BAR put up for sale.

The BAR Formula One team has officially been put up for sale by administrators Simon Morris and Andrew Hosking - but only to aid the restructuring of the team that will see Honda take a 45% stake in the Brackley based outfit.

An advert on the Financial Times website businesses for sale section offers BAR as 'an established, highly successful Formula One motor racing team that finished second only to Ferrari in the F1 constructors championship in 2004.'

However, as attractive as that undoubtedly sounds to any prospective buyers, the people who will purchase the team are the very people already in charge, with the listing for sale merely part of the procedure to allow the new venture between Honda and British American Tobacco to buy the team back.

BAT and Honda had hoped to avoid the need to seek administration, but when a number of minority shareholders refused to sell their shares in the team, BAT placed the holding company of BAR, BAR Holdings, into the hands of administrators in order to speed up the restructuring process.

Although all interested parties in the team are invited to contact the administrators, it is highly unlikely that the minority shareholders who had been holding up proceedings would be able to raise the necessary funds to make a serious offer for the team, allowing BAT and Honda to, in theory, buy the team back themselves and move the new venture forward.