McLaren lose Enkei as sponsors for F1 2022 season, Japanese wheel manufacturer supplied rims since 1995

McLaren F1 racing team has dropped the Japanese car and motorcycle wheel manufacturer Enkei for the 2022 season after a 27-year partnership. The company has been supplying rims for the team since 1995.

The Woking-based team has several partnerships for its F1 wing that include Dell, Darktrace, Uniliver, Webex and Coca-Cola, to name a few. The team also had a special livery for the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix. The team has a deep-rooted and successful racing history with Gulf, and the two brands revived their relationship in July 2020 when the team announced the brand’s return as an official strategic partner.

The team finished the 2021 season P4 behind Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari- with their drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finishing P6 and P8 in the drivers' championship, respectively.

McLaren Boss Andreas Seidel 'satisfied' with 2022 developments

With the regulation changes coming into effect from 2022, all 10 teams have been focussing on getting their packages right to make sure they have a fighting chance in what looks set to be an unpredictable season.

Even though all the teams have been working hard getting the cars ready, Andreas Seidl admitted the final positions are going to be difficult to predict:

"You have absolutely no reference, nevertheless you naturally try to set yourself ambitious but also realistic goals as a team. From my point of view, I am very happy with the development I see at the moment. The car is responding to the developments."

The team has gone through several internal structural changes. Coupled with a combined financial boost to the tune of £550million- the team looks confident going into 2022. Seidl continued :

"We really did a major reset in the team more than two years ago in terms of organisation and structure. I am absolutely convinced that we have all the talent on board that we need to take the next steps. Now we simply need time, we have to work together on a daily basis, we have to learn together from things that may not have gone ideally and grow from that."