Announced in Paris today

Lada will have its branding on Renault's Formula One cars this season.

The deal was announced Thursday as the French team heads into the new season with F1's first-ever Russian driver, Vitaly Petrov, partnering Polish driver Robert Kubica.

Renault team chairman Gerard Lopez says the deal "marks another important step for the Renault F1 team and Formula One in Russia."

Renault owns 25 percent of Lada's parent company AvtoVAZ, which is Russia's biggest car manufacturer.

Lopez said last month, when Petrov was presented by Renault, that the rookie driver's signing was partly to do with breaking into the Russian market.