Martini to be Williams title sponsor (7th Update)
03/03/14 Correction: The Williams Martini photo is a cropped Forza 5 game rendering, not the real thing.
03/03/14
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Finally a photo of the Williams in Martini livery (left).
02/14/14
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(GMM) Martini, the famous Italian drinks brand, is Williams' new title sponsor.
The speculation entered the realm of fact this week when the website grandprix247.com spotted images of Martini-themed Williams team shirts at officially-licensed F1 merchandiser OnPole.
The images were subsequently removed.
But speculation of the scale of the Martini deal continues to tie in with Williams' pre-season activities so far, where the team has been running a plan blue livery in testing.
Williams says it will only launch its 2014 race livery in Australia.
Italy's specialist Autosprint reports that the Martini deal will not be limited to mere branding on Williams' shirts and livery.
The report said it is believed the deal gives Martini full naming and livery rights, meaning the Williams will be relaunched in iconic white, blue and red and as Williams Martini Racing.
02/11/14 These leaked images are more evidence that Martini will return to F1 in 2014 to sponsor Williams.
01/24/14 Quite a coincidence Sutton Images' Twitter account placed an old photo of Carlos Reutemann in the Martini Racing Brabham on their Twitter account this morning. Hmm……You read it here first.
01/24/14 (GMM) Martini, the Italian alcoholic drink label, is returning to formula one.
That is the claim of Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, reporting that the former Ferrari sponsor will return with its well-known logo on the Williams livery this year.
Correspondent Tobias Gruner said Martini has pledged a "two digit million sum" for its F1 return, which will be warmly welcomed by Williams following the departure of Pastor Maldonado and his PDVSA millions.
Martini was last in F1 during Ferrari's Jean Todt era, but its involvement dates back much further, including when it sponsored Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team in the 70s.
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01/22/14 Remember when Martini & Rossi Champagne sponsored cars in F1 – the Gordon Murray/Bernie Ecclestone Brabham and Mario Andretti Lotus come to mind, among others. Well rumor has it they may return as a sponsor of the Williams F1 team.