Autoblog

Scuderia Ferrari drops Marlboro from its name

Noah Joseph — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 09:07:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Ferrari

While cigarette-brand logos once adorned most of the Formula 1 cars on the grid, tobacco sponsorship in F1 has been banned for years. The last holdout was Ferrari, but even that's been scaled back to oblivion over the past few seasons.

As countries hosting races gradually banned tobacco advertising, Ferrari was forced to remove the Marlboro name and logo from its cars at some grands prix. Eventually, it was removed altogether in favor of the bar-code graphic that was, according to some, designed to evoke the Marlboro logo while skirting the sponsorship rules. Last year, even that was dropped after controversy erupted over the issue.

The last vestige of the collaboration between Ferrari and Philip Morris remained in the team's name, but reports now indicate that's over. The team is reverting from Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro to Scuderia Ferrari. This change comes after the two outfits recently announced a renewal of their contract, but you to wonder what Philip Morris is getting out of its multi-million-dollar sponsorship deal at this point, and by extension, how much longer it will last.

Scuderia Ferrari drops Marlboro from its name originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 10 Jul 2011 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ferrari renews deals with Marlboro, Puma

Noah Joseph — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:01:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Ferrari

Tobacco advertising has been banned from Formula One racing for several years now, but that doesn't appear to be deterring either Ferrari or Philip Morris. The two companies have just announced a renewal of their partnership over the team officially known as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro through 2015.

Last year, Ferrari removed the bar-code logo off its car over allegations that it was a subliminal representation of the Marlboro logo, replacing it with the new logo pictured at right. But while the Marlboro name and logo may not appear on the cars or anything else officially associated with the team, the Marlboro name - one of Philip Morris' best-known tobacco brands - is officially part of the team's name.

Speculation that the sponsorship deal could be shifted to one of Kraft's various brands drew to a close when Philip Morris was spun off in 2008, leaving only tobacco and wines under its own umbrella.

Around the same time, Ferrari has also renewed its merchandising deal with Puma. The sportswear company will continue producing branded sportswear and shoes with the Ferrari logo, as well as providing the flame-retardant suits which Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa wear on the track.

Follow the jump for the brief announcement on the former and the longer one on the latter.

Continue reading Ferrari renews deals with Marlboro, Puma

Ferrari renews deals with Marlboro, Puma originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ferrari addresses criticism over Marlboro sponsorship

Noah Joseph — Sun, 02 May 2010 17:35:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Ferrari

2010 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro F10 - Click above for high-res image gallery

Ferrari has found itself at the center of controversy once again as pundits have accused the Scuderia of subliminal advertising of tobacco products through its longstanding partnership with Philip Morris International, producer of Marlboro cigarettes.

Historically, tobacco advertising has been commonplace in motorsports, F1 in particular. Imperial Tobacco's Gold Leaf brand started off sponsoring the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, leading a trend that would see tobacco companies sponsoring teams and races for decades to come. British American Tobacco went so far as to field its own cars - the British American Racing team that later became Honda, then Brawn GP and now races under the Mercedes GP banner. For several years, Marlboro (like Santander today) sponsored both McLaren and Ferrari, before concentrating its efforts on the Scuderia. By the late 1990s, however, European countries in particular began outlawing tobacco advertising in sports, leading to the withdrawal (no pun intended) of most major tobacco companies from Formula One. Williams became the first major team to run without cigarette branding in 2000, and since then all the major tobacco companies have pulled out of the sport, with the notable exception of Philip Morris.

Like other teams had initially, Ferrari continues to run livery on its F1 cars that - in compliance with European regulations - doesn't explicitly include the name of its sponsor. The brand continues, however, to be part of the team's name (known officially as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro in a deal reportedly worth $1 billion), and over the years the Marlboro logo has grown increasingly abstract on the livery to the point that today it's little more than a red, white and black bar-code. Although the team had, until a couple of years ago, run with the Marlboro name on the cars in overseas races where regulations permitted tobacco advertising, since 2008 Ferrari has run only with the bar-code logo.

British pundits, however, say the abstraction is not enough, pointing to the bar-code and even the team's use of the color red as subliminal advertising of the team's title sponsor. Ferrari has released a statement refuting the charges, saying the bar-code logo has not been scientifically proven to be subliminal advertising, and that the red livery has been integral to the team since its inception and the dawn of motorsports. Follow the jump for Ferrari's argument and judge for yourself.

[Source: Ferrari]

Continue reading Ferrari addresses criticism over Marlboro sponsorship

Ferrari addresses criticism over Marlboro sponsorship originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 02 May 2010 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ferrari leads the way with new F10 for 2010 F1 season

Noah Joseph — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:55:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Ferrari, Racing

2010 Scuderia Ferrari F10 - Click above for high-res image gallery

With nearly all the seats accounted for and the first group test at Valencia (scheduled for February 1) fast approaching, the time has come once again, boys and girls, for the unveiling of the 2010 F1 cars.

A couple of months ago, it looked like all the teams would get together under the auspices of the Formula One Teams Association to unveil their cars in one massive exposition concurrent with the Valencia test session, but that won't come to fruition. Several teams are expected to debut there still, while others are doing their own thing once again. And Ferrari is first among them.

Unveiled at the team's headquarters in Maranello, the new F10 is the chariot with which Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will be contending for the championship against other top-rated challengers from Mercedes GP, McLaren and Red Bull, to say nothing of the other ten teams on the grid. The latest Prancing Horse - whose Santander-dominated red and white livery we saw a few days ago - is the product of several months of development, as the Scuderia stopped development of last year's car half-way through the season after realizing it was way off pace and concentrated on this year's car instead.

You can have a look at the initial batch of photos in the gallery below, but don't expect to see much of the rear end of the car. Ferrari kept its diffuser design - of the double design that caused controversy last year but won't be banned until next - hidden from prying eyes for the time being. Stay tuned for the more as the teams roll out their latest.

Gallery: 2010 Scuderia Ferrari F10

[Source: Ferrari]

Ferrari leads the way with new F10 for 2010 F1 season originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ruh-Roh: Ferrari's new F1 car already in trouble

Noah Joseph — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:21:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Ferrari

Click above to view the new Scuderia Ferrari F60 in high resolution

Scuderia Ferrari chose to unveil its new car for the 2009 F1 season before anyone else, so while other teams were assuredly tweaking their designs up until the last minute, Ferrari's was already out on the track. And now it seems there are some problems with the F60's design.

For starters, the exhausts are being reported as illegal. While the other cars revealed so far have inboard exhaust pipes, the Ferrari's protrude from the bodywork in contravention of new aerodynamic regulations. On top of that, Ferrari seems to be having trouble with its new jumbo front wing, which could explain why, with Fiorano snowed in, the team opted to run test laps at its own Mugello track instead of Algarve in Portugal where the rest of the teams are testing, presumably to be closer to the factory. An organization as large and streamlined as Ferrari should have no trouble fixing these problems before the start of the season, which hasn't even kicked off yet. Looks like this is going to be another one of those seasons.

Gallery: Scuderia Ferrari F60

[Source: F1-Live]

Ruh-Roh: Ferrari's new F1 car already in trouble originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scuderia Ferrari unveils the new F60

Noah Joseph — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Ferrari

Click above to view the new Scuderia Ferrari F60 in high resolution

Most years it's more of the same. All the constructors in the FIA Formula One World Championship unveil their cars, and for the most part they look the incredibly similar to the ones they had last year. Big whoop. But every so often, the technical regulations are shaken up a little and the cars come out looking entirely different. This is one of those years -- say "hello" to the Scuderia Ferrari F60.

The most substantial changes have been made to the aerodynamic formula, which has dictated a bigger front wing and a much narrower rear aerofoila. F1 has also moved back to slick tires, while underneath the more streamlined bodywork Ferrari has fitted the new Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) developed together with Magneti-Marelli, along with the new carbon-encased seven-speed sequential gearbox with limited slip differential.

Ferrari has opted to call this the F60, eschewing the typical numbering system that would have labeled it the F2009 while highlighting the fact that this will be the 60th season of Formula One - in which Ferrari is the only team to have competed in each and every one. Due to weather conditions, the official live unveiling of the F60 was moved from the company's on-site Fiorano test track to its Mugello circuit, where Felipe Massa will test drive it for the first time. Check it out for yourself in the gallery below, and see all the details at f60.ferrariworld.com.

Gallery: Scuderia Ferrari F60

Scuderia Ferrari unveils the new F60 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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