Some deals are done direct by F1 commercial director Brandon Snow or the teams’ commercial departments, but many come in through agencies that then help the sponsoring brand to activate its sponsorship through hospitality or PR and content programmes. One of the largest agencies in motorsport is CSM, headed by David Webb.
Webb’s route to F1 was unconventional. He was in the British Army for 10 years, leaving with the rank of Captain. His first civilian job was as assistant to Sir Jackie Stewart for two years, during the Stewart Grand Prix years. Webb moved into the account management side of the team, which was acquired by Jaguar Racing. The team was subsequently bought by Red Bull and is the Red Bull Racing team we know today. David was headhunted to manage Royal Bank of Scotland’s F1 sponsorship with Williams and all their other sports sponsorships. Zak Brown brought Webb in to run the international side of his JMI Business and when that business was taken over by Seb Coe’s CSM sports marketing business and Brown left to run McLaren, Webb took over management of CSM’s motorsport business.
