Ferrari and Philip Morris International (PMI) have announced an extension to their partnership, which is now in its fifth decade. This time, PMI’s nicotine pouch brand, ZYN, will feature on the Scuderia Ferrari HP Formula 1 livery at selected races, beginning with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Although both companies present the renewed partnership as a forward-looking collaboration based on ‘innovation’ and ‘responsibility’, this move directly addresses one of the most enduring and controversial aspects of Ferrari’s commercial history.
For long-time followers of the sport, this moment will feel familiar. When Ferrari lost its $40 million annual partnership with Santander in 2017, TJ13 reported on speculation that immediately turned to whether Philip Morris would increase its branding footprint to fill the gap. The logic was simple: Ferrari had relied on PMI more than any other partner, and the tobacco giant had always found creative ways to maintain visibility despite global advertising restrictions.
Eight years on, the pattern has returned, this time in the form of nicotine pouches.
A relationship Ferrari once rejected, then embraced
Back in the 1970s, Enzo Ferrari famously quipped, ‘A Ferrari does not smoke.’ This was a proud, slightly mischievous nod to reliability, but it was also an early stance against overt tobacco sponsorship. Ironically, Ferrari went on to build the longest-running tobacco partnership in world sport.
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, the red-and-white Marlboro branding had become almost as synonymous with Ferrari as Rosso Corsa itself. Even after overt advertising was voluntarily banned in Formula 1 in 2006, the relationship barely paused. Marlboro logos were replaced with barcodes and coded imagery, and campaigns such as ‘Be Marlboro’, ‘Get Closer’, ‘Red is Style’, ‘Red is Action’ and, eventually, ‘Mission Winnow’ found regulatory-friendly ways to maintain brand affinity.
In 2017, while covering the fallout from the Santander departure, TJ13 highlighted how PMI continued to use Ferrari exposure to promote alternative products, such as its heated tobacco device, the IQOS. PMI set up large promotional pavilions at major circuits, including Suzuka for both Formula 1 and MotoGP, to promote a device pitched as a ‘reduced harm’ alternative, despite warnings from health authorities about its addictive potential and unknown long-term effects.
At the time, global regulations on e-cigarette and heated tobacco advertising were far looser than those governing cigarettes. Ferrari became a premium marketing vessel for PMI’s technological shift. This strategy appears to be returning, now with ZYN at the forefront.
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ZYN on a Ferrari: a new product, a familiar formula
In PMI’s 2025 announcement, ZYN is celebrated as the “number one nicotine pouch brand globally”, authorised by the FDA in the U.S., and positioned as part of a broader corporate mission to end cigarette sales entirely.
Ferrari’s press release highlights the companies’ shared values of innovation, responsibility, and continuous improvement, emphasising that all activities target only ‘adult audiences’.
However, the nature of the deal is undeniably reminiscent of previous eras. PMI has once again placed an addictive product, this time tobacco-free, but still nicotine-based, onto Ferrari’s global platform. The brand will appear at select Grands Prix and across Ferrari’s motorsport ecosystem, including the Ferrari Challenge.
Though this is presented as a bold new chapter, the reality is much more complex. PMI has simply transitioned from cigarettes to nicotine pouches, seamlessly adapting to shifting regulatory terrain while preserving its most valuable marketing asset, Ferrari.
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Hamilton’s Healthy-Living Brand Meets Ferrari’s Nicotine Partnership
The renewed PMI deal also puts the spotlight on Lewis Hamilton, who joined Ferrari in 2025 and has spent much of his career presenting himself as a global advocate of wellness, clean eating, mental health, and environmental responsibility. A long-time vegan and frequent promoter of healthy lifestyle choices, Hamilton often speaks about being a positive influence on younger fans.
Yet he now races for a team whose most enduring commercial partnership is with a nicotine giant.
Hamilton’s personal brand has been built around rejecting harmful habits and encouraging healthier alternatives. However, PMI’s business, despite its shift towards smoke-free products, still revolves around addictive nicotine delivery systems, ZYN included. The juxtaposition is difficult to ignore.
It raises an unavoidable question:
How does Hamilton reconcile his public identity as a wellness advocate with competing in a car branded by a major nicotine company?
With ZYN logos appearing on the Ferrari at selected events, Hamilton’s stance, or silence, on the matter will likely become a major talking point as the season progresses.
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Why is Ferrari continuing down this path?
Neither press release mentions money, but the historical context speaks for itself. In 2017, the PMI–Ferrari deal was rumoured to be worth an astonishing $160 million per year, one of the biggest sponsorship deals in sport. With Formula 1’s commercial costs rising dramatically and Ferrari’s quest for competitiveness ongoing, PMI’s financial muscle remains uniquely valuable.
Ferrari frames the partnership as a union built on research, innovation, and technological progress. PMI emphasises targeting adults only and responsible marketing. However, F1’s demographic has become younger in recent years, particularly through social media and streaming, precisely the audience that regulators are concerned about with regard to nicotine marketing.
