Sainz Jr.’s sponsor ‘concerned’ about corona crisis

Carlos Sainz Jr

(GMM) The CEO of Carlos Sainz Jr.'s personal sponsor, Spanish beer brand Estrella Galicia, has admitted he is "concerned" about the coronavirus crisis.

CEO Ignacio Rivera's warning comes amid a flurry of concerning reports about the potential financial impact of the sport's shutdown for the pandemic.

"We live the situation with great concern," he is quoted by EFE news agency.

"This is a bomb that has fallen and could affect everything. We are waiting for the road map, but we do not have it yet.

"Our philosophy is to continue helping and supporting sport and culture, but obviously we can run out of income."

Rivera insisted that the beer brand wants to continue to sponsor Sainz and other athletes.

"We have great lines of sponsorship that we have maintained for many years and of course we are not going to abandon that," he said.

"What we do need to understand is how it will change.

"Before, many guests gathered in the paddock all together, enjoying the races – is that going to be possible now? If the answer is no, we will have to reinvent the best way of being in the world of sponsorship.

"Our intention is to continue to invest but by reinventing ourselves," Rivera added.

"We do not know how Formula 1 will evolve or even how many races there will be, if there are two per circuit instead of one, and it's the same for motorcycles.

"What is going to happen? Nobody knows at the moment. I continue to have contact with the clubs and athletes who we sponsor and they are frankly concerned about their careers – their way of earning a living," he said.

"Hopefully we can control this and return to something similar to what we had."