McLaren set to announce Petrobras deal

McLaren is set to announce a sponsorship deal with Petrobras, the state-linked Brazilian oil multinational.

According to Grande Premio publication, the deal will be announced on Tuesday but will only actually begin next season — in 2019.

And "The agreement will not involve the hiring of a national (Brazilian) driver", said the report.

Grande Premio said former Williams backer Petrobras will be McLaren’s fuel and oil supplier from 2019. Last year, the Woking team switched from Mobil
to BP-Castrol lubricants.

The report said McLaren and Petrobras engineers will "work together throughout 2018 to develop fuels for next season".

BP-Castrol also supplies lubricants to Renault, who is McLaren’s brand new customer engine supplier for 2018.