Breaking news
Formula 1
Williams insists it has "healthy budget" for F1 2020
Williams insists that it has got in place a 'healthy racing budget' for 2020, despite a drop in prize money earnings and lapse of some sponsorship deals.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jan 22, 2020, 4:59 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Grove-based outfit is coming off the back of an incredibly disappointing 2019 campaign where its car was the slowest in the field.
The team ended up last in the constructors' championship as a result.
The drop down the order has meant a fall in commercial rights income for the year ahead, and its financial matters have not been helped by some of its sponsorship deals coming to an end.
Unilever switched to McLaren and Polish oil company PKN Orlen departed along with Robert Kubica.
But with Williams having signed a number of fresh sponsorship deals to lift its income, on top of the contribution of title sponsor Rokit, it has further boosted its F1 team's finances with the sale of a majority stake in business arm Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE).
Read Also:
- Williams: Ticktum "one of the best" it's had in its simulator
- Williams agrees sale of Williams Advanced Engineering stake
- Williams needed to hit "rock bottom" to rise up again
Just before Christmas, Williams announced that it was selling a majority stake in WAE to an independent private equity firm controlled by EMK Capital.
Speaking in Israel at the announcement of a test driver deal with Roy Nissany, who comes with backing, Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams said the team had put in place the budget it needed for this year.
"Sponsorship is hard, it isn't easy," she said, when asked by Motorsport.com about the team's commercial platform for 2020. "We all know that and I don't think any team is finding the sponsorship market in F1 very easy.
"Our business model actually relies heavily on sponsorship and it's never easy. It hasn't been for the past decades, but we still managed to find a healthy racing budget with which to do what we need to do over the course of the year.
"We have that going into this year. Obviously as you all know, we sold a majority stake in Advanced Engineering, the proceeds of which come into the F1 team, in order to bolster the budget as well. So I have no concerns over the racing budget for 2020."
Williams revealed that its new car has passed all its crash tests without major drama this year, which is in contrast to 12 months ago when its 2019 challenger hit trouble early on.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Red Bull wants to get back to dominating F1 - Verstappen
Next article Bratches set to depart F1 commercial role
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Williams
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million
Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million
Latest news
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 47 min
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
56 min
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
1 h
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
7 h
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe