The agreement
It was the season 2019 when the Williams presented his to the world FW42, a single-seater still remembered today for various reasons, not all positive: George Russell made his Formula 1 debut with that car flanked by Robert Kubica, on his return as an official driver after the serious accident that occurred in 2011 during the Andona Rally. What struck the enthusiasts were not only these innovations in terms of line-up, but also from an aesthetic point of view of the livery. In the midst of the financial crisis, aggravated by the abandonment of a sponsor like Martini, the Grove team managed to close agreements with various companies, but the most important and profitable commercial partnership was the one reached with the US telephone company ROKITwhich also became the team’s title sponsor for that year.
Immediate divorce
However, the collaboration between the two realities was interrupted very soon, already in May 2020, before the start of that World Cup, conditioned by the pandemic. The FW42, which turned out to be the worst car never designed by Williams in terms of results, it was in fact presented by the top management of the team at ROKiT as a single-seater technically capable of rescuing the team from a period of competitive crisis, revealing instead to be completely bankrupt, with even zero points obtained. These broken promises have spawned an ongoing litigation between ROKiT and Williams, which is now heading to another pivotal chapter.
Broken promises
The US brand has indeed named the team and members of its former management (Claire Williams, CEO Mike O’Driscoll and Chief Financial Officer Doug Lafferty) as defendants in the case filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Specifically, ROKiT asked 149 million dollars in damages to the English teamclaiming that the latter had indicated that he possessed “Industry-leading performance capabilities, including a Mercedes-Benz engine, and would have excellent chance to be competitiveto the point of being able to place himself at the top of the standings, and of not owning a slower car than the one in 2018″.
Image damage
In addition, ROKiT claims that the defendants “they intentionally and fraudulently concealed the fact that Williams simply he didn’t have enough money to develop the car of F1 that would have been subject to the Sponsorship Agreements to an industry leading standard, and therefore the Defendants knew that the F1 car which would be subject to the Accords had no chance of being competitive, or at least of placing at the top of the table, actively concealing this fact from the subsidiaries of the ROK plaintiffs and MRI”. Finally, ROKiT added that it has “immediately one significant financial loss and damage at start up and to commercial reputation” as a result of Williams’ results. Therefore, the company demanded “an amount in excess of $149,528,550 or such amount to be determined by a jury in trial as compensatory damages”
