Mclaren and West split

allen_overy · 5 Mar 2003, 05:40 (Ref:525270)

Team Mclaren Mercedes, as now stated by official sources, have said to part company with German tobacco giants "west", their title sponsors for the last five seasons.

Reports have suggested that Mclaren and west have terminated their contract a season early, for reasons which are yet to be clarified. Mclaren are now labelling tehmseleves Team Mclaren Mercedes, and not West mclaren Mercedes, are also thought to want to ahve no further affiliation with the German company.

Additional evidence:
(1) in the MOST recent test Mclaren have been running a full 2003 livery-but without the West sponsoring.
(2) in Mclaren's official site, there is no mentioning of West as their sponsor/partner.

Jukebox · 5 Mar 2003, 05:59 (Ref:525276)

That certainly is not good news...what's the amount of West's sponsorship anyway?

Jukebox · 5 Mar 2003, 06:35 (Ref:525287)

29 mill pound...not that much compared to BAR & Marlboro

twig · 5 Mar 2003, 06:41 (Ref:525290)

im a little unsure about this, of course, if these rumours are true, then the signs that "West" has now been replaced with "Team" in their name, and West has not been featured on their cars in testing lately.

BUT, this can also depend on where they are testing. If they are in France or anywhere else where tobacco sponsorship is not allowed, then these two things make complete sense.

If this is untrue, well, this is a very important story, and concerning.

I certainly hope this is not the case.

Super Tourer · 5 Mar 2003, 06:47 (Ref:525293)

West is owned by Retseema, which was recently bought by Imperial Tobacco (I believe), maybe there is a change in policy?

Jukebox · 5 Mar 2003, 06:51 (Ref:525295)

West is not that popular here...unlike Dunhill & Marlboro, is it popular in Europe?

Kicking-back · 5 Mar 2003, 10:32 (Ref:525448)

The story is completely untrue.

The testing livery didn't feature West because they were testing at Paul Ricard - and tobacco ads are banned in France.

They've also taken it off the website because of the new UK laws on tobacco advertising on the internet.

McLaren will carry West logos wherever it's allowed, beginning this weekend in Melbourne.

Matthopps · 5 Mar 2003, 10:38 (Ref:525459)

Quote:

Originally posted by Kicking-back
The story is completely untrue.

The testing livery didn't feature West because they were testing at Paul Ricard - and tobacco ads are banned in France.

They've also taken it off the website because of the new UK laws on tobacco advertising on the internet.

McLaren will carry West logos wherever it's allowed, beginning this weekend in Melbourne.

The voice of sanity! is this just another case of the rumour mill going into overdrive!

Red · 5 Mar 2003, 10:45 (Ref:525463)

Quote:

Originally posted by allen_overy
Team Mclaren Mercedes, as now stated by official sources

I wouldn't say that I don't believe you, but actually naming the sources especially when they're official would a good start to increase the credibility.

Kicking-back · 5 Mar 2003, 10:53 (Ref:525474)

McLaren do refer to themselves as Team McLaren Mercedes, but only in circumstances where they can't use West branding.

Joe Machado · 5 Mar 2003, 12:48 (Ref:525552)

Assuming for a minute that this is true, I wonder what surprise will McLaren spring in terms of sponsorship. They are the kind of organization that could easily bring into F1 an important sponsor that everyone else is trying to lure in but so far failed. I would expect McDonalds, Coca Cola, Pepsi, UPS, Fedex or a major drug manufacturer to be the sponsor. They are so slick that I would not be surprised to see a brand such as Nicorette (anti smoking drug) or Viagra to be their sponsors. They have an impressive record and along with Mercedes make a formidable force in terms of marketing potential. Lets wait and see.

Logrence · 5 Mar 2003, 13:50 (Ref:525638)

Coca-cola are already in F1 - they own 7-Up, sponsors of the Williams.BMW team...Fedex got Fed-up with F1 after sponsoring Benetton and getting nothing for their troubles...

McDoof are losing money hand over fist at the moment - no go there...I'm surprised more of the multi-national names don't get into F1 - airlines, newspapers, countries even (I know - Malaysia)...

True Believer · 5 Mar 2003, 13:52 (Ref:525639)

Just drag one of Mercedes' other businesses onto the car... AEG Team McLaren anyone??

Kicking-back · 5 Mar 2003, 14:38 (Ref:525688)

The whole point is the story is not true.

It's been checked out with McLaren and it is nonsense.

allen_overy · 5 Mar 2003, 14:43 (Ref:525696)

Red: here is the source
http://www.f1central.net/news/?actio...sid=1046822662

Logrence · 5 Mar 2003, 14:46 (Ref:525701)

Quote:

MCLAREN MUMURS SUGGEST SPONSOR SPLIT

They can't even spell murmurs - I would't trust them with the news.

I think people just get a bit desperate for any news this time of year - they wouldn't get away with putting out something like that during the season...

Kicking-back · 5 Mar 2003, 14:47 (Ref:525702)

Yes, but that's just a website which has made 2+2=5.

Won't people learn that a lot of these websites do not properly source and check their news.

McLaren and West are not splitting.

Red · 5 Mar 2003, 15:27 (Ref:525742)

Correction, sorry. I missed the many "rumors" in that text!

Nicholas · 5 Mar 2003, 19:16 (Ref:525940)

I believe Fedex used to sponsor Ferrari around 1999...

chrisrb2002 · 5 Mar 2003, 19:38 (Ref:525963)

7-up is owned by pepsi-cola, and arent FedEX a sponsor(partner ;-) of williams

Marcel ten Caat · 5 Mar 2003, 19:51 (Ref:525972)

This is from an e-mail from McLaren.com in January.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you that legislation will shortly come into force which means that from 14th February 2003 any company operating in the UK cannot use a tobacco brand in advertising materials or on products..... ie "WEST"

Therefore Team McLaren is quickly phasing out all stocks of "West McLaren Mercedes" branded goods from "The Official Collection."

**Asp** · 5 Mar 2003, 19:55 (Ref:525974)

I give in with Fedex, yes they were in Ferrari, then they went to Williams - but IIRC they've left this year - with the gap filled by 7-up.
Happy to be corrected though!

twig · 6 Mar 2003, 05:35 (Ref:526314)

Quote:

Originally posted by Logrence
They can't even spell murmurs - I would't trust them with the news.

This just in, "McLaren Mermaids Suggest Sponsor Split"

Armco Bender · 6 Mar 2003, 09:29 (Ref:526417)

If they are slittimg up why did Kimi repaint his helmet in West colours the other day?

twig · 6 Mar 2003, 09:31 (Ref:526418)

im not sure the colour Kimi chose was anything to do with West, he said it was to just add some more colour, "Rocket red"

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
F1 will split up after all (?)	Stargazer7	Formula One	48	10 Oct 2005 16:45
Johnnie Walker to replace West at McLaren? (update)	Scott75	Formula One	48	12 Jan 2005 03:53
The CART-IRL Split	KC	ChampCar World Series	87	30 Jan 2002 20:10
West McLaren F1?	H16	Sportscar & GT Racing	6	28 Dec 2001 17:49