F1: Petronas-Mercedes To Not Part Ways At The End Of 2021 Season

Reports had emerged on Sunday that Petronas had decided to part ways with Mercedes at the end of the titanic 2021 season which would've brought an end to an 11-year-old association. Since the advent of the turbo-hybrid V6 era in 2014, Petronas has facilitated Mercedes winning a record 7 consecutive world titles as its fuel, oil partner and, sponsor. After the report, Mercedes came out and refuted the news. 

"Petronas and Mercedes have been partners since 2010 in a long-term collaborative relationship that is mutually beneficial to both parties. Last year, we extended our partnership for another multi-year cycle and we are proud to continue to be working together to deliver cutting-edge performance," said Mercedes in a statement. 

Petronas also gets prominent branding on the Mercedes F1 car 

It had been reported that Petronas was said to bow out of the partnership because of losses it suffered due to the pandemic and Ineos which is the 33 percent owner of the Mercedes F1 team had signed a deal with Aramco and Total Energies. Ineos has a partnership with Aramco which is also one of the lead sponsors for F1 and the title sponsor on three races which led many to believe this was being the case. 

Petronas was the partner for Mercedes since 2010 when the team was rebranded from Brawn GP to Mercedes F1. Aramco's name was also interesting because it is the lead partner for F1 in developing the emissions-free synthetic biofuel which will end up in the new engines that will be introduced in 2026. A big part of the Mercedes success has been the V6 turbo-hybrid engines which it nailed at the advent of the 2014 era an advantage it continues to have to date much in lockstep with Petronas. 

Petronas is also helping Mercedes with the adaptation to the use of 10 per cent E10 fuel which will be in the 2022 engines.