Mutua Madrilena leaves Renault

[DemocalypseNow]

Spanish insurance company Mutua Madrilena has requested to end its sponsorship deal with Renault with immediate effect following the race-fixing scandal.

Spanish media reported a statement from the company as saying that, according to the contract, "Renault must comply with all the FIA rules and regulations at all times as a competitor in the world championship" and that Renault's "substantial breach" has led Mutua Madrilena to terminate its contract.

Mutua Madrilena, who had returned to Renault at the start of the 2008 season with Fernando Alonso, said it did not want to continue with a team that caused a crash "in a deliberate manner."

"The behaviour of relevant people in the team was of extraordinary seriousness and it compromised not only the integrity of the sport, but also put in danger the lives of spectators, drivers and circuit personnel, which is something that can affect the image, reputation and good name of the team's sponsors," Mutua Madrilena said in the statement.

The company, however, said it would continue its sponsoring of Alonso.

Hmmm...as much as it seems completely reasonable to leave on those grounds, I also think its handy timing for them to be able to bail out of their multi-year deal to follow Alonso to Ferrari next year, perhaps? Remember when they cancelled their deal with McLaren for 2008? Maybe another ominous sign of the Alonso switch.

[shinji]

Not everything is relevant to a possible Alonso/Ferrari switch. Sorry to be blunt, but I wish people would just shut up until an announcement is made.

[dr-baker]

Not everything is relevant to a possible Alonso/Ferrari switch. Sorry to be blunt, but I wish people would just shut up until an announcement is made.

Agreed. People have been going on about Alonso going to Ferrari for years and he still seems no closer to that seat (in public at least).

[Debaser]

According to Jonathan Noble's twitter ING have buggered off with immediate effect. We may be shot of that awful colour scheme finally, but Renault may be shot of their finances the way this is going.

[tristan1117]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78831

Prepare for a completely white Renault in Singapore... Better than the current one though.

[Paul Hayes]

It comes to something when even Brawn have more sponsors than you do.

[Ulfuls]

According to Jonathan Noble's twitter ING have buggered off with immediate effect. We may be shot of that awful colour scheme finally, but Renault may be shot of their finances the way this is going.

Yep. That flushing sound you hear is money draining out of Enstone.

At least we might see a classic white-and-yellow Renault... for one or two races anyway.

This doesn't look good -- one Spanish sponsor looking to follow Alonso is one thing, but now that two of them have gone in the space of a few hours the other rats will presumably abandon ship. If they do have a title sponsor lined up for next year, I'm sure that sponsor will either try to get out, or try to get a hefty reduction in the cost.

Options for next year then:

(a) Pay drivers! Good for Rejectdom, not so good for Renault's title challenge. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the deepest-pocketed driver these days one N. Piquet, Jnr.?

(b) a quick rebrand to Nissan (or Samsung, why not?) to lance the boil and try to attract some sponsorship.

(c) sale to... somebody... Piquet GP, anyone?

[Nuppiz]

Even if they weren't destroyed directly by the court, it's happening undirectly...

[DemocalypseNow]

I already proposed Christian Baha buying them out, rebadging the works engines as Nissans and hiring Taku

Hopefully, with no sponsors left, they will just go back to the Mild Seven livery (minus the actuall MS branding). That car looked good.

[Cynon]

It's official -- Renault is boned. Two sponsors ditching them in under 48 hours tops what happened to Jeremy Mayfield (if you follow NASCAR, if not, Mayfield was accused of doing meth even though it was never proven) earlier in the year. I'm actually expecting the two Renault cars to start and park (which is a virulent plague in NASCAR these days). Which literally means, go out, do X number of laps, and then retire, because it's cheaper to do that then to race.

Andrea Montermini start and parked the Pacific many years ago -- his interview even says as much.

[DemocalypseNow]

It's official -- Renault is boned. Two sponsors ditching them in under 48 hours tops what happened to Jeremy Mayfield (if you follow NASCAR, if not, Mayfield was accused of doing meth even though it was never proven) earlier in the year. I'm actually expecting the two Renault cars to start and park (which is a virulent plague in NASCAR these days). Which literally means, go out, do X number of laps, and then retire, because it's cheaper to do that then to race.

