Apart from the disappearance of Credit Suisse – which was confirmed by the Swiss bank officials last week – the “Dell” logo was also less visible. While having their name painted on the engine cover, front wing, and side deflectors of the old car, Dell can only be seen now on the rear wing of the F1.09. While no official announcement has been released yet, the visuals are quite clear. It seems that Dell has decided to at least reduce their financial agreement with the Hinwil-based outfit for 2009.
While not confirming it, BMW's Motorsport Director Mario Theissen admitted the team is now looking for sponsors as the F1.09 has two or three spaces still available. With plenty of sponsors already looking for ways to leave the sport as a consequence of the economic downturn, BMW might have a hard time finding at least one. Nevertheless, Theissen brought assurances that the team is more than covered – financially speaking – for the upcoming season.
“I have to say we are absolutely safe on the budget side for this year. We are looking for new sponsors; we have two or three spaces available. It might happen before the season, it might happen during the season and I would say it’s business as usual on the sponsoring side. When we started at the end of 2005 we got all of the sponsors on board and most of the sponsoring contracts are three-year contracts,” explained Theissen, according to BMWF1blog.com.
A week ago, Switzerland's giant bank Credit Suisse revealed that they decided to put an end to their sponsorship for BMW Sauber. The collaboration between Sauber Petronas F1 team and Credit Suisse had started in 2001, with the sponsor deciding to renew its deal with the outfit once it was purchased by BMW.
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