McLaren launches partnership with British American Tobacco

McLaren has announced it has launched a partnership with British American Tobacco. The multi-year agreement is said to revolve around a shared goal of innovation and technological advancement.

Formula One, like other sports around the world, is under restrictions when it comes to sponsorship by Tobacco companies forbidding the advertising of tobacco products.

In 2011, the sport eliminated any branding linked with tobacco sponsorship, bringing to an end the Ferrari-Marlboro partnership, although the Italian team is once again caught up in a sponsorship row over the Philip Morris Mission Winnow branding.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown said that the deal was a match for the team in relation to their ambitious aims of pushing technology and enacting change.

BAT chief marketing officer Kingsley Wheaton added that innovation and technology were at the heart of the partnership.