Mercedes is likely destination for former Williams title sponsor Rokit

2020 F1 season

24th June 2020, 9:1824th June 2020, 12:22 | Written by Dieter Rencken and Keith Collantine

Former Williams title sponsor Rokit, who split from the team earlier this year, is expected to switch loyalties to their engine supplier Mercedes.

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The mobile phone manufacturer’s logos could appear on the world champions’ car as soon as the first race of the season in Austria next week, RaceFans has learned.

Rokit joined Williams as its new title sponsor at the beginning of last year. Despite a difficult season for the team, which finished last in the constructors’ championship for the second year in a row, Rokit extended its sponsorship deal in July, committing to Williams until 2023.

However at the end of last month Williams announced the deal had been terminated. At the same time Formula 1’s third-oldest team also revealed the beginning of a formal sale process in an effort to secure new investment. The group lost £13m last year.

Williams is understood to be considering legal action against Rokit over the cancellation of the contract, believed to be worth $25m (£20m) per year.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020 — Rokit could appear on the Mercedes next week

A Williams source told RaceFans: “We’re absolutely shocked that a team with whom we have a long-standing relationship has signed Rokit, particularly as it is well known what happened.”

Rokit is believed to have chosen Mercedes out of at least four other teams who were vying for a deal, including Racing Point, Haas and Ferrari.

A Mercedes spokesperson said the team is in discussions with a range of companies regarding potential future partnerships, details of which are kept confidential.

Has the pandemic put two of Formula 1’s most historic teams in jeopardy? Read Dieter Rencken’s analysis in today’s RacingLines column on RaceFans

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2020 F1 season

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31 comments on “Mercedes is likely destination for former Williams title sponsor Rokit”

black (@black)
24th June 2020, 9:37

Can’t wait until the eventual first podium of 2020:
“…and on the top step of the podium it’s Lewis Hamilton from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Rokit Rich Energy F1 Team driving the Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Rich Performance Rokit…the silver/turquoise/dark red/bright red/black& gold cars are yet again the team to beat”
1. Jere (@jerejj)
  24th June 2020, 9:41
  
  @black LOL.
2. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  24th June 2020, 10:19
  
  @black While Lewis swigs alternately from cans of Rokit Energy and Monster…
  1. HR (@hiperr)
    24th June 2020, 16:08
    
    @keithcollantine I guess he could pop one on either side of a Mercedes-branded flat-brim foam dome…
3. Retired (@jeff1s)
  24th June 2020, 10:58
  
  Damn that was so good x)
  
  piranha’s club
4. erikje
  24th June 2020, 19:22
  
  until the eventual first podium of 2020:
  
  ha, the optimistic type.
5. NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
  26th June 2020, 7:26
  
  COTD right here.
Sonny Crockett
24th June 2020, 9:52

So ROKIT are going to make Mercedes’ car look a bit pants, like they did with Williams?
1. bob (@riptide)
  24th June 2020, 10:22
  
  If they are paying Mercedes the same as they paid Williams they might get the inside of an endplate to stick their logo.
2. NoName (@noname)
  24th June 2020, 10:52
  
  @Sonny Crockett Rokit gonna need to adept their colors, that’s for sure.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
24th June 2020, 10:42

This doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me. Why did Rokit bail on the Williams deal again?
1. NoName (@noname)
  24th June 2020, 10:51
  
  @bernasaurus It’s pretty simple actually. Most sponsors want to be associated with a winning team or at least a solid team.
  1. Tim (@tallen)
    24th June 2020, 11:11
    
    Williams are solid last and will probably, and sadly, be last again this year. What’s not solid about that?
  2. ColdFly (@)
    24th June 2020, 11:22
    
    I’d rather be a Williams title sponsor than an also mentioned one for Mercedes.
    
    And as much as you want to be linked to a winner, nobody believes that ROKiT is a technical partner helping the team achieve those wins.
    Also for marketing purposes, most potential clients don’t even know the difference between a white Williams and a silver Mercedes; it all links to F1 which is what they want to be associated with.
    1. Markus
      24th June 2020, 16:51
      
      How often are the Williams cars and drivers photographed? The mercs are much more likely to feature in mainstream news/press than Williams are. Rokit are after the exposure to casual fans. Not the hardcore ones who can tell you what front wing angle George Russell used in each practice session.
  3. Ranesh
    24th June 2020, 13:06
    
    The extended the deal with Williams until 2023 though….
2. DonSmee (@david-beau)
  24th June 2020, 14:18
  
