German F1 fans, particularly those from the city of Wuppertal, couldn’t believe their eyes on Sunday as they watched this year’s Monaco Grand Prix. Why? The word “Wuppertal” was emblazoned across the rear spoiler of the F1 cars belonging to Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, who finished first and second respectively at the F1 race of the year. The man who made it all possible is 41-year-old German businessman Thomas Riedel. The head of Riedel Communications used his top connections in the F1 world to land the massive media coup and support his hometown of Wuppertal. “The deal came about through the delivery contract we have with Brawn GP,” explains Riedel, who has been working in F1 since 1993 and is responsible for radio and data communication between the pits, the drivers and the factories, where data from the race is analysed in real time. “The advertising wouldn’t have been of any use to our company, so that’s why we decided to use the Wuppertal logo. After all, anything that is good for Wuppertal is also good for us!”

Nobody in the city had been informed of the deal prior to the Grand Prix, but since Sunday Riedel’s phone has been ringing off the hook. However, there will be no repeat of the eye-catching marketing coup: “It was a one-off thing that was only possible during this special phase of Team Brawn,” explains Riedel.

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