ROKiT ordered to compensate Williams to the tune of 32 million euros

Californian justice orders the company ROKiT, Williams' title sponsor in 2019 before its sudden withdrawal at the start of 2020, to compensate the British team to the tune of more than 30 million euros.

Published on 03/12/2022 à 15:03

Dorian Grangier

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ROKiT ordered to compensate Williams to the tune of 32 million euros

The 2020 Williams ROKiT livery will only have been used for pre-season testing in Barcelona © Florent Gooden / DPPI

The end of a long fight for Williams. The British team will receive just over £26 million (more than €30 million) from its former title sponsor ROKiT after winning a crucial legal battle against the American company. The sentence was confirmed by the California court in a judgment made public Thursday.

Arriving as title sponsor ahead of the 2019 season, ROKiT – a company mainly specialized in mobile telephony – had initially signed a sponsorship contract until 2023. However, even before the start of the 2020 campaign, the company had suddenly disengaged, in the midst of a health crisis linked to Covid-19. The white and red livery unveiled (and used) during winter testing in Barcelona in 2020 was therefore not presented in the Grand Prix.

A 32 million victory for Williams

Considering itself wronged, the Williams team then took the matter to the British courts to obtain the sum contractually owed to it. ROKiT had withheld payments it owed Williams for the remainder of their contract. Initially, the London Court of International Arbitration ruled in favor of Grove's structure in 2021 and ordered the American company to pay several million dollars to Williams... which has not yet been done Today. In the meantime, Williams was sold to Dorilton Capital in 2021. The new owners of the team had decided to take the case to Californian courts.

It had been clear for some time that Grove's team was in pole position to win this case, and the California court confirmed it. The final judgment from the California court is that Williams will receive an exact total of £26 from ROKiT to settle this dispute, or approximately €220 million. A sum to which could be added a million dollars for the reimbursement of procedural costs, which would bring the total to nearly 094,25 million euros. A nice jackpot for Williams and good news for the development of the team.

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Dorian Grangier

A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.

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