By Adam Tate, Associate Editor
Red Bull Racing announced a lubricant and sponsorship deal with oil giant ExxonMobil today. The deal is somewhat of a coup against rivals McLaren who have enjoyed a very succesful, 21 year partnership with the world’s wealthiest company.
The deal will see Red Bull use ExxonMobil fuels and lubricants, as well as feature ExxonMobil branding on the cars, the drivers’ fire suits and helmets. Renault, who supplies Red Bull’s engines will stick with fellow French company Total for their lubricant and fuel needs. It will be interesting to see if Red Bull gets the best out of the new Renault power units, or if the all French combination will work better for the factory team.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is delighted with the deal and thinks it can give Red Bull a leg up for 2017 and beyond.
“Mobil 1 has been an iconic brand in Formula One for more than 30 years and our new partnership provides us with a unique opportunity to tap into ExxonMobil’s world class expertise. In addition to welcoming ExxonMobil to the Red Bull Racing stable, I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to the technical team at Total, who have made a valuable contribution to our success in Formula One during our partnership.”
