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"  Infiniti Red Bull Racing is killing it in Formula 1, and Sebastian Vettel&amp;#039;s current 90 point lead over Ferrari&amp;#039;s Fernando Alonso is only part of the reason their success is causing some to speculate that the team is secretly employing traction control. How did the Asian luxury manufacturer reach such lofty (and controversial) heights in just three years? We caught up with some of Infiniti&amp;#039;s behind-the-scenes puppetmasters at the Italian Grand Prix* to find out. Andreas Sigl, Infiniti&amp;#039;s Director of Formula 1, says it was the simple need for global brand awareness that got the team started in 2010. &amp;quot;We needed a strong platform to tell our story, one that has a strong global footprint. The elephant on the table,&amp;quot; Sigl explains, &amp;quot;was motorsports.&amp;quot; Jumping into the top tier of racing meant partnering up with major players-- in this case, energy drink juggernaut Red Bull and powerplant veteran (not to mention production sibling) Renault-- but it wasn&amp;#039;t until this year that the manufacturer upgraded to title sponsor, the first time Red Bull has abandoned top billing. &amp;quot;As an automotive partner, we need to be more than a sponsor,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;That&amp;#039;s like paying for sex; this is a partnership.&amp;quot; Exactly how much dough does it take to become a force to be reckoned with in F1? If you ask Red Bull principal Christian Horner, as one journalist did during a small press conference, you&amp;#039;ll get a vague but telling answer. &amp;quot;The investment is massive, but the return is huge.&amp;quot; While it&amp;#039;s impossible to put an exact dollar amount on the value of F1 participation, Sigl estimates that based on television impressions, the first year netted $200 million worth of exposure, followed by $339 million in year two. As for the current banner year&amp;#039;s key performance indicators, by race 9 of the season&amp;#039;s 19 rounds, Infiniti has benefited a staggering $511 million from campaigning in Formula 1. &amp;quot;Infiniti is the most covered brand in Formula 1,&amp;quot; Horner says proudly. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re significantly more covered than Mercedes-Benz,&amp;quot; he adds, referring to the German \u00FCbermanufacturer which, along with Ferrari, have access to sophisticated in-house R&amp;amp;amp;D facilities. While Americans may still not fully comprehend why a plucky luxury manufacturer would dump untold fortunes into the sport that barely makes a blip stateside (though the U.S. Grand Prix is slowly changing the F1&amp;#039;s perception here), there&amp;#039;s also the argument that some of that exotic technology might trickle down to production vehicles. Sure, there are ultra-limited production halo cars like the $155,000 Vettel Edition FX, seen below, but beyond low volume vanity projects, there&amp;#039;s also the distinct (but not entirely guaranteed) possibility that plebians cars will benefit from rarified race DNA. Horner, not surprisingly, is bullish on the idea. &amp;quot;Particularly with these engines [which will be downsizing to turbocharged V6s next year and paired with hybrid systems], vehicle dynamics and material science are all areas that will affect future road cars.&amp;quot;  * Fun fact from the Italian Grand Prix: Local crowds were so incensed at Infiniti/Red Bull&amp;#039;s win (or more precisely, team Ferrari&amp;#039;s loss) that they boo&amp;#039;d Vettel when he crossed the finish line first. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a9453/infiniti-why-formula-1/>