A former title sponsor of the Williams F1 team, ROKIT, has been ordered to pay $32.3 Million to the F1 racing team.
ROKIT had collaborated with the British team in a multi-year title sponsorship deal ahead of the 2019 season. It’s branding also appeared on George Russell’s and Nicholas Latifi’s cars during pre-season testing in 2020.
However, the havoc of the Covid-19 pandemic led the company to cop out of the deal. It further led Williams not to run the livery with the sponsorship as the season got underway.
A planned three-year contract had come to an early termination with ROKIT still holding the scheduled money to the team.
Also Read: F1 Twitter reacts as 10 GP winner Valtteri Bottas sports ‘offseason’ mullet
Williams records legal victory
Furthermore, as the contract saw an early end with some money still left unpaid, Williams took the case to the court as it believed that the contract had been breached.
The case was settled in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The judge ruled on 1st December that ROKIT will pay about $32.2 Million to Williams.
ROKIT has also been held liable for $1 Million to cover the legal costs of the British team.
Alex Albon needs to push the team
After spending a year on the sidelines, Alex Albon returned to the F1 grid with the Williams F1 team in the 2022 season partnering with Latifi.
While the team believes that the British Thai driver has brought positive growth to the team, Technical Director Francois-Xavier Demaison believes that he needs to push the team a bit more.
How the Williams duo compared in 2022 👀#F1 @WilliamsRacing pic.twitter.com/G6sTuNiSY7
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 30, 2022
The British finished the 2022 campaign at the very bottom at P10 with only 8 points to its name. 4 of these points came through Albon while Latifi only brought 2. The reaming 2 points were scored by Mercedes reserve driver Nyck De Vries.
Reviewing Albon’s performance, Demaison said that Alvon is a nice person but he should be a bit harder during the debriefs.
