Ferrari Discussing New F1 Deal With Philip Morris Despite Mission Winnow EU Ban

Philip Morris and Ferrari go a long way back. In fact, Louis Camilleri who was Ferrari's CEO till December 2020 had been the boss of the tobacco giant. Maurizio Arrivabene who was Ferrari's team principal between 2014-2019 was also an ex Philip Morris marketing man before he took the job at the prancing horse. All of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari's had the famous Marlboro logo on the chassis, but then in the late 2000s F1, banned tobacco sponsorship. In 2019 when Philip Morris unveiled the "Mission Winnow" brand, it also became the title sponsor of the Scuderia Ferrari team which attracted the ire of many activists. By 2020, it was banned in many countries especially in the EU.

Mattia Binotto, Ferrari's team boss revealed a new deal is being discussed
Photo Credit: AFP

Now, in 2021 the same is happening with Ferrari not running the new green Mission Winnow branding in the EU leg of the season. Despite this, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto reveals that his team is negotiating a new deal with the tobacco major.

"If you look as well at last year's or previous years, there were races where we are not having to the logo on the car. That was down to the regulations of various countries, and we are simply trying to respect it as we did in the past and still do today," revealed Mattia Binotto, Ferrari's team principal and MD.

"You're right, the contract is finishing by the end of the year. But we have discussions ongoing with PMI which has been a very strong and close partner for us for many, many years, and the relationships are good. So how it will be concluded, I think we will see in the next months," he added.