Team owner Sir Frank Williams says he's confident a "pretty big" brand will replace the departing RBS signage on next year's Williams team car. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

F1's New Sponsor Is Good 'Signal' For Williams: The arrival in F1 of Swiss bank UBS is helping Williams in its search for a new major sponsor for 2011. It recently emerged that the sport has sealed a sponsorship deal with UBS that will be launched in Singapore later this month. The news was warmly welcomed by Adam Parr, chairman of the independent British team Williams which is preparing to lose major sponsor Royal Bank of Scotland at the end of the season. "The signal that this will send is that other global players need to be looking at the fundamentals that F1 offers and not being influenced by 'political correctness,'" he told Reuters. The 'political correctness' comment is no doubt a referral to the global economic crisis, with former Renault backer ING being yet another bailed-out bank that pulled out of the sport. Credit Suisse left F1 before the 2009 season. "The bottom line is that Formula One sells products and services and intelligent companies can see the opportunities it offers," insisted Parr. Team owner Sir Frank Williams said he is confident a "pretty big" brand will replace the departing RBS signage on next year's car. Asked how the search for a new sponsor was proceeding, he answered: "Very slow, but very busy. I wouldn't say there are an enormous number of leads, but there's a lot of talking going on between us and various companies. I think we will land something pretty big despite the difficulties."

Kolles Hints HRT To Keep Same Race Lineup: Team boss Colin Kolles has backed Sakon Yamamoto's claim that the Japanese driver is set to keep his race seat with HRT in 2010. Yamamoto, and reportedly a healthy raft of personal sponsors, joined the struggling Spanish team's race lineup at Silverstone, and said this week he will stay in the car for the rest of the season. The 28-year-old said he did not know if he would continue to have Bruno Senna as a teammate or whether Karun Chandhok will return, but boss Kolles has hinted that HRT will keep its current drivers for the last six races of 2010. "I think there is no reason to make any changes so far," said Kolles. He said he is pushing hard to improve HRT's financial situation, having recently added some new sponsor logos to the Cosworth-powered F110. "Obviously this is a positive sign but we have to work hard to get as much sponsorship as possible for 2011," said Kolles. "As I mentioned before, in F1 you need a lot of support and this is what we are trying to achieve."

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Sauber Not Dismissing Mexican Rumors: Peter Sauber on Friday refused to dismiss rumors linking his Swiss team with a major investment from Mexico. While working hard on securing a healthy budget for 2011, the formerly BMW-owned team has been running a mainly blank livery this season. But paddock rumors have hinted at talks with Carlos Slim, the Mexican billionaire whose Telmex company already sponsors Sergio Perez in GP2. And already with a Sauber contract is the Mexican teenage GP3 driver Esteban Gutierrez. Asked about the Mexican link, Sauber said: "The team is attractive and has potential because it has an excellent infrastructure, absolutely comparable to that of the top teams. The fact that we cannot really rival the top teams is to do with our financial situation and head count. But the conditions are there," he told F1's official website. Other than that, the Swiss insisted he doesn't "comment on rumors." But he also revealed that Sauber's young driver Gutierrez is closely linked with Slim. "This is the reason why you will find Carlos Slim a bit more often in our hospitality than at those of other teams, but it is also no secret that Carlos Slim is a much-welcomed guest at all the other teams as well," Sauber insisted.

Abu Dhabi Denies Funding Bulgaria F1 Track: Abu Dhabi has denied reports it is helping Bulgaria join the F1 calendar. It emerged earlier this week that an economic cooperation agreement has been signed between the Bulgarian economy minister and the Emirates Associated Business Group, a state-owned Abu Dhabi company. Bulgarian authorities, as well as local agencies and publications, claimed the agreement involves construction of a F1 circuit at the former air base at Dobroslavtsi, 15 kilometers from the capital Sofia. The agreement would reportedly see Abu Dhabi pay for construction of the circuit, with the land provided by Bulgaria. But according to the Bulgarian daily Sega, Abu Dhabi has denied the reports. A statement also said the Emirates Associated Business Group was so disappointed with the incorrect information that it will cancel its Bulgarian investments altogether. Sega quoted the company's chief executive Raid Abu Hudra as saying the officials had acted so unprofessionally that he would advise others against investing in Bulgaria. He said a mediator from the Bulgarian prime minister's office had invited Abu Dhabi to invest in an F1 track but, "We told him we would not be interested."