** View the BlackBerry Mercedes F1 Photo Gallery Here ** 

Less than 24 hours after BlackBerry told the US market we're back in the game via a BlackBerry Super Bowl commercial, BlackBerry is sending the same message out on the world stage via the popular sport of Formula 1.

BlackBerry will become the Mercedes team's new official mobile computing partner and 'collaborate on technical and marketing opportunities'. The BlackBerry logo will be present on the new F1W04 Silver Arrow and the team will be using BlackBerry devices throughout the season. You can check out driver Lewis Hamliton rocking the BlackBerry Z10 in the video above (Lewis, next time don't cover the BlackBerry logo with your finger!).

Ross Brawn, team principal of the Mercedes AMG team, welcomed BlackBerry to the team:

"On the day that our new Silver Arrow, the F1 W04, is launched, we are very pleased to announce our partnership with BlackBerry. We are looking forward to embracing the new BlackBerry 10 platform at both a technical and operational level, as well as collaborating with the team at BlackBerry to bring new mobile innovation to Mercedes AMG Petronas. It is especially pleasing to be able to launch this exciting partnership today as our latest Silver Arrow takes to the track with BlackBerry branding."

Frank Boulben, BlackBerry's Chief Marketing Officer said:

"Formula One is all about precision engineering, design and innovation - three values that mirror the approach that's gone into creating BlackBerry 10. It is a natural fit for BlackBerry to partner with the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team to deliver value through technical and marketing collaboration. We have built BlackBerry 10 to keep people moving, and we believe the essence of this will be delivered at many levels through our partnership." 

BlackBerry Mercedes

As a longtime Formula 1 fan, I'm loving this deal. Heck, I predicted this one in 2007 - check out this blog post I wrote from the CrackBerry archives saying that RIM should sponsor a Formula 1 team. I just picked the wrong team back then, thinking it would be Ferrari. But with BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins being German, this one just makes sense.

First the Super Bowl. Now a Formula 1 deal. BlackBerry is leaving nothing on the table with the launch of BlackBerry 10!

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