It is a cycle that F1 cannot seem to break.
The history repeats
From the outside, Ferrari’s new ZYN partnership appears to be less of a departure from the past and more of a technologically updated continuation of the same commercial model.
2007 — Last Marlboro logos on the car
2011 onwards: PMI remains despite the end of title sponsorship.
2013–15: ‘Be Marlboro’, ‘Get Closer’, ‘Red is…’ campaigns
2018–2021: Mission Winnow appears.
2025: ZYN branding returns to the Ferrari livery.
Each era demonstrates PMI’s ability to adapt to regulations while maintaining Ferrari as its premium marketing platform.
New branding, old questions:
Ferrari and PMI describe their renewed partnership as progressive, responsible, and in line with scientific innovation. However, the deeper truth remains the same: a nicotine company is once again using the world’s most iconic racing team to promote an addictive product, albeit a modernised one.
With ZYN entering the Formula 1 spotlight and Lewis Hamilton now wearing the red suit, the collision between personal values, commercial necessity and corporate strategy has never been more visible.
Is Ferrari embracing a healthier future, or merely repackaging the same controversial relationship as smoke-free?
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UPDATE 11 Dec 2025 – CTFK Accuses PMI of Targeting Youth Through F1 Sponsorship
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) has sharply criticised Philip Morris International’s partnership with Ferrari, arguing that placing Zyn nicotine pouch branding on Formula 1 cars is a deliberate attempt to expose young fans to tobacco marketing. CTFK president and CEO Yolonda C. Richardson dismissed PMI’s claims that the sponsorship is aimed solely at adults, calling the argument “laughable”.
Richardson highlighted that F1’s own demographic data recognises the huge influence of Gen Z, and revealed that more than four million children aged 8 to 12 now form part of the sport’s global audience. She also pointed to F1’s collaborations with kid-focused brands, such as Disney, Lego, and Hot Wheels, as evidence that the sport is heavily consumed by younger viewers.
According to CTFK, featuring Zyn logos on Ferrari cars risks linking nicotine products with the high-energy glamour of Formula 1, thereby normalising and glamorising nicotine use for millions of children and teens. The organisation has called on F1 and its commercial partners to end the sponsorship, and urged policymakers to step in to prevent the tobacco industry from cultivating a new generation of nicotine users.
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Having moved to Ferrari this season in a fanfare of Italian PR, Lewis Hamilton has described this year as a “nightmare” and his “worst season ever in Formula One.”
The seven times champion’s year peaked at round two in China, where he qualified on pole for the Sprint before going on to win the shortened for race on Saturday morning. Yet the cruel racing gods intervened, and both Hamilton and his team mate were disqualified from the Grand Prix on Sunday for excessive wear of the SF-25 skid blocks.
Ferrari introduced a new suspension upgrade in Belgium to deal with the ride height issues which plagued their car, yet since the new component, their average points scored each weekend has fallen from 19 to 14.
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The group president John Elkann praised the engineers and mechanics for the improvements he claimed they had made to the car, despite the actual deterioration in their statistics, going on to tell his drivers to “talk less and focus more on the driving.”
Clearly Maranello is a divided place and unlike Carlos Sainz at Williams who has overcome his switch of team, Hamilton cuts a lonesome figure in the paddock and is still sending in “documents” for the team to consider in how to improve their operation.
In Qatar, Fred Vasseur was asked why Ferrari’s form had collapsed since the final six races of 2024, when their SF-24 was by far the quickest car. He dodged the fact that Ferrari had in a moment of madness decided to build a completely new car and run a push rod suspension, a design they have no experience with.
“Quite early in the season, McLaren was so dominating in the first four or five events that we realised it would be very difficult for 2025,” said Vasseur. “It meant that we decided very early in the season, I think it was the end of April, to switch (the development focus) to ’26. It was a…READ MORE ON THIS ARTICLE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
Alex Stanton is a Formula 1 journalist at TJ13 with a focus on the financial and commercial dynamics that underpin the sport. Alex contributes reporting and analysis on team ownership structures, sponsorship trends, and the evolving business model of Formula 1.
At TJ13, Alex covers topics including manufacturer investment, cost cap implications, and the strategic direction of teams navigating an increasingly complex financial environment. Alex’s work often examines how commercial decisions translate into on-track performance and long-term competitiveness.
With a strong interest in the intersection of sport and business, Alex provides context around Formula 1’s global growth, including media rights, expansion markets, and manufacturer influence.
Alex’s reporting aims to explain the financial realities behind headline stories, helping readers understand how money, governance, and strategy shape the competitive order in Formula 1.
“…… the matter will likely become a major talking point as the season progresses”
It will only become a major talking point for those such as yourself that just cannot help but find ways to criticise him or put him down