The partnership between the Grove team and the oil company is very old. The company appeared as a partner in 1998 and was displayed on the sides of Sir Frank’s single-seaters for eleven consecutive seasons.<\/p>\n
The partnership resumes on the same foundations, namely both a commercial and technological partnership. Thus, starting from the 2015 season, the team will use products manufactured by Petrobras. In the meantime, Williams will use lubricants and fuel supplied by Petronas, the preferred partner of Mercedes, the new engine supplier for the team. The Malaysian company being also the title sponsor of the star team, it can be estimated that the products supplied are optimized for the functioning of the German engine. Petrobras therefore needed a full season to develop products capable of being just as efficient.<\/p>\n
The issue of lubricants was very important in Williams’ choice regarding its drivers and engine. Indeed, last year, the team was powered by Renault, which required its engine to be used with products supplied by Total, thereby excluding the arrival of Petrobras, which wanted to be an active participant and not just a sponsor. It seems that Mercedes is more flexible on this matter, which can be explained by the fact that its director, Toto Wolff, is still an administrator at Williams…<\/p>\n
Maria das Gra\u00e7as Silva Foster, the president of the company, commented on this return: \u00ab We are very happy to return to the world’s greatest motorsport competition. During the eleven years that Williams was by our side, we made significant progress in product development, notably the Podium fuel. Participating in this competition is a huge challenge as it requires us to always be ready to meet the highest standards of quality and efficiency demanded by the category. We are eager to start this new challenge. \u00bb<\/p>\n
It is interesting to note that during the Bahrain tests, the team decided to keep its blue livery seen in Jerez. They decided to display the Oris logo, whose partnership has since been renewed, but not that of Petrobras. This shows that this partnership is of a much different scale and that the arrival of the logo on the side of the car should only occur during the official livery unveiling, which is expected to take place in Melbourne to give it maximum media visibility.<\/p>\n