Telecom giant Vodafone is upbeat that its association with the Indian edition of the Formula1 race, kicking off on Friday will help in connecting with its customers and building its brand across the country.

"It's a great opportunity to connect with our customers and for the business as well ... we have been connecting with this sport for already five years. We have learnt how to deal with it and how to make sure that customers also get the best how of it," Vodafone India CEO and Managing Director Marten Pieters told PTI.

While rival Bharti Airtel has walked with the title sponsorship of the Indian Grand Prix, Vodafone is title sponsor and the official total communication partner' of the McLaren Mercedes team.

As part of its association with the team and to promote the sports, the company has run several contests including 'Vodafone Race to Fame' and 'Vodafone Drive into the ig League', giving lucky winners to spend the weekend with the McLaren Mercedes team.

"For example the contest we did for the logo on the car which is a unique opportunity for small medium tyoe of businesses to get its own logo on the grand prix car ... We got 80,000 entries for the contest and that is an amazing connect with the sports already," he said.

Going ahead, Pieters said the company will continue to partner with McLaren team rather than going for one track sponsorship.

"We have developed a very strong relationship with the McLaren team and that is where we put all our money in.... for us it does not make much sense actually to do one track sponsoring because we really have put put in sponsoring behind the team," he said.