Tobacco money going up in smoke

Formula One has thrived on the millions of pounds that tobacco money has pumped into it. The sport�s incredible popularity, which is on a par with the football World Cup and Olympics, has meant that cigarette manufacturers have seen it as a valuable platform for their brands. The very first sponsor of a Formula One car was cigarette firm Gold Leaf who backed the Lotus team in 1968. Nowadays, half of the field is supported by tobacco companies, and no other sector of business can match the kind of money cigarette firms are willing to throw at the sport. All of that will change in the next few years, however, when a tobacco advertising ban is introduced in the sport in 2006.

Although this will not be enforced, the governing body, the FIA, is recommending that all teams drop tobacco advertising from that date. Bans are already in place in several countries, most notably France and Britain, while a European Union wide ban will come into force in July 2005. As the date nears, the teams will have to find other areas for sponsorships � and it could well be that some of the world�s biggest global corporations like McDonalds, Coca Cola, and Pepsi could step in to fill the breach.