Mercedes GP to Sign Allianz as F1 Sponsor

For a while now, Daimler AG has began pressuring its Formula One part of the business to start spending less and winning more, with several members of the Daimler board of directors hinting that the constant and great expenditures in their F1 programme are illogical considering the shady economy worldwide.

With this clear message in head, the bosses of the Mercedes GP F1 team have decided to do all the necessary steps towards a little bit of financial independence from the parent company, meaning they went looking for sponsors. After securing a huge title sponsorship deal with well-known oil company Petronas ahead of the 2010 campaign, Merc is on the verge of pulling one more rabbit out of the hat for the future campaign.

According to German source sponsors.de, it seems that Munich based global insurance group Allianz will likely sign a sponsorship deal with Mercedes GP in the near future. Although more info on the matter has not appeared in the media, it seems probable that the deal will be signed prior to the end of this season and will have an immediate effect on the car's 2010 livery.

Allianz has not been a stranger from Formula One in recent years, having spent millions in trackside sponsorship programmes in the series, while also partnering Williams F1 team on a 750,000 sponsor deal.

Earlier this year however, the Munich based company announced the signing of a global partnership deal with Daimler's financial services division for international automotive insurance, becoming Daimler Financial Services' preferred partner for automotive and warranty insurance in approximately 40 foreign markets. Consequently, extending that deal with a sponsorship agreement within the premier racing series in the world would make sense, at least from a strategic standpoint.

“Daimler has been working together with Allianz for more than 80 years now,” the chairman of Daimler Insurance Services said in February.