both parties contemplating legal action.

Meanwhile, Snapdragon is likely to move to another team in Formula 1. https://t.co/jFmMnY6qq1
— Decalspotters (@decalspotters) January 3, 2023

Ferrari's partnership with Velas began towards the end of 2021 and now according to RacingNews365, a source close to both companies claims Ferrari did not comply with the clause that would have allowed Velas to create NFT images, and Velas is thought to be in financial breach.

It is rumoured that the teams deal ending with Snapdragon is mutual and a formal statement is expected soon.

The loss of these two sponsors leaves Ferrari with an estimated $55 million loss in their sponsor portfolio which they will be trying to replace.

This comes after Mercedes and FTX ended their partnership when FTX filed for bankruptcy and AlphaTauri have removed ICM.com and Fantom from their sponsors list.

There are still a large amount of crypto sponsors throughout the F1 grid, however, these seem to be on the decline with news like this becoming more frequent. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said at the time of removing FTX that he thinks every team will be affected in the same way. He explained:

"Every team has sponsors like that, and so does the Formula 1 organization as such. So everyone would be affected."