How Jackie brought
banking to F1

There aren't many people who know more about the business side of Formula One than Jackie Stewart. Back when he was winning grands prix, F1 was a sport in every sense; no one had considered the vast amounts of money that could be made by pinning corporate colours to the cars. This all changed, however, with the arrival of the canny Scot.

"When I got into the 'big time', in the late-Sixties," he says, "it was the first time that commercialism really came into Formula One. For example the famous Gold Leaf Team Lotus appeared at the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami in 1968."

Stewart had already tuned into the potential of commercial involvement way before this, though. Even as far back as 1964, a young Jackie had forged a relationship with Ford, which was to last 40 years.

And this was only the tip of the iceberg. While on his way to the top of the motor racing tree, the flying Scot signed contracts with various big-name brands, including Goodyear (for 17 years), Rolex (36 years), Elf (13 years) and Möet et Chandon champagne (Jackie was the first F1 driver ever to spray the stuff on the podium).

The legacy of all this experience meant that Jackie was quite at home dealing with board-level executives and CEOs. When he retired from racing in 1973, he continued his association by creating Paul Stewart Racing in 1988 (named after son Paul), and then the eponymous Stewart Grand Prix team in 1997. Jackie was instrumental in securing the necessary backing for this venture, introducing brands such as HSBC and Hewlett-Packard as commercial sponsors.

Although Jackie sold Stewart Grand Prix to Jaguar for the start of the 2000 season, he was still very much involved in the sport via his corporate partners and retained a high profile. Stewart's commercial relationship with HSBC, via Stewart Grand Prix, proved to have a seminal effect in arousing other banking brands to the huge benefits from being involved in the sport.

It was around this time that RBS group Chief Executive Sir Fred Goodwin approached Stewart with a view to forging a relationship with the Scottish bank. As a Scot who had a worldwide reputation, Jackie was an ideal candidate to help increase RBS's global profile. Although initially there was no intention for RBS to get involved in F1, as the world's fifth-largest bank, Stewart eventually convinced the company's powers-that-be that F1 was the best platform to increase its global presence.

It was out of this that the tie-up with the BMW AT&T Williams team came about. "It's logical that RBS should have a large presence in a sport like Formula One," says Jackie. "The bank is one of the largest corporate lenders in the world right now. They're probably the largest in aircraft leasing and ship lending, for example."

Aside from this, RBS is also involved in large construction projects, like Sydney airport in Australia, which makes them an obvious port of call for potential race circuit constructors.

"If there was to be a public-private partnership in the creation of a new circuit facility," says Jackie, "then I think that RBS would be a good candidate for funding that."

As someone who has been involved in the commercial growth of F1 right from the outset, Stewart is the ultimate brand ambassador for RBS. Jackie has seen the nature of the business change radically over the years, particularly over recent years with the departure of tobacco advertising, and his unique blend of sporting pedigree and entrepreneurial acumen are unparalleled anywhere else in motorsport. It's no wonder that people are so willing to listen to him.