Saudi Aramco and Aston Martin F1 team enter into partnership

The team has been officially renamed to the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team. (SPA)
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Updated 04 February 2022
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Saudi Aramco and Aston Martin F1 team enter into partnership

  • Aramco already has a strong presence within F1, sponsoring its first race at the Austrian Grand Prix in 2020

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.”

 


Status of Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in doubt less than 2 weeks before start in Morocco

Updated 58 min 55 sec ago
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Status of Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in doubt less than 2 weeks before start in Morocco

  • “The matter is receiving urgent and high level attention,” September said on X
  • “We will never be held hostage by countries that have less than what we have,” McKenzie said

CAIRO: Doubts over Morocco’s willingness to host the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in less than two weeks have prompted the Confederation of African Football to say it will clarify the matter in the coming days.
“There has been several discussions for weeks. The matter is receiving urgent and high level attention,” CAF’s communications chief Luxolo September said on the social network X on Wednesday.
Morocco is due to host the tournament for the third time straight from March 17 to April 3, but reports that the country will withdraw have persisted despite CAF president Patrice Motsepe saying on Feb. 13 that the 16th edition of the tournament was to go ahead in the kingdom as planned.


“We still have an engagement with Morocco,” Motsepe said at the time, when he ruled out changing the dates because the tournament doubles as a qualifying event for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
South Africa previously offered to step in as host.
On Wednesday, South African sports minister Gayton McKenzie blasted Morocco for leaving the status of the tournament in doubt 13 days before it is due to begin.
“If Morocco is ready to host the WAFCON because they had a brilliant AFCON, they should do so. But if they are not ready, we want to tell them, we are not a country with no stadiums, we are not a country with less infrastructure. We will never be held hostage by countries that have less than what we have,” McKenzie said. “We will not allow women to be treated in such a fashion.”
CAF expanded the tournament to 16 teams in a surprise decision in November.
Nigeria are the defending champion after coming back to beat Morocco 3-2 in the final last year.
Morocco also lost the final of the men’s Africa Cup to Senegal in January.
The ambitious kingdom is also a co-host for the men’s World Cup in 2030.