Good morning.
I experienced my first Formula 1 in Las Vegas this past weekend, thanks to an invitation from HP CEO Enrique Lores to moderate a series of conversations with him, CEO attendees and the drivers of the Scuderia Ferrari HP Formula 1 team: Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc, who placed third and fourth respectively. (When I asked Sainz and Leclerc to describe each other’s strengths, I got the sense that Sainz was a smoother driver while Leclerc took more risks, though it was hard to tell as they ribbed each other.)
Lores says HP became the team’s title sponsor earlier this year because of the sport’s 10-month season and reliance on technology: Ferrari’s F1 team has 1,600 people who measure success a thousandth of a second at a time. Ferrari now deploys some HP technology and services as part of the partnership. As Lores put it: “We both have these brands with a long history of innovation.”
It helps, of course, that F1 has become more popular with U.S. audiences following a Netflix series, new movies, an expanding F1 Arcade franchise, celebrity investors and crossover stars like Lewis Hamilton, who will join the Ferrari team next season, displacing Sainz. Along with the drivers and cars being literal billboards for a range of brands, F1 is often a loss leader for car manufacturers that want to wow elite customers.
Few are more prestigious than Ferrari, which sells cars that can average $750,000 and have a two-year waiting list to receive. I recently spoke with Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna, who spoke about the company like one speaks about family. Vigna compares Ferrari to “a compressed spring with a lot of energy,” with “a team that has this passion, sense of belonging, determination, and grit.” While some customers are “more in love with motorsports—in the U.S., Italy, Germany, UK, and Japan,” Vigna adds, clients in South Korea or the Middle East are more drawn to luxury and lifestyle.
The same might be said of HP, which is trying to take pole position in a fast-changing future of work where people print less but its AI computers could mean a lot more. How it’s doing on that front will become clearer when HP reports its 4th quarter earnings tomorrow. And having a high-profile sponsorship of a fast-growing sport can’t hurt. As Lores joked when handing Sainz and Leclerc two computers, he might not know their favorite track but “I do know your new favorite computer.”
More news below.
Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
Follow on LinkedIn
TOP NEWS
Billionaire hedge fund manager warns of tariffs
Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin said last week that he is “gravely concerned that the rise of tariffs puts us on a slippery slope towards crony capitalism.” The billionaire hedge fund manager is worried that America will become less competitive and see significantly more lobbying as a result. Fortune
Trump taps Scott Bessent for Treasury
President-elect Donald Trump tapped Scott Bessent, founder of Key Square Capital Management, as his Treasury secretary. Bessent previously served as chief investment officer of George Soros’ family office before starting Key Capital, which managed $5.1 billion assets at its peak in 2017. Fortune
Musk takes aim at Pentagon’s costliest weapons program
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is also co-head of the new Department of Government Efficiency that is advising President-elect Donald Trump, called out the F-35 stealth fighter on Sunday while endorsing drones over jets piloted by humans. Fortune
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
Inside a Fortune 500 CEO’s manic plan to escape the U.S. ‘death tax’: ‘It’s not that I’m selfish for myself’ by Lila MacLellan
Most Gen Zers are terrified of AI taking their jobs. Their bosses consider themselves immune by Chloe Berger
2025 is set to bring a ‘manager crash’ as burnout and lack of support reach a breaking point by Jane Thier
SoulCycle CEO swears by these 5 morning habits—including the occasional Popeyes sandwich by Alexa Mikhail
Yieldstreet seeks $75-$100 million in new funding as the investment platform weighs sale by Luisa Beltran
EVs and their ‘innate feeling of luxury’ will create a ‘new type of premium,’ says Kia’s top designer by Lionel Lim
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are launching a DOGE podcast by Chris Morris
This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Joey Abrams.
