Saudi Aramco and Aston Martin F1 team enter into partnership

LONDON: Saudi Aramco and Formula One’s Aston Martin Cognizant team have announced a partnership, which entails sponsorship rights and joint efforts in research and development, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

In addition, the team has been officially renamed to the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team.

The “partnership will drive the development of highly efficient internal combustion engines, high-performance sustainable fuels, advanced lubricants and the deployment of non-metallic materials in vehicles,” the F1 team said in a statement.

“The joint R&D efforts will underpin efforts made by the team to meet Formula One’s target to be powered entirely by sustainable fuels by 2025,” the statement added.

The partnership will also focus on the development and commercialization of fuel-efficient engine technologies to trickle down to passenger cars, and “highly efficient hybrid engines for racing cars,” according to SPA.

Aramco already has a strong presence within F1, sponsoring its first race at the Austrian Grand Prix in 2020, which marked the company’s first global partnership with a major sporting event.

Saudi Aramco senior vice-president of Refining, Processing and Marketing, Mohammed Al-Qahtani, said the partnership “reflects Saudi Aramco’s continued commitment to implementing low-carbon solutions for fuel and engine technologies, which is consistent with efforts aimed at reducing emissions in the automotive and transportation sectors in the world, and the ambition of Saudi Aramco.”