F1 News
Ferrari could remove Mission Winnow branding for remainder of 2019
Jake Williams-Smith
Ferrari could be set to drop its Mission Winnow branding for the remainder of the 2019 Formula 1 season.
According to Motorsport.com, the Italian team could be about to remove the Philip Morris branding from its cars. The Mission Winnow branding itself had already attracted the attention from Australian regulators, forcing the team to remove the logos from its cars for the opening round of the championship.
Having been forced to not run the logos in Canada also, the replacement 90 years of Ferrari celebratory livery could be around to stay for the rest of the year if reports are accurate.
Motorsport.com suggests that there is pressure on Philip Morris over its Mission Winnow campaign, with the Ducati MotoGP team (also bearing Mission Winnow logos for 2019) considering removing the branding from its bikes for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Further claims indicate that the Ducati team will drop the Mission Winnow portion of its official entry name and be known as just 'Ducati Team'.
The controversy surrounding the Mission Winnow branding has been boiling since the Italian team began running the logos last season at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Similarities have been drawn to the Marlboro branding the team ran after regulations were changed to prevent tobacco advertising from appearing on cars.
In a statement given to Motorsport, Philip Morris spokesman, Simon Dowding, said that Ferrari would instead celebrate the 90th anniversary of Ferrari.
"As a matter of practice, we do not comment on rumours and speculation," the statement read.
"As announced at the start of the season, we may on a race-by-race basis provide opportunities to our partners to communicate messages in place of Mission Winnow.
"As was the case in Australia and Canada, Scuderia Ferrari will again celebrate their 90th anniversary on the livery and team uniforms at the Formula 1 GP in France this weekend. We will continue to share more information as appropriate ahead of each race."
