ING confirm sponsorship withdrawal in 2010 - Briatore says Renault will survive despite losing title sponsor
Published by Christine
It’s the 16th February 2009, and this is F1Minute.
It was speculated previously, but ING have confirmed that they will be withdrawing complete F1 sponsorship at the end of this year. Last month, they announced 7,000 job cuts in an attempt to save money, and from next year they will no longer be the title sponsor at Renault, or several of the races on the calendar. Flavio Briatore has said that they were aware the current economic problems would have some effect on their sponsor, but thanks ING for being “an enthusiastic and supportive partner.” He believes Renault have a solid future in Formula 1, mostly thanks to the current and future cost cutting measures.
Elsewhere today, the testing continues in Bahrain, with Christian Klien fastest for BMW. Räikkönen was second in the Ferrari, with Trulli last for Toyota, despite covering more than double race distance. All three teams comment on how productive a day they have had, but compared to last week, I’m sure any running is good progress.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1Minute.
