FEBRUARY 1, 2005

Renault to continue with tobacco advertising

Renault F1 boss Patrick Faure says that it is by no means certain that it will stop using Mild Seven after the end of July 2005 when new British and European legislation comes into force to stop tobacco advertising.

"It is not clear to us what the European Union rule is after July 31," Faure said. "We will respect the law in whatever country we race. After the end of 2006 it is true we will have to look for more sponsorship but there are lots of new sponsors and big companies which did not currently want to be involved in F1 with tobacco sponsorship."

This is an interesting attitude given that the European Union has a directive which states that "sponsorship of events or activities involving or taking place in several memberÊstates or otherwise having cross-border effects shall be prohibited." and that "member states shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 31 July 2005 at the latest."

At the same time Renault is likely to fall foul of British law if tobacco sponsorship continues as the new British law which comes into effect at the end of July makes it an offence for British companies to have any involvement in any actions which leads to tobacco advertising in Britain. Renault F1 Ltd is a British-registered company (Reg. No: 01806337), which was incorporated in 1984 and between 1985 and 2001 was known as Benetton Formula Ltd.