With the Formula 1 season getting underway last week in Australia, 2014 and 2015 F1 World Champions Mercedes Benz has launched an initiative to connect with fans by sending them the latest updates as well as other news to their WhatsApp.

Dubbed as the Mercedes ‘WhatsApp newsletter”, fans will be able to receive updates straight to their phone about the F1 Championship or the Deutsch Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) season.

All fans have to do is add the corresponding numbers to their contacts and send the number a message saying “Start”. In a similar way that fans deal with normal mobile text messaging ads, users can unsubscribe and stop or pause the updates by sending “Stop” or “Pause” respectively.

• Formula One (+4915792365104): on race weekends, Mercedes will inform subscribers about the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team’s training, qualifying and racing results.

• DTM (++4915792362962):  as well as F1, Mercedes will send to users the latest news about training, qualifying and races of the Mercedes AMG DTM team during DTM race weekends.

Engaging with fans via WhatsApp isn’t new to the industry, however, it is an element that is fast evolving. Manchester City has recently launched a group on the platform where fans can subscribe to get pictures, videos, quizzes and other exclusive content. Other football clubs have also identified WhatsApp as a platform worth investing into, particularly to engage with fans in emerging markets.

While it does seem a novel approach to fan engagement, it’s rigidity in terms of who registers to receive updates means that it may take a while for the innovation to truly take off.