Nicholas Latifi triggers sponsor exodus at Williams

Nicholas Latifi’s Williams departure appears to have come at a cost for the Grove-based team, with the side having lost a substantial number of partners ahead of the forthcoming season.



It was revealed on social media by Decalspotters that Williams have lost eight partners ahead of the start of the new season, whilst they’ve only gained four.



Losing Latifi has resulted in the side losing a huge sponsor such as Sofina, who are a Canadian company owned by Latifi’s father Michael.



Williams received around $16 million through deals with Sofina and other partners linked to Latifi, according to a report by RacingNews365, with Latifi having effectively paid for his own seat in the British team.







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Latifi’s replacement, Logan Sargeant, is supposedly doing the exact same thing, through his ties with Williams’ newest key partner Stephens.



The historic side have, of course, also entered a partnership with former McLaren sponsor Gulf Oil, with this deal set to be worth $4 million this season, also according to the mentioned report.



Interestingly, whilst they’ve lost more partners than they’ve gained, it’s understood that Williams will earn a similar amount to last season, highlighting that more partners doesn’t always result in more money!



“#SponsorWatch: Eight partners are saying goodbye to @WilliamsRacing heading into 2023 – including brands with ties to @NicholasLatifi,” wrote Decalspotters on Twitter.



“To make up for the losses, the team announced a new partnership with, among others, ex-McLaren partner @GulfOilIntl.”




#SponsorWatch : Eight partners are saying goodbye to @WilliamsRacing heading into 2023 – including brands with ties to @NicholasLatifi . To make up for the losses, the team announced a new partnership with, among others, ex-McLaren partner @GulfOilIntl . #F1 pic.twitter.com/oQVaahoJL0 — Decalspotters (@decalspotters) February 20, 2023




Williams commercial director James Bower confirmed that the team aren’t in a financially difficult position following the loss of Latifi and are actually “in a more robust position”, suggesting that its simply good times ahead for the side.



“I think we are clearly in a multi-year commercial plan of how we rebuild the team,” Bower said, as reported by PlanetF1.




#Ferrari misses out as 80,000 fans vote for the best livery of 2023 https://t.co/ijHzoos9fC — Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) February 22, 2023




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“I think there’s a perception about lost revenue from recent changes where the reality is slightly different.



“We are launching a number of new partners as we go into the season as well so I think we’re in a more robust position than the team has been in for a number of years.



“And we’re ambitious and aggressive with how are in the market as well and how we investing in building the Williams brand. Of course having Gulf as part of the commercial partner portfolio for that journey is really exciting.”
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