RBS Pulls Out of Williams F1 Team

RBS has announced it will end its sponsorship with the Williams grand prix team at the end of the current contract in 2010. The partnership began in 2005 and was renewed for a second three-year term in 2007.

In a review of their sporting sponsorship strategy, RBS will make savings by canceling trackside advertising in 2010 and for this season, which starts in Australia on 29 March, and reducing hospitality costs by 90% for this season.

"RBS has been a great partner for this team and we are pleased to have made our contribution over the past four years to developing the RBS brand internationally," said Sir Frank Williams. "Thanks to the support of RBS and our many other loyal partners, we are in a strong position to ride out the inevitable challenges of the next two years.

"RBS is showing great responsibility to the role that we play in the British economy, supporting over 500 highly skilled technology jobs in a sector in which Britain leads the world," he added. "In the last three years, Williams has spent over £100m with 2,700 UK suppliers and it is of course important that this business endures."