BAR facing BAT tobacco liability
David Richards, the principal of the BAR F1 team in Brackley, has expressed fears that it could be compelled to relocate to Japan if British American Tobacco remains as its major shareholder beyond July 2005, when the EU will outlaw tobacco sponsorship of sporting competitions with cross-border interest. Richards says that UK legislation goes further by exposing British teams to prosecution if they race with tobacco branding and the images are seen in the UK
"It's a major concern," Richards said at the launch of the BAR 006 racecar in Barcelona. "And it should be a major concern to everyone involved in F1, because the knock-on effect will be significant.
"Because we're a British team, because we're based in Britain, and because our sponsor is based in Britain, we couldn't run cigarette advertising in China [after July 2005]. Yet teams based outside the UK with foreign sponsors could. It's completely prejudicial to British F1 teams - a real disaster in the making.
"Unless BAT is given a reasonable amount of time to work with me to find alternatives, the whole thing will be in Japan by the middle of next year."
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