On February 10th, McLaren announced a new major partnership with BAT (British American Tobacco). The announcement had many F1 fans totally confused, given that tobacco and cigarettes advertisement was banned in Formula 1 back in 2007.
At the time of the ban, Ferrari was being sponsored by the cigarette giant, Marlboro. As a consequence, all the branding of Marlboro had to be removed from the Ferrari cars. And Ferrari was not the only team affected.
McLaren for almost a decade, was being sponsored by West, that is also a famous cigarette brand. Given that the ban was introduced in 2007 and implemented the following year, West severed ties with McLaren and the Woking based team had to forge a new partnership with telecom company, Vodafone.
Despite the ban implemented, Ferrari kept using a prominent portion of white color not just in its logo, but on the liveries of its F1 cars as well. That often sparks controversies and doubts, that Ferrari still might be sponsored by Marlboro. But the Italian squad always refuted such claims and denied any involvement with the tobacco brand.
The rumors gained momentum once again, when Ferrari announced Mission Winnow as the new title sponsor during the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix. It eventually appeared that Marlboro was back prominently, and the brand was advertised on Ferrari cars in disguise of Mission Winnow. Among the many theories, the one that carried the most weight was that Mission Winnow is an initiative to reduce smoking globally.
That sponsorship now continues as the 2019 F1 season gets kick-off in Melbourne next month. Surprisingly, McLaren also announced that British American Tobacco (BAT) will sponsor the team from 2019 onward, and also work closely with McLaren Applied Technologies in various domains, including batteries' development. BAT was previously a major sponsor of BAR (British American Racing) F1 team.
As the news broke out, a plethora of F1 fans questioned the partnership, referring to the tobacco advertisement ban in Formula 1. A major question that raised a lot of eyebrows, was that how the likes of McLaren and Ferrari will race in Australia - the season opener, where tobacco advertisement is banned completely.
Formula 1 teams are often exceptional in finding the loopholes in regulations, and exploit them to full potential. That is exactly what Mission Winnow and A Better Tomorrow initiatives and branding advertisements are.
Ferrari, earlier this month came under fire as questioned were being raised again, regarding the sponsorship. Mission Winnow denied any involvement at all with Marlboro. But that gets invalidated, when British American Tobacco (BAT) is prominently getting advertised on the end-plates of the front wing of MCL34, as A Better Tomorrow.
This might also signal that other teams could follow in the footsteps of both Ferrari and McLaren, to eventually bring back many other major cigarettes brands in Formula 1. With the likes of Haas, Racing Point and Renault, a revival of tobacco brands' advertisement, under the guise of an initiative to reduce smoking - now looks inevitable.
Perhaps, it might serve as a wake-up call for the FIA, to reexamine the tobacco advertisement ban and revise the regulations. Needless to say, both the deals signed by Ferrari and McLaren, need some close inspection and thorough investigation.
But on the other hand, it is also certainly a win-win situation for everyone. The team get the much needed sponsorship cash from these cigarettes brand, while the ban remains implemented; since the companies are not being advertised outright openly.
Plus, the likes of McLaren and Ferrari may present an excuse. The excuse that they have a technological partnership, like the one between BAT and McLaren Applied Technologies. And that they campaign for an initiative, to help reduce global numbers of smokers.
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