Mission Winnow could withdraw from Ferrari F1 title sponsorship

The Italian has been involved in talks for several months about a new deal with PMI, whose current deal expires at the end of this year.

PMI is one of Ferrari’s longest serving partners and most recently used its title sponsorship of Ferrari to promote its Mission Winnow campaign.

The logos for his tobacco-free future initiative were first unveiled at the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix, and Mission Winnow took over the title naming rights from the beginning of the following season.

However, since then, the full Mission Winnow branding has been used over and over again, with PMI making sure it didn’t violate government restrictions on tobacco advertising laws.

In 2020, Ferrari ran the entire season without the branding before a new green logo and wording reappeared at the start of that campaign.

However, at the beginning of the year it was announced that the Mission Winnow branding would be removed for EU races.

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21

Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images

There has been speculation suggesting that ongoing regulatory uncertainty could lead PMI to abandon Formula 1 entirely, but Ferrari hints that there is a chance the company will remain involved.

When asked whether Mission Winnow with its stickers on the car would remain the title sponsor next year or not, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto said: “We are still in talks with PMI.

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“It is very likely that the PMI will remain [but] maybe not as the title sponsor. So maybe let’s see.

“It may depend on what you mean by Mission Winnow, from the car or not.

“You mentioned stickers, so we’re discussing rights. It will be announced when we’re ready.”

When PMI announced earlier this year that it was removing its Mission Winnow branding for EU races, the company expressed some frustration with the way its no-tobacco campaign was being treated.

Riccardo Parino, VP Global Partnerships at Philip Morris, said: “Mission Winnow respects all laws and regulations and constantly strives to find distinctive ways to foster ideology-free dialogue and build strong partnerships based on shared values.

“We recognize the mistrust and the great skepticism towards our industry.

“Our intention, however, is not to create controversy over the application of the logo, but rather to focus on reshaping global conversations, building communities, and supporting innovative ideas that drive positive change.”