Deputy team principal Claire Williams has said the team “met all contractual obligations” with ROKiT but would not go into detail about why they have split from their title sponsors.
ROKiT replaced Martini as the title sponsors of Williams ahead of the 2019 season and had a deal in place until the end of 2023 but, on Friday, Williams announced that they had severed all ties with immediate effect.
This announcement came at the same time as parent company Williams Grand Prix Holdings Ltd declared the commencement of a formal sale process which could include the sale of the whole company.
It led to some speculation that the two announcements were connected by the dire financial situation but Williams has said that there were no breaches in the contract from the team and there will be a new livery on the way.
“I can’t go into detail on the ins and outs,” Williams told selected media. “What I can say is that we met all of our contractual obligations to ROKiT.”
“Obviously the livery is something that we’ve got to look at when we go racing again, hopefully in July.
“F1 has put a marker in the sand for the sixth of July. We will unveil our new livery before we hit the race track.”
Despite the doom and gloom surrounding Williams as they consider selling the Formula 1 team, Claire Williams is looking at the positives.
“We very much feel that we look after our partners in a fantastic way,” she said.
“There’s been plenty of evidence of that over the years, with many of Williams’ partners remaining with the team in the long term.
“We have also just put in place, over the past three months, a whole new process around our commercial proposition.
“We’re working with a new agency, and we’re very much redeveloping the way in which we go and take Williams to market, and we have huge confidence in that.
“Williams has always done a good job of attracting new partners into our sport, into our team and I believe and have every confidence that we will continue to do so.
“This is a great brand. It is a great team. And we’re on a very exciting journey.”
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