WilliamsF1 confirms deal with 'King of Beers'.

As had been widely tipped since the French Grand Prix weekend, leading beer brand Budweiser has joined forces with the BMW WilliamsF1 team to serve as an 'official sponsor' for the next few seasons.

As part of the agreement, the Budweiser logo will be featured on the cars driven by two of the sport's hottest drivers - Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher - as well as on driver and team uniforms. The brand also will have rights to use the drivers' images, team logo and cars in advertising and sales promotion initiatives.

The sponsorship announcement, which had been rumours for the past fortnight, follows hot on the heels of two consecutive one-two finishes for Schumacher and Montoya at the European and French Grands Prix, and immediately precedes the new partnership's first race together, at Silverstone this weekend.

"Our sponsorship of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team enables Budweiser to reach a global audience of racing fans by leveraging the resources and marketing expertise of two industry leaders," said Tony Ponturo, the Anheuser-Busch company's vice-president of global media and sports marketing, "For more than 25 years, WilliamsF1 has been synonymous with the best in Formula One racing, and we look forward to continuing the team's winning tradition at this weekend's British Grand Prix."

For Williams and engine partner BMW, the deal represents a major coup, as Budweiser had been tipped to make its first foray into Formula One with world champions Ferrari, only to switch camps late in the day.

"Budweiser is one of the world's most admired and identifiable brands, and of course has an impressive history as a patron of motor racing," said team boss Frank Williams, referring to the company's previous sponsorship of American motorsports, "I represent the whole team in saying that we feel extremely privileged to form a commercial alliance with a brand of this stature and importance."

Budweiser sponsors a variety of motorsports teams and, in the past 14 years, they have produced 36 national and world championships. Budweiser was an associate sponsor during Montoya's Indianapolis 500 victory in 2000 - when he became the first rookie to win the event since 1966 - and has served as 'official beer' sponsor of NASCAR and the National Hot Rod Association [NHRA]. Individual deals include backing Winston Cup star Dale Earnhardt Jr, the Miss Budweiser unlimited hydroplane team, and the NHRA's Kenny Bernstein.

The deal with WilliamsF1 adds to the team's recent sponsorship captures - allegedly in a restricted market - which include Xilinx and smoking preventative Niquitin CQ.