Alfa Romeo and PKN ORLEN extend title partnership

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Alfa Romeo Racing and fuel and lubricants giant PKN ORLEN have announced that their existing partnership will be extended for a third season into 2022.

ORLEN has been the squad's title sponsor since 2020 with its brand added to the team’s entry name and its distinctive logo - featuring the ORLEN eagle - incorporated into the livery of the Swiss team’s cars.

The deal means that former F1 driver Robert Kubica will also continued in his role as reserve driver for the team, while an all-new main driver line-up will consist of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou.

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“We are delighted to extend our successful partnership with PKN ORLEN into its third year," said team principal Frederic Vasseur on Tuesday.

"Their presence underlines and reinforces our resolve to be one of the most attractive teams in the sport for global brands.

"Most importantly, we share a commitment to constant improvement, whether on track or in their business, and we are determined to keep growing together.

"Their activation campaign has been of the first order, reaching fans all over Europe and expanding access to the team and the world of Formula 1 and we can’t wait to unveil the next stages in this programme.”

Daniel Obajtek, President of the Management Board of PKN ORLEN, noted that "involvement in cooperation with Robert Kubica and the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team is a strategic investment for us."

The team is hoping for better things to come next season after a disappointing 2021 in the wake of the early decision to stop developing the current C41 car in favour of concentrating on next year's chassis.

"From January we decided to switch to 100 per cent on 2022," he said earlier this year. "I knew if you switch 100 per cent to the next year’s car, you won’t develop the 2021 car, and that’s the case."

The team has also revealed that it's struggling to find sufficient parts for the final two races of the season.

Current drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi both damaged the underfloor of their respective C41 cars in Qatar leaving the team scrambling to repair or replace them with new ones in time for Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

“You don’t build any new parts so late in the season. It takes 20 days to produce a floor,” team manager Beat Zehnder explained to Auto Motor und Sport this week.

The damaged parts have been sent back to the main base in Switzerland tro see if they can be prepared in time for the next Grand Prix after which is will be a race against time to get them to the venue..

“When it comes to Riyadh there is always the danger that something will be delayed when reloading,” Zehnder stated.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.