Andrea Montermini start and parked the Pacific many years ago -- his interview even says as much.

Yeah.
NASCAR's Race To The Garage is at times more unpredictable than an F1 race. Who will park it first? Tony Raines? Dave Blaney? Joe Nemechek? The excitement is killing me!

Although, Renault are a manufacturer. They have a Road Division to please.
If it'd happened to Toro Rosso I could have gone with that theory, but with Renault, I highly doubt it.

[Captain Hammer]

According to Jonathan Noble's twitter ING have buggered off with immediate effect. We may be shot of that awful colour scheme finally, but Renault may be shot of their finances the way this is going.

The sponsor money has already been paid, and Renault have no further upgrades for the rest of the season. Once 2010 comes around, they should be able to convince potential sponsors that they're no longer the same Renault and intend upon redeeming themselves.

[eytl]

We may be shot of that awful colour scheme finally

I know the whole world disagrees with me on this, but ...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

I liked the combo of white, red, orange and yellow! And actually I presume the livery will stay in Singapore, it's just the ING logos that will be removed. Plus with only three rounds left after Singapore, all of them fly-away, I can't see Renault changing base livery until next season - when ING would have left anyway.

[Ulfuls]

According to Jonathan Noble's twitter ING have buggered off with immediate effect. We may be shot of that awful colour scheme finally, but Renault may be shot of their finances the way this is going.

The sponsor money has already been paid, and Renault have no further upgrades for the rest of the season. Once 2010 comes around, they should be able to convince potential sponsors that they're no longer the same Renault and intend upon redeeming themselves.

I wonder. If they don't have sponsorship until into 2010, they've probably left it too late -- they'll need to be getting 2010 sponsors on board now so they have the money to develop the 2010 car, do testing, etc etc. If they already have/had a title sponsor, that agreement presumably contains an out for the sponsor in the event of misconduct; if they are still looking for sponsorship, the combination of crashgate, existing sponsors moving calmly but quickly to the emergency exits, and Fernando decamping for Ferrari is not going to inspire confidence.

I think they're in real trouble. They wouldn't be the first team to just run out of money and grind to a halt.

[Ulfuls]

The sponsor money has already been paid,

If I were ING and if I did pay in advance, I would make sure that if I terminated the sponsorship agreement for cause, the team would be required to pay me back the money for the portion of the season that my logo didn't appear on the car. Renault could find themselves owing a packet to the terminating sponsors. If the ING deal is worth $65 million a year, the last four races (assuming that's how they break it down) would be about $15 million...

[Cynon]

We may be shot of that awful colour scheme finally

I know the whole world disagrees with me on this, but ...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

I liked the combo of white, red, orange and yellow! And actually I presume the livery will stay in Singapore, it's just the ING logos that will be removed. Plus with only three rounds left after Singapore, all of them fly-away, I can't see Renault changing base livery until next season - when ING would have left anyway.

I like a combo of white, red, orange and yellow as well, but it has to look good before it meets my approval.

[Ross Prawn]

Get on the phone! I expect to see them in F1 Rejects livery by the next race.

[Yannick]

The driver with the "deepest pockets", as you call it Ulfuls, these days would be one-time GP2 points leader Vitaly Petrov, who had already been rumored in connection with Renault.

[Captain Hammer]

The driver with the "deepest pockets", as you call it Ulfuls, these days would be one-time GP2 points leader Vitaly Petrov, who had already been rumored in connection with Renault.

He's been linked with Campos and Force India. I haven't heard a word on the Reault connection; I tinnk it mostly came about because he signed Briatore as manager. But I'm pretty sure Renault won't have to stoop to a pay driver this year.

[Many Blue Flags]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78841

Don't worry, the colour scheme remains. They've just put Renault instead of ING

[Pedro_Diniz]

Yes, because that is *so* much more appealing.

[Mister Fungus]

I'm thinking that both of these sponsors were meaning to pull out anyway, so they just used this as an excuse to do it earlier.

[Paul Hayes]

I'm thinking that both of these sponsors were meaning to pull out anyway, so they just used this as an excuse to do it earlier.

ING certainly had already announced they were not continuing beyond the end of the season.