Dec.21 (GMM) Former F1 driver Alex Yoong has slammed Petronas’ decision to become title sponsor to the Mercedes GP team.
Yoong, who contested 18 grands prix for Minardi in 2001-2, has joined the new Malaysian-owned Lotus team as its head of Asian driver development.
Team Lotus, a joint initiative of the Malaysian government and Malaysian entrepreneurs, had hoped to secure the backing of Petronas, the state-owned oil company.
But after a long association with the Swiss team Sauber, Kuala Lumpur-based Petronas has instead signed a new long term deal to be the rebranded Brawn team’s title sponsor.
“Words fail me,” Yoong, now 33, wrote on his Twitter page.
“Mercedes (is) a good team, no doubt, but what Lotus is doing is completely ground breaking and brave and Petronas not seeing that fills me with shame,” he added.
