Renault F1 may get Indian sponsor for 2010 F1 season

The Dutch finance services entity ING declared their cost reduction programmes and said that they will not renew their three-year contract with the Renault F1 team.

Renault R29, Renault F1

Their contract expires by the end of the 2009 season.

The ING company officials declared that they will not exceed their contract beyond the 2009 season, which will commence with the Australian Grand Prix on March 29, 2009. Even in 2009, ING would be cutting its spending by up to 40 %, says the International Herald Tribune.

Renault is not the only one with a sponsor problem – in fact, Honda is not yet even sure if they would be able to compete in the 2009 Formula One season. The company is up for sale, but no serious buyers have turned up yet. Credit Suisse Group has already said that its sponsorship of BMW would not be renewed this F1 season.

Reports say that the Renault F1 team will look to Indian multinational companies for sponsorships. To expand their fan base in India they are also planning to bring their two-time world champion Fernando Alonso to India.

“Currently, talks are on with a major Indian multinational for sponsorship,” a senior official of Renault India ws quoted by PTI. He although refused to reveal details about the negotiations. There are rumors that the Mittal group may be a sponsor considering Renault team head honcho Flavio Briatore and Laxmi Mittal are the co-owners of Queens Park Rangers.

The Renault F1 will also organize a road show during the peak F1 season time so as to popularize itself in the subcontinent.

“Hopefully Fernando Alonso will also be here,” the official said. In November 2008, the Renault F1 team had flown in its second driver Nelson Piquet for a  road show.

Renault’s drivers for 2010 will be former world champion Fernando  Alonso of Spain and Nelson Piquet of Brazil.

India’s biggest software firm Tata Consultancy Services had signed a technology and marketing partnership with Ferrari in December 2008, which will see the TCS logo displayed on Ferrari’s  2009 F1 car.

Interest in the F1 championship is expected to increase steadily in India. It is expected to go up even further with the presence of the Force India team, owned by Vijay Mallya. Force India has not yet revealed their car for the 2009 season, but the team’s deal with McLaren F1 is expected to catapult them to the middle of the race grid.

Things would not go Renault F1’s way easily, though. The Indian market too is in the throes of a slowdown, and as everyone is cutting down on expenses, it may not be too easy to find a sponsor for the 2010 team – unless they already have one in their pocket, and they are not telling us.