Lenovo to switch their sponsorship from Williams to McLaren to 2009

[Giuseppe F1]

Sutton-images.com are reporting that McLaren are expected to snare the Lenovo sponsorship away from Williams in time for the 2009 season.

Presumably this is by way of a longterm replacement to Santander who have confirmed they will be switching to Ferrari from 2010.

If this is try this really cant be good for Williams at a time when teams are dropping out of the sport....a title sponsor in AT&T who actually dont really pay them traditional title sponsor amounts of money owing to a quirky deal they have, Petrobras rumoured to switch to the Honda (or whatever it will be) team for 2009 if Senna grabs a ride, and with the team also set to cut back on its Bauger portfolio of sponsors (Hamleys, All Saints, MyDiamonds) owing to the Icelandic banking crash this year...

Current Williams sponsors RBS, AT&T and Philips have also all lost big in the credit crunch in recent months and may decide F1 sponsorship is a luxury they need to cut back.

So with a rocky sponsor situation and no car manufacturer or billionaire fairy godmother partner in tow, is Williams the next team to be lost to us?......im fearful

[PolePosition_1]

Sutton-images.com are reporting that McLaren are expected to snare the Lenovo sponsorship away from Williams in time for the 2009 season.

Presumably this is by way of a longterm replacement to Santander who have confirmed they will be switching to Ferrari from 2010.

If this is try this really cant be good for Williams at a time when teams are dropping out of the sport....a title sponsor in AT&T who actually dont really pay them traditional title sponsor amounts of money owing to a quirky deal they have, Petrobras rumoured to switch to the Honda (or whatever it will be) team for 2009 if Senna grabs a ride, and with the team also set to cut back on its Bauger portfolio of sponsors (Hamleys, All Saints, MyDiamonds) owing to the Icelandic banking crash this year...

Current Williams sponsors RBS, AT&T and Philips have also all lost big in the credit crunch in recent months and may decide F1 sponsorship is a luxury they need to cut back.

So with a rocky sponsor situation and no car manufacturer or billionaire fairy godmother partner in tow, is Williams the next team to be lost to us?......im fearful

I can't see them leaving F1 next, but I can see them turning into a Minardi style type team until costs are at a more resonable level.

[PSfan]

Putting up a good front?

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WILLIAMS F1 RUBBISH RUMORS THEY COULD BE NEXT

TSN.CA STAFF
12/8/2008 10:49:05 AM

Williams chief executive Adam Parr believes at least one more team could follow Honda out of Formula One before the season starts next March.

Parr added that he does not see Williams as a candidate for departure.

"Williams would never choose to leave Formula One," he said. "So long as we can rub together a few pennies and put together a half-decent budget, we are going to go racing.

"To me, it's just completely illogical to talk about Williams leaving Formula One."

http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id=258947&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_auto_racing
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[Mark]

Losing a manufacturer like Honda is one thing, they are a corporation. But Williams has a massive history in the sport and would be a huge loss to Formula 1.

[Giuseppe F1]

Lenovo have agreed to switch to Mclaren next season but will not have their name on the car which seems quite odd. They will be associated with the team with garage advertising and trackside boarding.

No on-car stickers......seems like the ideal title sponsor for Honda Racing!

[Mark]

Santander leaving Mclaren in 2010 is also an odd choice in my opinion as they have in the past year purchased 3 failing British banking corporations, and taken on millions of British customers. You would think that to be associated with a leading British F1 team would be great advertising for them and not go to an Italian team where at present, they seem to have no commercial interest. Dropping a British team in the height of the credit crunch does not give out an impression of Loyalty. The Alonso link is the only advantage IMO and as we know that is not set in stone. They are already huge in Spain so this makes little sense to me. I am sure it will become more obvious in the months ahead.

I don't know. In their situation it kind of makes sponsorship difficult at any level. You have them charging sky high mortgage interest rates in order to pull the banks out of the do-do they have found themselves in, and yet they are spending millions on Formula 1 advertising.