Vodafone to be McLaren's title sponsor

The deal will begin in 2007 and will last into the next decade.

The team will be known as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, and the Vodafone branding will be highly visible on the cars, drivers' and pit crews' overalls and other ancillary elements.

"We are excited about this new phase of involvement in motor racing," said Vodafone CEO Peter Bamford. "As Title Sponsor of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team it raises our association with Formula One to the ultimate level.

"The new agreement delivers a fantastic marketing platform; the associative rights we acquire as a result of this new sponsorship provide us with additional opportunities to continue to raise brand awareness, build brand preference and drive revenue. It will also provide our customers with unique and exciting content through Vodafone live! with 3G."

McLaren chief Ron Dennis added: "This is only the third time for more than 30 years that the opportunity to become the team's Title Sponsor has existed.  The status of the brand and the level of activation in support of the sponsorship were key criteria for our choice of Title Sponsor and Vodafone over-delivers in all respects.

"In addition, as our agreement is long-term, this provides important stability within the Team, allowing us to focus fully on our objective of winning races and Championships together. We are delighted to welcome Vodafone to the team and look forward to many future successes."

Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone company by revenue, said earlier this month it was reviewing its sponsorship deal with the Ferrari team. The deal was valued by newspapers at about $40 million a year.

Vodafone's deal with Ferrari runs until the end of 2006.

Vodafone made its first appereance in F1 with the Benetton team in 2001 before joining Ferrari in 2002 after lengthy negotiations with several F1 teams.

The company's negotiations with McLaren, among others, were revealed in a court case between Jordan Grand Prix and Vodafone.