McLaren "ruled out having a title sponsor" for the '18 Formula 1 season, despite Exec Dir Zak Brown saying that the team has "attracted a lot of interest from new backers," according to Adam Cooper of AUTOSPORT. In the past, former McLaren Team Principal Ron Dennis "suggested that the era of the title sponsor in F1 was over." Though Brown "initially hoped to get a new title backer for McLaren, which has not had one" since Vodafone's exit at the end of '13, "he now agrees they could be a thing of the past." Brown: "I don't think we're going to have a title sponsor per se. What I think we're going to have are major partners. If you look at F1, no one really refers to the name of the team's title partner, so I don't think there's a lot of value. We're McLaren, we're not ABC McLaren." Brown said that interest in McLaren "has been stirred both by changes in F1 as a whole and the stronger situation of the team itself" as it switches from Honda to Renault power for '18. He added, "We have signed some sponsors, but I don't know exactly when we're going to announce them. We're not done yet, so all sponsors are welcome!" (AUTOSPORT, 12/19).
