"Having successfully won an arbitration against ROKiT in the UK and successfully petitioning for the arbitral award to be confirmed by a federal court in the United States, Williams continues to trust in the court processes in regards to this unfortunate matter." The claim says that "as a direct and proximate result of the fraudulent statements made by the defendants, plaintiffs have suffered significant financial loss and damage to their goodwill and business reputation," and asks for compensation for "an amount in excess of $149,528,550 dollars".Īsked about the legal action, the team told Autosport: "Williams Racing is aware of this spurious claim. It adds that the "defendants intentionally and fraudulently concealed the fact that Williams Engineering simply did not have enough money to develop the F1 car".
The new court submission claims that "the arbitrator was not aware of the fraudulent concealment of statements of material facts by defendants that were not discovered until after the arbitration had concluded," and that ROKiT "learned that the car was never capable of performing to the standards that defendants had guaranteed to the plaintiffs, and that defendants were aware of and concealed this fact". The dispute over the unpaid fees for 2020 subsequently went to the London Court of International Arbitration, where Williams ultimately proved successful. ROKiT boss Jonathan Kendrick signed a three-year with Williams in January 2019, and his company was the title sponsor of the team for the whole of that season.ĭuring 2019, the deal was subsequently extended by a further two years, and an additional arrangement with the sister ROKiT drinks company was also agreed upon. The action has been launched on behalf of parent companies ROKiT World Inc and ROKiT World Limited by Larry Klayman, a well-known lawyer previously involved in several high-profile legal actions, including some against former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. In addition to the team itself, the action names as defendants erstwhile deputy team principal Claire Williams, as well as former team executives Mike O'Driscoll - who served as CEO - and Doug Lafferty - who was chief financial officer.Īll three left the team in the autumn of 2020 as a result of the takeover by Dorilton.
ROKiT claims that Williams promised that it would have a competitive car in 2019 while knowing that it did not have sufficient funds to back up that claim.
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