US Justice Department files lawsuit against F1 team’s title sponsor

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has initiated a legal dispute with Visa, the main sponsor of the VCARB Formula One team, accusing it of serious antitrust violations.

As recently announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Department of Justice has charged Visa with monopolistic practices in the debit transaction market.

Attorney General Merrick Garland outlined the Justice Department’s case against Visa, stating, as reported by Racing News 365:

“(Visa) uses a web of illegal, anti-competitive arrangements to penalize merchants and banks for using competing payment networks.

“At the same time, it forces potential market participants to enter into unlawful non-compete agreements, threatening high fees if they do not cooperate and promising large benefits if they do.

“The result is a debit market in which Visa has unlawfully amassed the power to charge fees that far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market.”

The lawsuit alleges Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits restraint of trade between states or foreign nations. Specifically, the DOJ alleges that Visa created a web of illegal arrangements designed to punish merchants and banks that choose to use competing payment networks. According to the DOJ, this monopolistic behavior allowed Visa to charge exorbitant fees on transactions, far in excess of what a competitive market would allow.

Visa’s general counsel, Julie Rottenberg, issued a statement after the lawsuit was filed, saying:

“Anyone who has shopped online or paid in a store knows that there is an ever-increasing number of companies offering new ways to pay for goods and services.

“The lawsuit ignores the fact that Visa is just one of many competitors in the growing debit card market, where new players are emerging and doing very well.

“We are proud of the payments network we have built, the innovation we are driving, and the economic opportunities we are enabling.”

Visa joined VCARB as title sponsor starting in the 2024 season when the team switched from AlphaTauri to Visa Cash App RB.

The team currently sits sixth in the Constructors’ Championship with 34 points, three points ahead of Haas in seventh on 31 points. Drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo are twelfth and fourteenth in the Drivers’ Championship with 22 and 12 points respectively.

It comes after growing speculation that Ricciardo would be replaced by Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson before the end of the season, although this has yet to be confirmed.