Scuderia Ferrari HP has signed a multi-year global partnership with Rakuten that will begin on 1 January 2027.
Rakuten will become a Team Partner in the telecommunications and e-commerce categories. The companies announced the agreement on 17 September 2026 but did not disclose its financial value, exact duration or the complete rights package.
Branding across the Formula 1 operation
Rakuten says its branding will appear on Ferrari’s Formula 1 cars, driver clothing and the team environment. The announcement does not identify the precise positions, the races at which assets will first appear or whether the inventory changes during the agreement.
The partnership will also explore activity across Rakuten’s wider digital ecosystem. The company specifically names e-commerce and Rakuten Symphony, its telecommunications and enterprise technology business, as areas that may use Formula 1 to develop business relationships and demonstrate technical capabilities.
Those projects remain prospective. Neither partner has announced a consumer product, technology deployment, e-commerce service or implementation timetable linked to the agreement.
Commercial and technology categories combined
The structure gives Ferrari a partner spanning consumer commerce, communications technology, financial services and digital membership. Rakuten says the agreement will create opportunities for business engagement and cross-industry innovation, while Ferrari describes the company’s digital ecosystem as a route to create value beyond the circuit.
Those statements are the partners’ objectives rather than measured outcomes. No audience targets, sales commitments, customer-acquisition goals or technical performance measures were published.
Rakuten says it is the first Japanese company to join Ferrari in the telecommunications and e-commerce partner categories. The claim is limited to those categories and should not be read as Ferrari’s first partnership with a Japanese business.
Scope will become clearer in 2027
The confirmed agreement combines sponsorship visibility with a proposed business-to-business and technology programme. Its scale will depend on the branding, digital services, commercial activity and partner integrations delivered after the start date.
Until those assets are detailed, the material development is a new multi-year Ferrari partner with rights across two categories and a defined effective date. The partners have not claimed that Rakuten will supply a competition component or influence the design or operation of the Formula 1 car.