page_title: British American Tobacco
section_title: Motorsport
hierarchical_section_title: British American Tobacco / Sponsorships / Motorsport
caption_attribution_description: Jacques Villeneuve driving for British American Racing at the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix.
context_page_description: British American Tobacco plc is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the largest cigarette maker in the world based on net sales.
  BAT has operations in around 180 countries, and its cigarette brands include Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall and Rothmans. Its brands also include Vype and Vuse and Glo.
  BAT has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. BAT plc ordinary shares are also listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American Depositary Shares.
context_section_description: In 1997 BAT brought its participation in the sport to new levels with the purchase of the Tyrrell team for approximately £30 million. The team raced as Tyrrell for the 1998 season before being renamed as British American Racing (BAR).
  In 2005 a European Union (EU) directive was brought into force which required national governments to legislate to prevent tobacco sponsorship.
  In 2004 BAR announced that technology partner Honda had purchased a 45% stake and in September 2005 it announced that Honda would be buying the remaining 55% stake. The team raced as Honda Racing F1 Team in 2006, the last year of the Lucky Strike sponsorship before leaving the sport. For the 2006 season, the team was renamed as Honda F1 Racing Team, with BAT only advertised at a couple of races. All links between the two companies were severed for 2007.
  In 2019 McLaren signed a multi-year deal with British American Tobacco. McLaren's announcement of a "global partnership" with BAT brings the company back into F1 for the first time since Honda succeeded BAR.
  In late 2019 BAT and McLaren announced the signing of an enhanced partnership deal that saw BAT become a Principal Partner of McLaren for the 2020 Formula 1 season.
caption: Jacques Villeneuve driving for BAR at the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix.
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