Williams has lost a major sponsor in the form of global conglomerate Unilever, which will switch to McLaren for the 2020 Formula 1 season.
Unilever, which primarily promoted its deodorant brand Rexona (Sure in the UK), joined Williams in 2015 and contributed a major part of the teams budget, believed to be second only to title sponsor ROKiT.
It was confirmed on Friday that Unilever would join McLaren as part of a multi-year technical partnership.
The deal will also see the two brands working together on engineering projects to improve performance and energy efficiency through areas such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling, and build deeper insights into material science, as well as sensor technology and the creation of an engineering academy.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown brokered the original deal between Unilever and Williams, as well as an earlier one with Lotus, during his time at JMI.
“McLaren and Unilever are two organisations with a global reputation for innovating, inspiring and leading in the technology industry,” said Brown.” For more than 50 years, McLaren has been an innovator in engineering and the driving force behind cutting-edge technological firsts and pioneering breakthroughs.
“This partnership allows us to share knowledge and expertise between two global organisations, developing in integral areas to both businesses. We are looking forward to starting this partnership in the 2020 season.”
Dave Penrith, Chief Engineer, Unilever added: “This is a very exciting partnership for both Unilever and McLaren. Together we will use our combined efforts to solve both current and future challenges with some of the best engineering minds in the world, and also develop the next level of talent within our companies.
“The application of McLaren technology and culture will be an important component as we make our business ever more agile, sustainable and responsive to customers and consumers.”
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