Renault Sponsor Ing Confirms F1 Withdrawal

Motorsport has been dealt another crippling blow by the dwindling global economy after ING, the primary sponsor of the Renault F1 team, announced it would be withdrawing its multi-million pound investment in the sport at the end of the current season.

The Dutch financial services company, which had initially decided last month to cut costs by 40% to combat the economic downturn, has since made the decision to end its involvement in F1 all together as it looks to secure its financial situation.

ING had not only been the primary sponsor of the Renault F1 team but also had a lucrative deal in place with Formula One Management which has also been scrapped.

The deal covered a host of trackside advertising initiatives at races across the season as well as title sponsorship of a number of GPs including the Australian, Turkish, Hungarian and Belgian rounds.

ING announced last month that it needs to lose 7,000 jobs to save £949m across the company.

‘In light of the recently announced cost reduction programme, ING confirmed not to renew the three-year sponsorship (2007-2009) contract with Renault F1 and to end its presence in F1 beyond the 2009 season,’ the company said in a statement.

The demise of the ING sponsorship deal has also raised question marks over the future of the Renault F1 team itself.

The impact of the global credit crunch claimed its biggest F1 victim at the end of last year when Japanese car manufacturer Honda withdrew its team with immediate effect.

A buyer for the team, which spent more than £300m a year, has yet to be found ahead of season-opening Grand Prix in Australia on 29th March.

Nor is ING the first financial services firm to pull out of the sport. Last month, BMW Sauber also lost one of their main backers when Credit Suisse opted not to renew their deal.

In light of the global economic downturn, the teams and governing body, the FIA, agreed a raft of measures in December which aimed to cut team budgets by at least 30%.

But FIA president Max Mosley is urging to reduce costs further and has set the teams a target of operating on about £44m a year in 2010. Currently, the richest teams are spending as much as six or seven times that amount.