Inside Max Verstappen’s water cooler is a story of a firm who are now key to F1

Oracle Red Bull Racing partner Yeti says it's "super humbling" to have played a part in Max Verstappen securing his fourth-straight Formula One World Championship in Las Vegas last Sunday, with the American company initially brought into the fold in 2022 to assist with sustainability efforts at the squad's Milton Keynes base.

The reigning World Champions have since worked on a number of projects with the legendary cooler maker, going well beyond the original request for reusable products to eliminate waste on its campuses – and it's a huge source of pride for the over 1000-strong multinational company headquartered in Austin, Texas.

"[Oracle Red Bull Racing] are just great people, and the fact that the product on-track is so good, it's humbling to us – and humbling for us to put them on our partner wall, for sure," said Bill Neff, Yeti's Head of Marketing, exclusively to Crash.net.

Much like Oracle Red Bull Racing, Yeti has been built from humble beginnings – with brothers Roy and Ryan Seiders setting out almost 20 years ago, in 2006, to build a cooler they'd use every day.

"It had nothing to do with all the drinkware and other stuff we do," Neff says.

"It had nothing to do with ice retention. It was all about a cooler he [Ryan] could stand on to elevate his position to side-cast off the bow of a boat. All the other coolers [on the market at the time] were kind of floppy, and they'd fall over and break. So that's the formulation of how our Tundra Hard Cooler came to be."

And just like the legendary line from 1989-film Field of Dreams, "If you build it, they will come," demand for Yeti's coolers spread like wildfire within American outdoor enthusiast communities, first in fishing and hunting, then whitewater rafting and barbecue pitmaster specialists.

But, interest really took off after Yeti expanded into more accessible drinkware from 2013, using their 'built tough' ethos.

The Seiders brothers, though, could never have envisaged partnering with a Formula One team. But, Yeti Head of Marketing Neff says this isn't any ordinary partnership - even the way it began, via a reach-out on networking platform, LinkedIn.

"Oracle Red Bull Racing was workshopping ideas with us, so we said 'Let's just be friends!' We like each other, so let's just see what can work here, and that is really how it started," he says.

"Then they suggested Max [Verstappen] and Checo [Sergio Pérez] could really use a better water bottle. And we thought we could do it, so we went down to the team and made the straws. We don't sell those bottles; we make them special for the team.

“And then it was like, you know, these coolers could probably be used for holding our dry ice, and we said – 'yeah, that'd be amazing, sure.'

“Now we're helping to cool the engines and braking systems, so we're going to sponsor that side of the performance of those cars. We weren't looking to put our logos on things for them, but now we are. So it's really been a step up into the next thing that we do together."

For Yeti, Oracle Red Bull Racing is the perfect partner as its products are solutions to the squad's needs, creating relevance – rather than just a general licensing deal. But, that doesn't mean the company doesn't take advantage of traditional partnership benefits like event hospitality to reward its personnel and clients.

"We try to be super low maintenance," Neff says. "The hospitality thing isn't as important to us, as we like to let our products be good tools. But, I'd go to every race if I could, just as it's so fun. Austin's a big one for us. Melbourne's a big one for us. And then Silverstone is one that we look at to bring some people to."

Much like the rest of the Formula One paddock, Yeti already has eyes on 2025 for how it can make things even better, not just for partner Oracle Red Bull Racing, but its general customer base too.

"I think it's execute for us, the best we can, whether it be on any of the products we do for them – and just to stay involved," Neff says.

"My hope is that we continue to work together in a really collaborative way, keep finding fun ways to do things that hopefully the [F1] fanbase likes, and ensure our product can help the team excel and win. That's my expectations. They have a job to do, and if we can help them to do their job better – that's excellent."