BAT and McLaren Racing announce multi-year partnership extension

•  Partnership agreement now in place between BAT and McLaren Racing for the 2024 season and beyond
•  New deal will build on existing collaboration in areas such as diversity, inclusion and innovation
•  Existing partnership has co-created the ‘Driven by Change’ initiative, which uses the global platform of motorsport to support underrepresented artists
   

BAT has agreed a multi-year partnership extension with McLaren Racing to drive forward its transformation agenda. The deal means BAT will continue to be an Official Principal Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team for the 2024 season and beyond, having first announced the global partnership in 2019. This year is also the first time that BAT brands will appear on NEOM McLaren Formula E cars.

BAT and McLaren’s partnership will continue to be rooted in creative activations, looking at ways for the two organisations to further collaborate in areas such as diversity, inclusion and innovation.

Previous activations have included the ‘Driven by Change’ initiative, a campaign launched by BAT’s vapour brand Vuse and McLaren in 2021 to effect positive change through creativity. The initiative provides under-represented artists with unparalleled opportunities leveraging the global platform of motorsport to showcase their work and raise their profile. The most recent activity took place at the Japan Grand Prix where Japanese artist, MILTZ, was revealed as the creator behind the McLaren MCL38 car livery.

From designing bespoke McLaren liveries to gifting a permanent residency programme, ‘Driven by Change’ builds upon Vuse’s decade-long legacy of supporting creative talent.

Kingsley Wheaton, Chief Growth & Strategy Officer at BAT said:

“We are extremely proud of the partnership we’ve built with McLaren over the last five years. Our shared expertise and lessons learned has helped us to build multi-billion-dollar brands and I am excited to see where this partnership goes from here.

“With cutting-edge innovation capabilities, purposeful brand engagement and a programme of events and projects which exemplify our commitment to diversity and inclusion – the McLaren partnership will continue to support BAT’s transformation agenda. With McLaren as a partner, we are well placed to continue building a Smokeless World.”

Key initiatives from the extended partnership will also include:

•  The ongoing multi-year Global Graduate Academy programme, where selected BAT employees are able to attend learning and development sessions with several McLaren departments
•  A new joint masterclass programme is in development, which will offer exceptional employees across BAT’s operations team the opportunity to participate in a series of training modules supported by McLaren, culminating in a visit to meet McLaren’s race team at the McLaren Technology Centre.
   

Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, said:

“I am thrilled to announce this partnership extension with our long-standing partner BAT. Together we will continue to champion important causes, such as DE&I, and deliver campaigns that engage and excite our global fanbase.

“BAT’s transformation journey is fast-paced and innovative, just like Formula 1. I am proud that we will continue our partnership into the future.”

Previous collaboration between the BAT and McLaren’s Accelerator programme has also seen BAT benefit from knowledge transfer and technology benchmarking. This has included McLaren supporting BAT in their research and development work, helping them improve how they prototype new technology.

A key part of the partnership moving forward will be to explore ways to share learning and expertise in the area of R&D, with the ambition of creating manufacturing processes which are more efficient and sustainable.