Burning Point: Formula One and Tobacco Sponsorships

It is estimated that PMI spend $2 billion since the ban. In the 2021 season alone it is estimated that $75 million was spent by PMI for sponsorship through the Mission Winnow branding in the car or even not in the car. 

The Mission Winnow branding was in the car for 6 of the 23 races in the 2021 season. Ferrari has since cut ties with PMI sponsorships and has since been sponsored by the Spanish Bank, Santander Bank.

On the other hand, Mclaren Racing Ltd has not been under any tobacco sponsorship up until the 2019 season, when BAT rejoins the sport under the tagline of "A Better Tomorrow", "Accelerating Transformation" and brands such as Autogrill (retail partner), Vuse (e-cigarettes) and Velo (nicotine pouch) and festival Tomorrowland that is under BAT. 

The brands are showcased in the car of the Mclaren F1 team in 10 of the 23 races in the 2021 season. The team has been clean of tobacco money since the 2006 season ban with major sponsors such as Santander Bank, Vodafone, and before 2019, Chandon. 

Why F1 still cannot get rid of tobacco sponsorships

As stated before, the FIA has enacted a full-on ban on tobacco sponsorships. While this clearly meant that officially F1 team cannot fully be sponsored by tobacco brands, the FIA and FOG still have to thread a very thin line.

While banning tobacco companies fully from a team meant that it would fully be committing to WHO FTCC and United Nations SDG program, the trade-off of fully banning tobacco companies' relationship with a team would be damaging the relationship between the teams and the race organizers. 

Mclaren Racing and Scuderia Ferrari are the two oldest, consecutive teams that have played a major role in the sport, and damaging the relationship would mean a disaster to the organizer. But on the other hand, not fully committing to the ban would mean that F1 still looks as an unsustainable sport in which money is everything.

With the current branding of Formula One that is being "clean" and "politically correct," it is the hard truth that cash is still king in the sport and hardly takes into account ethical choices. 

While there is a glimpse of hope when Ferarri closed its deal with PMI earlier this year, it is still possible that other Big Tobacco would sponsor a team after the Mclaren-BAT partnership blossomed and even taken to the next level.

References

Cancer Council NSW. (2021, September 21). A brief history of smoking. https://www.cancercouncil.com.au/news/a-brief-history-of-smoking/

Expose Tobacco. (2021). DRIVING ADDICTION Tobacco Sponsorship in Formula One, 2021. Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products (STOP). https://exposetobacco.org/wp-content/uploads/TobaccoSponsorshipFormula-One-2021.pdf