Friday 22 May 2015

F1 faces fresh calls to ban alcohol sponsorship

(© Ben Johnston 2015)

Formula One has once again come under pressure to ban alcohol sponsorship in the sport from an anti-alcohol lobby group.

The group is calling for a complete ban just like the tobacco advertising ban that was introduced in Formula One in 2006. It is unclear whether such a ban would be enforceable as a number of teams have large sponsorship agreements with alcohol brands.

The Williams F1 Team have a title sponsorship agreement with tequila brand Martini which has resulted in the Grove based outfit been renamed Williams Martini Racing ad sees Martini branding and colours appear on the FW37 in a big way. The outfit who began their partnership with Martini last year are not the only team to have alcohol sponsorship.

The Sahara Force India Formula One Team are sponsored by Smirnoff while McLaren Honda are sponsored by whiskey giant Johnnie Walker.

Although there is alcohol sponsorship in Formula One the sport has played a big role in anti-drink driving campaigns with all of the teams with alcohol backing using the branding to promote responsible drinking and not promoting the brands themselves.

In Bahrain and Abu Dhabi alcohol advertising is forbidden so the team’s with adverting run their cars with different branding for example the Williams team drop Martini from their name and run without the corporate colours of the company.

© Ben Johnston 2015

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