The tobacco business in Formula 1: a forbidden love story that managed to continue

The boys and girls of the 90s woke up on the weekend morning to see Nubeluz and in front of the screen they sang “Dad, stop smoking”. But in the afternoon they confiscated the McLaren Formula 1 replica from Ayrton Senna and have played contests with the small car painted like a pack of Marlboro cigarettes.

In the early 90’s, 18 of the 26 drivers on the grid had Marlboro as sponsors and tobacco companies had been in the mainstream motorsport category for more than two decades.

“This is an ideal sport: it is fascinating and seen all over the world. It is a men’s sport. And what’s more, it gives us visibility. It looks like it was made to sell cigarettes”Justified one of the most famous journalists of the paddock of the time, Barrie Gill.

But the new millennium has brought awareness: the inscription “Smoking kills” appeared on cigarette cases. In Europe, moreover, anti-tobacco laws Advertising on Formula 1 cars has been banned since 1 August 2005..

“It will save lives and reduce the number of Europeans suffering from smoking-related diseases”explained who was the European commissioner for health and consumer protection, Markos Kyprianou.

The multimillion-dollar budgets of the teams needed tobacco companies and so new destinations were sought, far from the bans, and advertising was covered up in those where it was not allowed. Until in 2007 the FIA ​​ruled that it was forbidden to track cars with the names of cigarette brands..

That hasn’t stopped major teams like Ferrari and McLaren will do everything to keep their main sponsors, Philip Morris and British American Tobacco (marketers of brands like Lucky Strike and Camel), respectively.

But why put money if their names are no longer on the cars? Very simple: over 45% of F1 enthusiasts are under 35, the most coveted market for cigarette consumption.

From F1 cars to rolled up cigarette packs

On October 22, 1967, in Mexico, Jim Clark won in his Lotus the last Grand Prix of a season dominated by a 1-2 Brabham with champion Denny Hulme and runner-up Jack Brabham. Soon after, Imperial Tobacco He approached Colin Chapman and made him a proposition: leave color British racing green of their cars to decorate them in red and gold like the Foglia Oro cigarette case.

Few believed he could give in, but the economic offer was so tempting that the first race of 1968, in South Africa and won by Jim Clark, was Lotus’ last in F1 in its old green color before his car appeared in plots in Spain, like a pack of cigarettes. It was at Jarama, a month after Clark’s death, dominated by the team’s other driver and that year’s champion, Graham Hill. On its red and gold wing the inscription was seen for the first time Gold leaf.

Until then, the main sponsors of the F1 teams were related to motorsport: they were tire, oil or fuel brands.

But advertising and marketing generated such a phenomenon that Lotus only gave way to a sponsorship that would become synonymous with success, with the pilots transformed into a reflection of the masculinity of the time, and which a few years later the colossus Phillip Morris exploded.

While TV has left black and white to show color, Bruce McLaren chose orange for his cars to attract the attention of spectators. But that color left him when he made a deal with Marlboro in 1974.

The English team has left that strident orange – which it recovered in 2018 at the request of its fans – to go white and red like the packs of the most loved cigarettes in the world. Its impact was such that For more than 20 years its cars and its drivers -among the most victorious in history-, such as Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, ​​Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, have been linked to those colors.

The French also made their alliance. In 1976 the Ligier team – later sold to Alain Prost – made an agreement with the Seita tobacco shop to paint their single-seaters with the French blue and white of Gitanes cigarettes.

The 80s mark a new boom. Marlboro didn’t care that McLaren’s cars were confused with those of Alfa Romeo when he started sponsoring them, although the sponsorship didn’t extend beyond 1985 when the Italians left Formula – they just continued for a bit longer as engine suppliers – until they returned more than 30 years later in 2019 .

Lotus agreed with Camel and changed the color of their car to yellow, which for many It brought him bad luck since then he began to falter until he disappeared from F1 in 1994.

Benetton, between 1991 and 1993, also received money from cigarettes represented by a camel in their box; while at Williams the dromedary decorated the cars of champions Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost in the 1992 and 1993 seasons respectively. Over the next two years, the England team swapped Camels for Rothmans.

The business changed but did not disappear: the McLaren and Ferrari cases

Europe’s decision to intervene in the tobacco business and in Formula 1 has been firm in the new millennium, but the teams found a way to keep the smoke that had filled them with dollars to make cars faster.

The link remained under wraps for a decade (or less) until a few years ago when both Ferrari and McLaren whitewashed their alliances.

The Italians were closely related to Philip Morris International (PMI); Suffice it to mention Louis Carey Camilleri, who on 10 December 2020 met with the positions he held as CEO of Ferrari and President of PMI.

While the cigarettes of the world’s largest tobacco company have not returned to the loom, yes, Mission Winnow did, a hidden PMI brand that sells nothing.

“Mission Winnow is a laboratory of change focused on reframing conversations, generating open debates, connecting people and supporting the realization of innovative ideas”says the Mission Winnow website, whose logo is on the wings of the Ferraris.

“PMI is a company of over 70,000 people who have learned from the past and are fully committed to the evolution of our business and the radical transformation of our industry through scientific and technological innovation“adds the site without further details.

McLaren has been more vocal in its association with British American Tobacco (BAT), although legend says about its cars “A Better Tomorrow”which with a simple acronyms game is very similar to BAT.

Even if on your website “A Better Tomorrow” It presents itself as an “evolved corporate strategy” whose aim is “to build a better tomorrow, reducing the impact on health by offering a greater variety of pleasant and less risky products”. confirmed in 2019 that they are “partners of one of the most famous names in Formula 1”.

“Our multi-year partnership provides us with truly global marketing and innovation platforms to help us accelerate our journey with our next-generation products focused on creating a better tomorrow for our consumers, shareholders, companies and employees,” they explain on its new “product portfolio”: VUSE vapers and VELO nicotine pouches.

Despite the existing ban, the tobacco giants have remained involved in F1 and In 2021 alone, they’ve spent more than $100 million on their Ferrari and McLaren sponsorships.according to a report by STOP, an international tobacco industry watchdog organization.

“F1 is complicit in millions of deaths every year because it allows tobacco companies to perpetuate an epidemic through their media presence”said Phil Chamberlain, partner at STOP. “The sport has yet to shake off its addiction to Big Tobacco’s cash and this report indicates that the new generation of young racing enthusiasts around the world could pay the price.”he underlined.