[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by Jack_Bauer

I'm not so sure to be honest. It's all about who can you get to replace the current sponsors. Everyone knows that Ferrari are the most prestigious and recognisable 'brand' on the F1 grid. I would imagine there would be companies knocking down Luca di Montezemolo's door to get their product's plastered all over the sides of a bright red (and possibly race-winning) Ferrari. And it seems that mobile phone giants Vodafone have been waiting in the wings for the last couple of years with their ready-made red & white logo, I wouldn't be suprised if it is they who fill the void left by Marlboro.

With Renault it looks like they're likely to have the lure of being either (or both) WDC/WCC to their name for next season. I'd bet there'll be plenty of firms clamouring to get their branding all over a Championship winning car.

BAR on the other hand look likely to be the biggest losers. The team was started out using a HEFTY amount of investment from British American Tobacco (hence British American Racing). I think their current $900million ( ) sponsorship deal was due to run for another year or two at least, but with this new ruling it leaves BIG question marks. With Honda now believed to own a 45% stake in the team it seems likely that over the next few years they'll gradually take more and more control, and turn it into a Honda works team. BAR may soon become obsolete.

That's true... didn't look into the details too well.