Ferrari discusses new Mission Winnow deal despite EU ban

The Ferrari Formula 1 team and tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) go way back. The Maranello racing team was known to be sponsored by PMI’s Marlboro brand from 1997 until tobacco sponsorship restrictions were introduced in the late 2000s. Cigarette advertising has been banned in Formula One for over a decade, and no car has been able to advertise cigarettes, tobacco, or tobacco products since 2006.

However, the longstanding partnership was revitalized somewhat in 2018 when PMI launched the Mission Winnow initiative. That year the name was on the Ferrari cars, while they became title sponsors again the following year. Since then, the branding has been on and next to the Ferrari F1 car, depending on the advertising laws of the country in which the race takes place. The Mission Winnow logos were not used at all during the shortened 2020 season but were reapplied with a bright green design on the engine cover of Ferrari’s SF21 car. However, it was recently announced that neither the name nor the logo will appear on the cars in upcoming races in the EU and UK.

According to the CarAndBike report, Ferrari will not use the new Mission Winnow branding in the EU season. Even so, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto announced that his team is negotiating a new deal with the tobacco major for 2022 and beyond. He also denied that this was a sign that the relationship with PMI was coming to an end. Scuderia Ferrari’s existing sponsorship deal with PMI expires at the end of this year, but Binotto said talks about a new deal are already underway.

“If you look at the last year or the previous years, there were races where we didn’t have a logo on the car,” said Binotto. “That was because of the regulations of different countries and we are just trying to respect it, as we have in the past and still do today,” he added.

The news has sparked much speculation and has rattled the automotive world with possible financial outcomes. In the constructors’ championship, the legendary Italian racing team slipped to fourth place this year. They were plagued with issues related to tire degradation, among other things. Team boss Binotto has admitted that the team’s problems in this area could last until the end of the season.

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