As widely expected, Mercedes has confirmed its new major partnership with UK chemical giant INEOS, a sponsorship deal that will unite the two companies for five years.
The sponsorship deal between the championship-winning team and principal partner INEOS, unveiled at the Royal Automobile Club in London on Monday and worth a rumored £20 million a year according to the Financial Times, will extend well beyond F1.
The Brackley squad and Mercedes'Applied Science unit will collaborate with INEOS on two main sporting endeavors, named its America's Cup sailing outfit and UCI World Tour cycling team.
INEOS, which is controlled by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, has seen its presence in the sports arena grow exponentially recently, with the company adding last year the OGC Nice and Lausanne Sports FC football clubs to its sports portfolio.
How's this for some exciting sporting news?! @INEOS becomes Principal Partner to @MercedesAMGF1 🤝 pic.twitter.com/NL815feE0X
— Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) February 10, 2020
"It’s a proud moment for INEOS to become principal partner to the world’s best Formula One team – and by extension to one of the world’s most prestigious brands, Mercedes Benz," said INEOS founder and chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
"The Mercedes team is a leader in global sport and have consistently shown that they are at the forefront of technological innovation and human performance. Their grit and determination to redefine what is possible makes them a natural fit for INEOS.
"By strengthening our partnership with Mercedes-AMG Petronas it will allow us to identify and unlock even greater performance gains across the wider INEOS sports family."
Perhaps the key takeaway from Monday's announcement is the term of the partnership between Mercedes and INEOS which suggests that the German manufacturer's long-term presence in F1 is guaranteed.
And Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff confirmed as much at the announcement.
"Like I've always said, we are in this for the long term," said Wolff. "Mercedes provides a great marketing platform for our brand. This is what we do. We build race cars and we build road cars.
"Formula One is the halo platform for hybrid engineering - something which is not communicated enough, because it was talked down at the beginning of the V6-Hybrid era and it is something that we should really put more emphasis on.
"In that respect, with all the things that are out in the media, we like the platform, but at the same time we are in a negotiation with the rights holders and things need to be sorted out," added the Austrian.
"The partnership is clearly something that indicates our wish to continue our successful journey in Formula One."
Mercedes also pulled the covers off the livery that will adorn its 2020 W11, with INEOS branding adding a touch of red burgundy to the Silver Arrow's robe.
The team will present its 2020 charger on Friday at Silverstone.
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