Accenture extends WilliamsF1 sponsorship.

The WilliamsF1 team has confirmed that long-time backer Accenture is extending its sponsorship until 2005, as well as providing the team with additional business consulting services.

Accenture's commercial association with WilliamsF1, which dates back to 1995, includes sponsorship of the team as well as the provision of strategy and technology consulting services. As part of this relationship, Accenture has advised WilliamsF1 on a multi-year business strategy to help the team respond to the rapidly changing nature of Formula One and worked with the team to develop a new web site that was launched in January 2001.

In addition to extending its sponsorship, Accenture will help WilliamsF1 enhance its product development cycle to support improved performance on the track. This will include both strategic and business process consulting with WilliamsF1. As part of this process, Accenture will undertake a major review of WilliamsF1's development process management procedures to ensure they represent best practices and support the organisation's growth as Formula One becomes ever more sophisticated and complex.

"Generating advantage in Formula One is achieved very much at the margins," said Frank Williams, team principal and managing director of WilliamsF1, "To extract maximum advantage from our development process, the BMW WilliamsF1 team will continue to benefit from the expertise of Accenture. The diversity and value of project expertise that Accenture brings to our organisation cannot be underestimated in our quest for success on the race track."

Accenture is the world's leading management consulting and technology services organisation. Through its network of businesses approach - in which the company enhances its consulting and outsourcing expertise through alliances, affiliated companies and other capabilities.

"Accenture's long-term involvement with the BMW WilliamsF1 team has always run deeper than straightforward sponsorship," said Tim Gilchrist, a partner in Accenture's automotive practice, "We are delighted not only to extend our sponsorship, but also to help in the dovetailing of WilliamsF1's and BMW's development processes to enable them to achieve even better results."