Petronas chairman confirms withdrawal from Formula 1 team sponsorship

Posted by Harvinder

December 19, 2009

Petronas, long time sponsor of the Sauber Formula 1 team (even during BMW’s ownership) will not be involved with any Formula 1 team next year. The company will however continue its role as the title sponsor of the Malaysian Grand Prix. “Petronas started F1 as a branding programme but we have since moved into the business. We had a very good relationship with Sauber that exposed our brand and gave us the opportunity to go global with our lubricants,’’ said chairman and president Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican.

“It’s also timely when BMW took over Sauber and that gave us an opportunity to partner with an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). The years we were together with BMW and Sauber we benefited from the lubricant business,’’ he added. “Next year, we have no team and the only reason for us to go back into Formula 1 is on a business deal, for the lubricant business,’’ concluded Marican.

The oil and gas company was expected to continue sponsoring the Sauber team following the sale of the team back to Peter Sauber but it looks like BMW’s withdrawal made sponsoring a Formula 1 team a less interesting proposition for Petronas. The team was also linked with Lotus F1, since both companies are Malaysian, although the latter is currently based in the UK.

Source.