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McLaren to run Esso sponsorship in Bahrain

McLaren has had a partnership with Esso for 20 years © McLaren

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McLaren has confirmed it will run with the Esso sponsorship for the race in Bahrain for the final time this season.

McLaren is currently without a title sponsor but has used its available space to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of its fuels technology partnership with ExxonMobil. The team ran a Mobil sponsorship in Melbourne, and added the company's other fuel brand Esso to the sidepod in Malaysia.

The partnership between the two has stretched over 334 races and 78 race victories and Jonathan Neale, McLaren's chief operating officer, believes the team's long-standing partnership with ExxonMobil could be crucial in 2014.

"ExxonMobil's commitment to technology, research and development over the past 20 years has given them a base of knowledge which is unrivalled in F1," Neale said. "They are fiercely competitive and innovative as a company so for McLaren it is certainly a strong partnership, and one that we are very proud to be associated with and we are very glad to recognise their commitment to us."

When asked by ESPNF1 about a title sponsor for the current season, Neale refused to comment on when or if any announcement is forthcoming, but said there is "a lot of work going on behind the scenes currently".

Bruce Crawley, ExxonMobil's global motorsport technology manager, said: "We are very pleased for Esso to remain on the car this weekend. It's a partnership going back 20 years, and we've been developing and supplying race fuel over that period of time but the work has not always been particularly visible [to viewers]. In a year where race fuel is so critical and important to the performance of the car it is great to have that visibility on the car."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.