PMI, the parent company of the Marlboro cigarettes brand, have extended their deal with Ferrari for a further 3 years, as we reported earlier this, despite their logos not being permitted on any cars and/or merchandise.
The deal, said to be worth in the region of £100m ($160m USD) a season, will see PMI within the Maranello team’s official entrant name until the end of the 2015 season.
“Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro” will still appear over the team’s garages at every circuit and will appear on all official entry forms and within official race weekend programmes until the end of this contract.
Ferrari were one of the last teams to abandon tobacco branding with it appearing on the car until 2007 when they were forced to remove the logo from their livery, what followed became known within the sport as the “barcode episode,” which saw the Marlboro barcode printed over the engine cover of their two cars – this was removed during the 2010 season after calls from the FIA and other official bodies.
