EU health commissioner Markos Kyprianou aims to ban tobacco companies from sponsoring Formula 1 racing, according to Financial Times Deutschland
"Formula 1 is a symbol," Kyprianou told the newspaper. "We have to reduce tobacco advertising as much as possible so that we can eliminate the influence on young people." Tobacco advertising is banned at most tracks, barring Bahrain, China and Monaco. Kyprianou is also adamant that Ferrari will need to sever its ties with tobacco giants Philip Morris, with whom it enjoys a multi-million pound sponsorship deal. He believes that F1 teams are not dependent on these sponsorships as "most teams have already found other sponsors." Kyprianou has discussed the matter with Prince Albert of Monaco and is hoping to bring up the issuewith the Chinese government during a visit next week. F1 has long been a last bastion of tobacco advertising in sport.
source & pic: planet-f1
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