Pink Bull’s first occasion of the yr noticed its 2026 challenger revealed in Detroit because the outfit celebrated its partnership with Ford. Whereas the main target was on the Blue Oval, it was a conspicuously Apple-flavoured manufacturing, with “Shot on iPhone” branding and different merchandise showing all through the stream.
With each Max Verstappen and new team-mate Isack Hadjar becoming a member of the Milton Keynes outfit at Michigan Central Station, the afternoon formally started the Pink Bull Powertrains period, with its new energy unit, the DM01, being unveiled to viewers. However to the shock of some, the present additionally leant into Apple {hardware}.
The know-how firm secured broadcasting rights for the USA beginning this yr, so with the occasion celebrating the staff’s new relationship with the American marque, it additionally selected this time to have a good time System 1’s new partnership with its American broadcaster.
This meant the stream was filmed completely on the Apple iPhone, and later within the day, Apple turned a big a part of its energy unit reveal. Callum Nicholas, Pink Bull engineer-turned-ambassador, used an Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional headset to just about reveal the brand new powertrain named after the late Dietrich Mateschitz. With the shortage of any ‘sponsored’ label, it hints that related know-how could possibly be utilized in different automotive and livery reveals, too.
Apple is clearly positioning itself as a serious know-how participant for the championship, with the corporate not solely taking on broadcasting rights, but additionally providing know-how and merchandise to help in all aspects of its media output.
Isack Hadjar, Pink Bull Racing, Max Verstappen, Pink Bull Racing, Laurent Mekies, Pink Bull Racing Crew Principal
Picture by: Pink Bull Content material Pool
In an analogous vein, Apple additionally assisted within the manufacturing of the profitable F1 film, with the corporate aiding within the improvement of digital camera know-how to higher seize angles from the automobiles themselves.
“We’ve had, over the course of creating the film, from the groups, the drivers, the followers, this cutting-edge know-how, the innovation, the whole lot about it, we expect is an ideal marriage of Apple TV and System 1 being the unique supplier,” Apple’s senior vice chairman of providers Eddy Cue teased in October of final yr.
“We’re very excited concerning the plans that we now have to raise this. We have a variety of nice concepts that we will work on collectively, and I feel we will make this a tremendous, transformative yr for System 1 and Liberty in 2026 so thanks Stefano [Domenicali] and thanks Ian [Holmes] and the remainder of the F1 staff.”
The broadcaster added that there are “AR and VR alternatives” that it wish to discover, in addition to 360-degree choices.
It is protected to say that Apple goes to embed itself as deeply as it might probably this yr.
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