In 1997 BAT was convinced by Craig Pollock to provide most of the equity to purchase the Tyrrell Formula One team for £30 million. Pollock, Adrian Reynard and Rick Gorne were the minority partners. The deal was announced on 2 December 1997; the team competed as Tyrrell in 1998 before rebranding as BAR in 1999. BAR carried the slogan "A tradition of excellence", which observers found ironic given the team had no competitive history.
For the 1999 season BAR signed 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, managed by Pollock, alongside Formula One rookie Ricardo Zonta. The chassis was built by Reynard Motorsport at a new factory in Brackley and was powered by Supertec (rebadged Renault) engines.
At the car launch BAR unveiled separate liveries: Villeneuve's car in Lucky Strike white and red, Zonta's in 555 blue and yellow. The FIA deemed the dual liveries illegal. BAR lodged complaints with both the International Chamber of Commerce and the European Commission; the team ultimately ran one side of each car in Lucky Strike colours and the other in 555 colours.
The maiden season was disastrous. BAR failed to score a single Constructors' Championship point, the only team of the eleven entered that year to do so. The car showed qualifying pace but suffered chronic reliability issues; Villeneuve started the season with 11 straight retirements before finishing at Belgium, where both he and Zonta had serious qualifying crashes, reportedly from attempting to take Eau Rouge flat. Zonta was injured during practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix and missed three subsequent races; Mika Salo substituted and provided the team's season-best finish of 7th at San Marino.
During 1999 BAR announced Honda as engine supplier from 2000. Honda's involvement included staff working at Brackley and full factory support; it was Honda's first direct Formula One involvement since 1992. Jordan Grand Prix also used Mugen Honda power units initially, leading to a long-term supplier battle between the two teams, which BAR eventually won, becoming Honda's sole team from 2003.
2000: The Honda-powered BAR was significantly more reliable. The team finished 5th in the Constructors' Championship with a best race finish of 4th. Villeneuve remained with the team.
2001: Villeneuve reached the podium twice. His new teammate Olivier Panis scored only at Brazil and Austria. BAR finished 6th in the championship.
2002: Under pressure from BAT, Craig Pollock resigned and was replaced as team principal by David Richards, whose Prodrive company also received a five-year management contract. Technical director Malcolm Oastler and designer Andy Green left. BAR scored points at only three races — Britain (4th and 5th), Italy (6th), and USA (6th) — finishing 8th in the Constructors' Championship with 7 points.
2003: Jenson Button replaced Panis. Villeneuve's contract disputes led to his mid-season replacement by Honda-backed Japanese driver Takuma Sato. Button led a race for the first time at the 2003 United States Grand Prix. The team struggled with Bridgestone tyres and switched to Michelin in the off-season.
2004: BAR's most successful season. Button scored numerous podium finishes and took the team's first pole position at the San Marino Grand Prix. BAR finished 2nd in the Constructors' Championship, behind Ferrari. A contract dispute with WilliamsF1 over Button's services was resolved in BAR's favour by the Contract Recognition Board; Button nonetheless signed a contract to join Williams for 2006. Honda purchased 45% of BAR in November 2004; Richards departed and was replaced as team principal by Nick Fry, and Prodrive's management contract was terminated early.
2005: The season opened poorly. At San Marino BAR was disqualified for running cars whose weight could fall below the 605 kg minimum, a finding the team disputed on the grounds that the engine required a minimum of 6 kg of fuel to operate. The FIA and the relevant court disagreed. The team was banned for two races, including the Monaco Grand Prix. FIA president Max Mosley considered the sanction lenient. BAR scored no points until the French Grand Prix. Sato scored only one point and his contract was not renewed. Button scored in each of the last 10 races, including 2 podium finishes. At season's end Honda completed its acquisition of 100% of the team for British American Tobacco; Button's Williams contract was bought out for US$30 million and he signed a multi-year deal with Honda.
In 2005 BAR tested a modified BAR-Honda 007 chassis with the intention of setting the land speed record for a car meeting FIA Formula One regulations, targeting 400 km/h (249 mph) at Bonneville Salt Flats. The driver was Alan van der Merwe. A shakedown at Mojave Airport on 5 November 2005 recorded speeds of 393, 405, 410, and 413 km/h (244, 252, 255, and 257 mph). Waterlogging of the salt flats postponed the record attempt; the chassis was subsequently used by the successor Honda team to set a new record the following year.
Following Honda's full acquisition, BAR became the Honda Racing F1 Team for 2006. Honda ran the team through 2008. After Honda attempted to sell the team during 2008, a management buy-out led by team principal Ross Brawn and a Mercedes-Benz engine supply deal produced the Brawn GP team, which won the 2009 Constructors' Championship with Jenson Button winning the Drivers' Championship. Mercedes bought the team in November 2009; as of the time covered by this corpus the team competes as the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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