Ferrari unveils revised F1 livery to debut at Suzuka

Ferrari has unveiled a revised livery for its Formula 1 team that will debut at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix as part of a new project with tobacco giant Philip Morris International.

Despite tobacco sponsorship being banned in F1 since 2008, Ferrari has retained a strong relationship with Philip Morris, with the two parties launching a global initiative called Mission Winnow on Thursday at Suzuka.

The Ferrari F1 car will run with Mission Winnow branding on the engine cover, rear wing, Halo and nose, while drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will also have the project’s logos on their driver suits.

It marks the first time since 2008 Ferrari cars will have raced with official Philip Morris-related branding.

“Through Mission Winnow we want to let the world know how we have changed, to share our pride in the transformation that the people of PMI have achieved, as well as our dedication to rigorous science and innovation that can lead to a better future,” said André Calantzopoulos, Chief Executive Officer of PMI.

“We will use this global platform as a window into the new PMI and to challenge preconceptions, as we know there are many who may have doubts about us and our motivations. Our partnership with Scuderia Ferrari gives us the opportunity to build on many encouraging individual conversations with critics and supporters alike and reach out to a broad audience to engage at scale.”

According to Philip Morris International, “the word “winnow” (pronounced: “win”–“oh”) was selected because it perfectly describes the meticulous and disciplined route that PMI is following to achieve its ambitious vision of a smoke-free future. The word—and PMI’s vision—is about focus, transparency, care and single-minded determination.

“‘Winnow’ originally referred to the removal of chaff from grain, but it came to be used more broadly to describe the separating out of the unnecessary, the extraction of the good and distinguishing what is true from what is inaccurate or misleading. For PMI, this is critically important in a world of information overload.”

The revised Ferrari livery will debut at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix as the team bids to recover from a 53-point deficit to Mercedes in the constructors’ championship, with Vettel trailing Lewis Hamilton by 50 points in the drivers’ standings with five races to go.