Manor F1 Team To Be Bought By… Indonesian KFC?

If you had to us fifteen years ago that one Formula One team (let alone two) would be owned by an energy drink company, and another by an Indian beverage and aviation mogul, we’d likely have laughed in your face. But such is the state of business in grand prix racing today. And now investment in another team could come from the most unlikely of places: the KFC franchisee in Indonesia.

Yep, you read that right. A report published by AutoWeek (among other publications) links Jagonya Ayam – the Indonensian division of Kentucky Fried Chicken – with a potential buyout of the Manor F1 team. But as unlikely as it may seem, it wouldn’t come completely out of left field.

Jagonya entered into a collaboration earlier this year with the Campos team in the GP2 Series – a vital stepping stone to Formula One – just as it had previously in Formula 3 and the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. Its sponsorship comes part and parcel with its support of Sean Gelael, an up-and-coming Indonesian racing driver.

Given the way corporate sponsorship works, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for Jagonya to step in as a major sponsor of any F1 team that would give Gelael a shot at the big leagues. Buying out the team, though, would take things a step further.

KFC ranks as the world’s second largest restaurant chain (behind McDonald’s). It has developed considerable market penetration in Indonesia in particular, where it runs nearly 500 locations to control a third of the local market.

The team currently competing as Manor Racing was founded in 2010 and has struggled financially ever since. What started out as Virgin Racing was subsequently rebranded by Marussia and barely made it back on the grid in 2015 after the death of its driver Jules Bianchi at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. The two points he earned that season netted two points for the team’s best season so far. Manor scored one single championship point this past season when Mercedes prodigy Pascal Wehrlein finished tenth in Austria.

Gelael would only be the second Indonesian driver in the history of F1. Rio Haryanto also drove for Manor before being replaced by Esteban Ocon.