  Because the Williams cars will be even turdier this year.
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
24th June 2020, 10:57

Ok, even the big teams lost revenue with the shutdown but I don’t get how or why, with the budget caps coming, the two F1 giants (Merc & Ferrari) are scrapping for a sponsor of this size. Especially since ROKIT can’t aim to be either’s title sponsor, so the deal would probably bring in less than it did for Williams, so it would amount to less than 5% of their current budget, but with the cap I don’t see why they need the excess income, particularly Mercedes having already signed up with Ineos earlier this year for a 5 year deal. And even though ROKIT looks like a more credible company than Rich Energy, they still seem to me sketchy enough not worth the risk for a big team.
1. Aiii (@)
  24th June 2020, 11:01
  
  Who cares about their current budget. The budget cap will be 145m for everyone anyways, but for a team like Mercedes getting 25 million a year from anyone means 25 million Euro less they have to spend themselves. Money is money.
  1. HR (@hiperr)
    24th June 2020, 16:10
    
    So they’re simply harvesting up sponsorships to generate pure profit?
Adam (@rocketpanda)
24th June 2020, 12:55

I have no idea what happened between Williams and ROKIT? In fact I thought Williams were the one that terminated the contracted by mutual consent? Their wording there indicates there’s more that happened, including being upset at Mercedes going after them. What happened?
1. Ranesh
  24th June 2020, 13:12
  
  Same here. They are saying that everyone knows what happened, but….
  Anyway, if Williams takes offense to Rokit switching, apparently something else happened that Williams simply letting Rokit go..
  Maybe, in fact Rokit wasn’t able or willing to keep paying (and went back on extending the deal until 2023 for different reasons like a switch in leadership who have different insights) and therefore Williams let them go and to protect them and maybe the name of the organization (‘wow, apparently Williams was desperate and went for a not-trustworthy sponsor), brought out the statement as if it was in function of selling the team?
MXMXD (@mxmxd)
24th June 2020, 13:47

Isn’t this clashing with Lewis’ personnal sponsor?
Thankhu
24th June 2020, 14:34

So is the new business model for F1, the smaller teams with tighter budgets do all the leg work courting new sponsors into the paddock, so the bigger more financially stable teams can just poach them from inside the paddock saving themselves a load of overheads?
1. drew
  24th June 2020, 17:16
  
  it’s always been that way, just look at Sauber:
  
  – Brought mercedes back into F1, who jumped to Mclaren once they made decent engines
  – Red Bull was a former primary sponsor
  – Petronas was a former primary sponsor
  – BMW bought the team and jumped ship during the financial crisis
2. John H (@john-h)
  25th June 2020, 14:04
  
  Isn’t that just life? Sponsors are allowed to change teams, why wouldn’t they?
  
  I’m not sure I would be that proud of poaching this sponsor anyway to be honest.
G (@unklegsif)
24th June 2020, 14:59

It is my understanding having read many review articles from the industry that Rokit phones, having staked all their chips on 3D technology, are nothing remarkable in themselves, and that the 3D technology that they rely on to set themselves apart from the crowd, is redundant at worst and a gimmick at best. They dont even do a conversion from regular VR 3D to their now old, filter system

I’m not sure what they would even be looking to get out of any F1 tie-in… F1 isn’t filmed in 3D so they can’t be looking to “exclusively stream content” onto their phones

G
1. HR (@hiperr)
  24th June 2020, 16:13
  
  @unklegsif I assume that Rokit is hoping to use the association with Mercedes as a marketing tactic in and of itself. I guess that it’s a unique selling point if you’re too inept to actually develop any compelling technology.
Mac C
24th June 2020, 18:20

Amazing. I love F1, and had never heard of ROCKiT phones when they joined Williams. but I thought why not, and I bought their “Pro 3D” mobile, and for the money it is great. not your $1000 phone, but for $249 it is amazing. I think you can buy it even more cheaper now. good fit, not everyone wants to buy a phone for $800, $1000, and more..
Passo (@passo)
25th June 2020, 15:17

I think Rockit probably has more brand-awareness amongst racing fans than it does tech enthusiasts. Which tells you everything you need to know. Best splash that investor money on F1 until everyone discovers the tech doesn’t work.
Silfen (@silfen)
26th June 2020, 10:10

I thought that £10 million of the Williams loss was caused by Rokit not paying Williams and that that was the reason they split.

Seems strange that they are not able to pay Williams, but are able to pay Mercedes (or any other team).

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31 comments on “Mercedes is likely destination for former Williams title sponsor Rokit”