PDVSA paid 18 million euros to Williams for his departure
Following Pastor Maldonado's departure to Lotus, a driver it supported, the company PDVSA also left Williams. However, this premature contract termination allowed the British team to receive a compensation payment of approximately 18 million euros.
Pastor Maldonado left the Williams team to join Lotus this season, bringing with him his sponsor, the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA. However, the departure of the latter did not come without compensation for the Grove team.
Williams Group published its financial results for the year 2013 yesterday—presence on the stock exchange obliges—and it shows an increase of 26 million euros in its revenues for the Formula 1 branch. According to Reuters and Autosport, this increase will be largely due to the payment from PDVSA for an early contract termination.
PDVSA would have thus paid approximately 15 million pounds sterling, or a little more than 18 million euros, to the Williams team to terminate the contract earlier than expected following Maldonado’s departure.
The head of the team, Sir Frank Williams, praised the good commercial results of his team last year despite a difficult season on the track: Even though the 2013 season was challenging on the track for the team, we are publishing these results at a time that offers greater optimism for the Williams group. We have started the 2014 season well and hope that we can continue to improve our performance.
« We have made good progress from a commercial perspective this winter [notably with the arrival of Martini, Ed.] and Williams continues to attract enthusiastic and loyal partners and fans. These annual results demonstrate that we continue to manage our business in an economically responsible manner and we are laying the foundations from which we can continue to grow, » added Sir Frank Williams.
