High-profile sponsors are nervous, as formula one ploughs ahead with next week’s Bahrain grand prix.

Despite widespread trepidation felt within the paddock this weekend in Shanghai, the FIA has declared that there is no reason the Sakhir event cannot go ahead.

And after meeting with the teams on Friday, Bernie Ecclestone told reporters the race is “200 per cent” on.

But The Times reports that, amid the threat of violence, some sponsors have pulled the plug on providing hospitality for guests next weekend.

“When you have an environment like Bahrain then all the sponsors will be watching developments very, very closely and talking to each other,” a source said.

“It’s a case of ‘watch this space’ basically.”

However, the British newspaper said it is unlikely any major sponsors will pull their logos from the cars.

“(They) will effectively just have to follow the sport,” said Tim Bampton, of the motor sports marketing company Just Marketing.

“They will have to watch and wait to see what happens even though they could be caught in the vortex.”

But, at the same time, it is believed that sponsors’ contracts with the teams – such as Vodafone’s estimated $75m deal with McLaren – contain “brand damage” clauses.

An added complication for McLaren is that it is part owned by Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, with Mumtalakat Holdings “on course to own half the business” according to writer Kevin Eason.

Also under heavy scrutiny is the conspicuously silent FIA president Jean Todt, whose son Nicolas shares ownership of his GP2 team with Bahrain’s controversial crown prince.

“We all know why it (the Bahrain saga) might have dragged a bit,” Mark Webber is quoted by the Telegraph.

“F1 is like that. There’s a lot of funding and finances that have come from Abu Dhabi and Bahrain and the Middle East.

“They’re very excited about F1 and they clearly want to give it another go. Let’s see if it works,” added the Red Bull driver.

Boss Franz Tost as well as Jaime Alguersuari have denied that Toro Rosso’s new sponsorship deal has secured the future of the Spanish driver.
The fact that the logos of the Spanish oil company Cepsa have been added to the livery of the STR6 this weekend was interpreted by some as good news for Alguersuari.

The 21-year-old Spaniard, as well as his Swiss teammate Sebastien Buemi, are under pressure by Toro Rosso’s owner Red Bull to prove they should not be replaced for 2012 by Daniel Ricciardo.

“It’s good that they (Cepsa) have come along, because the team needs the money,” Spanish media reports quote Alguersuari as saying at Monza.

“But I don’t think they have come for me, they have come for Toro Rosso because we are a young team with huge potential,” he insisted.

And Tost told The National newspaper: “Jaime’s future with the team is exactly the same as it was before Cepsa came on board.”

Alguersuari also told Spanish reporters that Toro Rosso’s 2012 car has been in the wind tunnel now for “about a month and a half”.

Meanwhile, he said he quickly got over the Belgian grand prix two weeks ago, when Bruno Senna took him out at the first corner.

“I don’t stay angry for long,” said Alguersuari. “Bruno sent me a message and apologised, which I accept. We can all make mistakes, even big ones like that.

“I hope I never make one that destroys the race of another.”

HRT left the F1 teams association FOTA because it did not pay last year’s membership fees.

That is the claim of Simone Perillo, despite an HRT spokeswoman earlier insisting that the departure was the Spanish team’s decision due to FOTA being “more for the big teams than the small ones”.

“For our interests it is better not to be there,” the HRT spokeswoman said.

But Perillo, Swiss-based FOTA’s general secretary, confirmed that HRT did not pay the full EUR 100,000 membership fee for last year.

“I can confirm that (the team) did not fulfil their 2010 FOTA membership fee obligations,” he told the Reuters news agency.

The logos of the other eleven F1 teams are still showing on the FOTA website.

McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh, with Stefano Domenicali as his vice-chairman, is expected to retain the chairmanship in 2011, despite earlier expectations that Williams’ Adam Parr might be appointed.

Vitaly Petrov’s hopes of retaining his Renault race seat beyond 2010 got a boost at Suzuka.

Just as Kimi Raikkonen pulled out of the running for the rookie’s drive, it emerged that another Russian sponsor has joined the team.

Recently, the logos of Vyborg Shipyard – reportedly with Petrov’s father sitting on the board – were added to the livery of the R30.

And now in Japan, Renault has announced another deal for the rest of the season with Flagman, a Russian vodka brand.

Flagman said Petrov “presents a unique opportunity to enhance the brand within its domestic market”.

Commented team owner Gerard Lopez: “We have worked hard this year to develop new relationships in Russia, and we are pleased to see this effort bearing fruit.”

Sauber on Monday finally confirmed long-time rumours linking the Swiss team with a major Mexican investment.

The Hinwil based outfit said GP2 driver Sergio Perez will be Kamui Kobayashi’s teammate in 2011, while the 20-year-old Mexican’s sponsor Telmex has signed up as a major team backer.

The telecommunications giant’s billionaire boss is Carlos Slim Helu, the richest man in the world.

His son Carlos Slim Domit said: “We feel very proud to be able to consolidate these years of work for having a Mexican driver in F1 with Sauber.”

Mexican teenage GP3 driver Esteban Gutierrez will be Sauber’s reserve driver next year.

Said Perez: “I would like to thank Peter Sauber for the faith he’s shown in me and I’ll do everything I can to make the most of this wonderful opportunity.”

In a media statement, Sauber said Telmex logos “will have a significant presence” on the cars from 2011.

“We are happy and proud that they are taking this step with us,” said team boss and founder Peter Sauber.

On Wednesday in Monaco, Mercedes confirmed that it has concluded a sponsorship deal with Deutsche Post.

We reported in March that the German logistics giant, who through its subsidiary DHL is already an official partner of the world championship itself, is in talks about backing the Brackley based team.

It was rumoured that the deal could be ready to debut in Spain last weekend, but in fact the logos will be added to the livery and front wing of the grey W01 car in Monaco.

“The team has been very successful in attracting new partners over the past months and Deutsche Post is a very welcome addition,” said team chief executive Nick Fry.

(GMM)

Apr.30 (GMM)  The logo of team boss Tony Fernandes’ AirAsia airline could soon feature on the 2010 Lotus car.

We reported last month that because the logos are already seen prominently on Williams’ FW32, Fernandes was instead content to advertise his investment firm Tune Group on the green T127.

But according to a report in Finland’s leading newspaper Turun Sanomat, the situation might be different when the heavily updated cars emerge from the pits in Barcelona next week.

The report said the AirAsia logo “will be displayed” on the Lotus in Spain.

Meanwhile, we also reported in March that the logos of the Brazilian oil company Petrobras might be added to the T127′s livery in Barcelona.

But Turun Sanomat said the deal has not been done in time to debut at the Spanish grand prix.