ING To End Formula One, Renault Sponsorships After '09 Season

ING Is Currently Renault's Largest Sponsor

ING in a statement yesterday said that it "will not be renewing" its three-year deal to sponsor the Renault F1 team at the end of the season, as the company "will be pulling out of the sport," according to Andrew Baker of the London TELEGRAPH. Renault Managing Dir Flavio Briatore said that he "understood ING's position, and that he was confident that his team would be able to trim its costs to conform with new realities." Sources indicated that Renault has been "ahead of the F1 pack in cutting costs." But ING is the "largest sponsor on Renault's books and, according to some estimates, ranked with global mobile phone company Vodafone (backers of McLaren) as the second biggest-spenders in the sport." A Formula Money report estimated that ING "paid some $86[M] into the sport last year." ING's departure also is "likely to have a negative effect upon the sport's overall revenues," as ING is the official sponsor of the March 29 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, as well as races in Belgium, Hungary and Turkey (London TELEGRAPH, 2/17). In Manchester, Alan Henry notes Renault's F1 future "has been called into question many times over recent months, given the parlous state of the global motor industry," and there has been "speculation that the French company might follow Honda's example and withdraw from the world championship in the near future." But Briatore, who has been "one of the leading advocates of cost cutting in [F1] for several years, still believes the sport has a strong future" (Manchester GUARDIAN, 2/17).