In a move to help return the Canadian Grand Prix to the 2004 Formula One calendar, Jacques Villeneuve's British American Racing squad became the first tobacco-sponsored team to agree to race in Montreal without cigarette logos.
At the request of its Montreal-based subsidiary Imperial Tobacco, British American Tobacco announced yesterday that it would he prepared to come to Canada without its Lucky Strike and 555 branding on its cars.
"[British American Tobacco]were quite understanding about it and they came around after a while," Imperial Tobacco chief executive Bob Bexon said. "There is such agony going on in Montreal about the loss of the race, so we thought we'd take a shot at it.
"We are citizens of the Montreal community, and if there was something we could do about it, we were going to do it."
Imperial Tobacco was the title sponsor of the F1 race in Montreal until 2000, when tighter antitobacco laws ended the association. Earlier this month, F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone informed the Canadian Grand Prix organizers that it was left off next year's schedule because of a cigarette sponsorship ban in Canada beginning Oct. 1.
British American Tobacco owns the Formula One team it sponsors, so the decision to race in Montreal without the cigarette brands was relatively easy for the tobacco company and does not bring any penalty, apart from the loss of advertising value, Bexton said.
The other four teams with tobacco logos -- Ferrari, Jordan, McLaren and Renault -- must pay their sponsors an estimated $4-million fee to race without cigarette branding. All the cigarette sponsors must agree to race in Montreal without their logos, or the race would not happen.