Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas has signed a multi-year extension to its title sponsorship of Formula One motor-racing team Mercedes.
Under the agreement, the team will continue to be officially known as Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.
Mercedes said during the British Grand Prix weekend that the new long-term deal was signed last winter. The length of the new agreement was not disclosed but the Autosport.com website said that it would run for at least another three years.
As part of the deal, Petronas will continue to benefit from prominent brand exposure on Mercedes’ cars, and on the race suits of drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
Mercedes made the announcement amid growing speculation that the team could quit Formula One at the end of the 2018 season, when Petronas’ deal was due to end. Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit is also due to host its final F1 race this year after an agreement was reached to end its contract early.
The circuit’s hosting agreement will come to an end following this year’s event on October 1. Petronas is also the title sponsor of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
However, Petronas president and group chief executive, Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, said: “We fully intend to end on a high in Sepang – and to make this a race for everybody to remember.
“Our involvement in motorsports actually began in 1995, which is a few years before the first race in Sepang in 1999. And we intend to stay the course. The partnership has given us very positive results for many years and I am pleased to announce the extension of the sponsorship contract with the team.”