General
Williams has decided himself to tear up contract with ROKiT
- GPblog.com
On Friday morning it was announced that the collaboration between Williams and ROKiT is over before the first Grand Prix of 2020 has taken place at all. Since February 2019 the telecommunications company was the title sponsor of the British race stable. At the time, the signatures were placed under a multi-year partnership, but the partnership did not last long. Something completely out of the blue.
It's not ROKiT that tore up the contract, it's Williams. The team of drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi has decided to cancel the collaboration. In July 2019 the contract with ROKiT was extended until 2023.
Williams terminates collaboration
That's clear from the statement Williams published. "The team has ended its relationship with title partner ROKiT and another important sponsor (ROK Drinks)."
ROK Drinks is part of the same group as ROKiT. In October 2019, Williams enthusiastically announced that after ROKiT, it had also managed to snare ROK Drinks as a sponsor. This, combined with the renewal of the ROKiT contract last year in July, makes it strange that the collaboration is being put to an end so soon, especially since the initiative came from Williams.
Why is Williams doing this?
Probably the Grove based team decided to do this in order to facilitate the sale of a majority share or the entire team. In the negotiations, it is no longer necessary to take into account the wishes or demands of ROKiT, who, as title sponsor, would probably have had the necessary say anyway.
Williams is facing serious financial problems, which is why it is crazy that they themselves have now decided to no longer use the services of ROKiT as title sponsor. This will result in even less income for Williams in 2020, as a title sponsor in Formula 1 is worth several millions each year. It could indicate that Williams is aiming for a quick takeover. Will undoubtedly be continued...