Listen to this article F1 is currently enjoying a surge in interest across the world, aided by the success of the Netflix Drive to Survive series and expansion in markets such as the United States. A number of teams have been reporting new commercial deals over the winter and adding new partners to their portfolio. Off the back of Max Verstappen’s title win last year, Red Bull has struck sizeable deals with US tech giant Oracle and crypto company Bybit, while Ferrari has welcomed two new major partners in Santander and Velas. Alfa Romeo has also been prolific in announcing new deals throughout the winter, linking up with over a dozen new partners since the end of last season. The team also enjoyed a boost thanks to the backing brought by new signing Guanyu Zhou, who becomes China’s first full-time F1 driver this year. Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur felt the influx of new commercial deals for F1 teams was proof of the growing interest around the series, making it attractive for businesses to get involved. “It’s a combination [of things] but the hype around F1 is mega,” said Vasseur. “We saw it last year at different events, we had the biggest …