More woes for Williams - Rexona withdraws F1 sponsorship

Amid a deep performance crisis, Williams has lost yet another major sponsor.

PKN Orlen, the Polish oil company backing Robert Kubica, has departed for Alfa Romeo, and Sportowe Fakty reports that Symantec, Omnitude and Tata have also recently left.

Not looking too good

And now, the same Polish source says Rexona, a highly visible presence on the Williams livery in past seasons, has not renewed its contract for 2020.

The Australian deodorant brand is owned by Unilever, which switched its backing from Lotus to Williams ahead of the 2015 season.

Spain's AS newspaper claims the Rexona deal was worth €15 million (R235-million, est.) to Williams, making it the team's second-biggest sponsor behind title backer Rokit.

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Also, on Christmas Eve, Williams announced that it has sold the majority of its engineering arm, Williams Advanced Engineering, to a private equity firm.

Williams' loss of sponsors will also be compensated by the arrival in 2020 of Nicholas Latifi, the son of Michael Latifi who bought a $350m (R4947-billion, est.) stake in McLaren in 2018.

Referring to Nicholas Latifi, who was a test driver in 2019, Williams said: "He's become a really great part of the team. He's got a great personality, he did a good job in Formula 2, and I think he'll be instrumental in driving the team forward."