Formula One and tobacco have a long and controversial history spanning several decades. The partnership between tobacco companies and F1 began in the 1960s when teams and drivers started to attract sponsorship from these companies seeking to capitalize on the sport’s global appeal.
The love/hate relationship between F1 and tobacco has seen it all but eradicated today, perhaps more stringently than in everyday society, but the journey has almost been as long and winding as a lap at Spa-Francorchamps, as we explore.
Tobacco’s heyday
One of the earliest instances of tobacco sponsorship in F1 was with the Lotus team in the 1968 season. Imperial Tobacco’s Gold Leaf brand became the first tobacco company to prominently feature its logo on an F1 car, adorning the Lotus 49 driven by Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt. This marked the beginning of a trend that would see various tobacco brands becoming synonymous with the sport.
However, it was in the 1970s that cigarette advertising in F1 truly took off. Teams such as Ferrari, McLaren, and Lotus secured lucrative sponsorship deals with major tobacco companies like Marlboro, John Player Special, and Rothmans. The Marlboro-sponsored McLaren’s iconic red and white livery became one of the most recognizable sights on the F1 grid, with drivers like Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost achieving great success under the Marlboro banner.
At the time, smoking was seen as cool in society, so to see the branding of fast cars in a sport viewed as exciting and cutting edge only served to make it seem far cooler. In the stands at racetracks, people were able to light up. It was a match made in heaven.
Changing perceptions
However, as the health risks associated with smoking became more widely known, the partnership between F1 and tobacco companies faced increasing scrutiny. In the 1990s, several countries began implementing strict regulations on tobacco advertising, leading to a gradual decline in the visibility of cigarette brands in F1. Despite the controversies, some teams continued their association with tobacco sponsors, adapting their liveries to comply with changing regulations.
The situation took a significant turn in early 2003 when the European Union imposed a complete ban on tobacco advertising in sports. This forced F1 teams to sever ties with their tobacco sponsors or find creative ways to continue partnerships without directly displaying cigarette logos. Ferrari, for instance, continued to have a sponsorship deal with Philip Morris, the parent company of Marlboro, but the iconic red and white branding was replaced with a barcode design that still subtly hinted at the Marlboro logo.
That ban then extended to the stands, with many countries around the world implementing smoking bans in sports arenas, which extends to racetracks. For instance, smoking and vaping are prohibited at Silverstone, the jewel in the British racing calendar’s crown. Even at the Monaco street circuit, smoking is banned in grandstands and VIP areas, although they also ban shirt removal. Drivers are rarely seen with a cigarette after a race (perhaps the odd cigar after a world title), and smokers going to races have to make alternative arrangements.
The current landscape
Currently, cars are not allowed to carry logos, and replacing them has not been difficult – many companies have put their logos on cars. For instance, alcohol companies can still advertise, so whilst McLaren doesn’t have the Labatts/Marlboro combo, it does still have Jack Daniels combined with a nicotine product. Whilst tobacco advertising is prohibited, one product that can be advertised on cars is a provider of nicotine replacement therapies, such as VELO. VELO is another name on the current McLaren F1 car, which supplies nicotine pouches, also perfect for being used in the grandstands. They’re small growing as an alternative to tobacco and as the nicotine pouches available on Prilla demonstrate, they discreet and come in various flavors, such as dragon fruit and spearmint, to give racegoers a pleasant experience alongside their nicotine fix without lighting up. In the seventies, those watching in the stands could enjoy a Labatts and Marlboro. In the current climate, the best you can get is a 7 mg spearmint Velo pouch and, perhaps, a Jack Daniels.
Other companies that can be found on F1 cars these days include Coca-Cola, Castore, TikTok, Umbro, the Financial Times, and even Bang & Olufsen. In fact, companies from almost every industry other than the tobacco industry.
Conclusion
Whether on the cars or in the stands, tobacco has become taboo in F1. Without the glory of the association with the track and in association with other initiatives, tobacco usage has fallen globally and continues to do so, whilst alternatives, such as VELO pouches, continue to rise.
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