BAT even tried to run two different liveries on their cars — one for Lucky Strike, one for 555 — before the FIA stepped in to ban it.
Amid all the hype and promises, BAR’s debut proved to be an absolute disaster, its uncompetitive and unreliable car failing to score a single point all season.
By 2001, Honda was providing full works engines, and BAR began shedding its PR project image in favour of serious racing credentials.
The breakthrough came in 2004 under David Richards and with Jenson Button at the wheel. BAR finished second in the constructors’ championship, although did this without a single race win.
That year, tensions between BAT, Honda, and team management surfaced and Richards was eventually replaced by Nick Fry as Honda’s influence continued to grow.
In 2005, without a single grand prix victory, BAT agreed to sell the team to Honda, setting the stage for the next transformation.
Honda (2006–2008): Unfulfilled ambition
Honda quit F1 after just three years
Grand Prix Photo
Honda assumed full ownership of the Brackley-based team in late 2005 after years of playing a supporting role as an engine supplier.
Rebranded as the Honda Racing F1 Team, the operation retained key personnel from the BAR days, including Fry and Button.
The facilities were expanded and staff numbers grew as Honda was determined to build a championship-winning team. For a brief moment, it appeared as though the target was within reach.
In 2006, Button delivered Honda’s first win, but it proved to be an outlier, as the Japanese manufacturer wouldn’t get close to fighting in front regularly.
The 2007 season brought fresh hope with the arrival of Ross Brawn, yet not even his strategic brilliance could salvage what turned out to be a fundamentally flawed car.
The RA107 — adorned with an ambitious “Earth Car” livery promoting Honda’s environmental initiatives — was a visual talking point but a competitive disappointment.
2008 proved much of the same and, frustration mounted, the global financial crisis started to bite.
By the end of the year, Honda’s board announced it was pulling out of F1 with immediate effect.
It appeared to be the end of the road for the team, but Brawn had other ideas.
Brawn GP (2009): The miracle comeback
Brawn came, saw and conquered
Grand Prix Photo
Honda’s abrupt exit left a fully-formed F1 team stranded, just weeks before pre-season testing. Hundreds of jobs hung in the balance. The 2009 car, developed in secret with a radical double diffuser, was ready — but there was no engine, no budget, and no future.
With just days to go before the team would be shuttered, Brawn orchestrated a management buyout, reportedly purchasing the team for a symbolic £1.