West reaches a century at Suzuka.

The 2002 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka is West's 100th event as title partner to the McLaren-Mercedes Formula 1 team.

Even before the West McLaren Mercedes team turned a wheel in anger, it made a splash with a spectacular launch at London's Alexandra Palace, unveiling a livery which was certainly unique back in 1997 and is still regarded as the most eye-catching in the pit lane.

The new partnership got off to the best possible start with David Coulthard winning the opening round of the '97 F1 season in Melbourne. In 1998, West McLaren Mercedes won the Constructors' Championship and Mika Hakkinen took the Drivers' title, a feat he repeated the following year. .

West McLaren Mercedes has won 31 grands prix: 11 with Coulthard and 20 with Hakkinen. It has also started from pole 33 times: seven with David and 26 with Mika.

West came into Formula 1 to increase awareness of its brand and enhance its image on a global scale. 'Our success in attaining our objectives is down to a great deal of hard work and commitment from everyone involved in our F1 project,' said West's Head Of Sponsoring Communications Pavel Turek. 'The key factor has been the professionalism and cooperation we have received from everyone at McLaren and Mercedes-Benz; the race and test teams for finding time to accommodate our wishes, the marketing and media departments for implementing our programmes which have explored unusual avenues for a grand prix team, the West McLaren Mercedes team's other Partners and of course the drivers for entering into the spirit of the activities we planned for them.'

West wanted more than a simple branding operation and since 1997, it has actively sought to bring our Formula 1 activities to a larger public audience. The Adrenaline Programme saw the West McLaren Mercedes two-seater F1 car run through the streets in Palma de Mallorca, Kiev and Poznan. The West Race Day final held at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic a few weeks ago allowed one lucky member of the general public to fulfil his dreams and drive last year's West McLaren Mercedes grand prix car, after a summer-long driving competition.

David and Mika experienced the delights of Zero Gravity flights, in a Russian Space Programme aircraft. Mika got to drive his wife in the two-seater on snow in a Finnish forest and was also sent down a coalmine and a quarter of a million people turned out to see the Finn in Lithuania, as a West-liveried plane flew upside down under a river bridge. Alex Wurz indulged his love of climbing in the Himalayas, while David did everything from jumping off cliffs into the Mediterranean to powerboating

"West joined the McLaren-Mercedes family one year after I did and it was a privilege to give them their maiden win at the very first grand prix of the 1997 season in Australia," said Coulthard. "I think West brought new ideas and strategies to Formula 1 sponsorship, but above all they introduced some fun into the serious business of promoting their involvement with the team. Driver appearances suddenly took on a whole new meaning. With highlights like experiencing weightlessness in flight, charging round the streets of New York in a Police Squad Car with sirens blaring and trying my hand at powerboat racing, the West promotional events have always been something to look forward to."