Dutch supermarket company Jumbo will no longer be Max Verstappen’s biggest personal sponsor, according to the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper.
The double world champion has been supported by the grocery chain since he switched from Toro Rosso to Red Bull in 2016, and his success at the pinnacle of motorsport has been a benefit for the business.
The owner and former CEO of Jumbo, Fritz van Eerd, was recently involved in a money laundering controversy, and the supermarket’s new CEO decided to stay away from the world of motorsport.
Almost all of Jumbo’s sports sponsorships were terminated after the incident, with the exception of their agreement with the two-time World Champion. However, according to reports, Verstappen’s sponsorship with Jumbo will also come to an end at the end of 2023.
The company has ended its relationship as Verstappen’s personal sponsor as a result of the incident, which led new CEO Ton van Veen to acknowledge that the business needs to expand outside sports sponsorships.
“Max is of course a folk hero, but he acts on the absolute world stage,” said van Veen. “We are a very good food retailer, but only in the Netherlands and a little bit in Belgium.
“We invest more than 20 million euros annually in sports sponsorship, but I can only spend every euro once… We cannot return the money that goes to Max to the customer, or put it into sustainability or health.”
Van Veen is anxious for the company to end its tenure as a motorsport sponsor because the criminal inquiry into the former Jumbo CEO does, alarmingly, involve the supermarket’s motorsport contracts.
“We want nothing to do with motorsport and the allegations,” van Veen confirmed. “But with Max Verstappen and (cycling team) Jumbo-Visma, we’re stopping for a completely different reason.
“That sponsorship has brought us a lot of brand awareness, but we have now won everything there is to win.”
Verstappen has recently partnered with EA Sports, whose logo is now displayed on his helmet, so it won’t be difficult for him to find a new personal sponsor given the level of success he has seen lately.
