Newspaper never said McLaren lost whisky sponsor

Johnnie Walker parent Diageo declined to step up its deal with McLaren to title sponsorship.

Days ago, we reported incorrectly that because Bernie Ecclestone had signed the whisky brand as an official F1 sponsor, it meant Johnnie Walker was leaving McLaren.

In fact, Mirror correspondent Byron Young had claimed only that McLaren had hoped Diageo, the British alcohol drink multinational, would choose to expand the team deal to finally replace departed Vodafone as title sponsor.

McLaren has also moved to clarify the situation in the past days, a source admitting that while Diageo did decline to step up to title sponsorship, Johnnie Walker will continue to be represented on the livery of next year’s Honda-powered car.

The team source also pointed out that Diageo’s new deal to become the ’Official Whisky’ of formula one is "comparatively small" and therefore not related to Diageo’s decision-making with regards to McLaren.

"At no point does Byron’s story allege that McLaren has lost Diageo as a sponsor," the McLaren source clarified.