Mosley: F1 may Stay with Tobacco Sponsorship

Formula One could be left with only a handful of races in Europe and hooked on tobacco sponsorship for years to come, International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley has warned.

He said that an EU move to outlaw tobacco advertising from mid 2005 risked leading to a Formula One exodus from Europe in favour of countries such as China where there are no restrictions.

Slamming what he called an "incredible piece of stupidity by the European Commission" when the law was passed last year, Mosley said the end result was counter-productive.

"Instead of having a worldwide ban in 2006, which everyone had accepted was going to happen, we're now virtually certain to see tobacco sponsorship in Formula One going on until all of us have lost interest," Mosley told reporters.

"Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. They've blown their legs off."

The FIA had backed plans by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ban tobacco advertising globally from the end of 2006 but the European Commission last year introduced legislation to end it in the EU from July 2005.

France already has tough laws while Britain banned tobacco advertising on Friday. However, Formula One teams already race without it in Britain under a voluntary agreement.

Tobacco Free

Mosley said the EU ban could lead to pressure from teams for the FIA to continue with tobacco.

The FIA has calculated that tobacco sponsorship provides Formula One and world rally teams with more than $350 million a year. Three of the top four Formula One teams - Ferrari, McLaren and Renault - have tobacco sponsors.

"The teams all signed their contracts (with sponsors) to the end of 2006," said Mosley. "We've now got the teams with contracts to 2006 and an EU ban from July 2005.

"2005 won't be a big problem because you can move the two Grands Prix that have always been tobacco free, Britain and France, into the tobacco free area and move a couple more and you can juggle the dates.

"But the only way they (the teams) can observe those contracts in 2006 is to reduce the number of Grands Prix in the EU to a point where the tobacco companies don't object."

The Belgian Grand Prix has been dropped this year and Austria will follow next year.

China and Bahrain are due to come in for 2004 with future races likely in Turkey and Russia. India, Egypt, Mexico and another race in the United States are also being discussed as possible venues.

"We're only going to have six (races) in the EU by 2005, so you get rid of two or three more of those and you are alright with the tobacco for 2006," said Mosley.

He said the long-term effect would be serious for Europe because all the new venues lining up for a race wanted at least a five-year deal.

"The teams are then going to say 'well, never mind this 2006 ban, why don't we go on with the contract after 2006, to 2011?'" said Mosley.

Renault have already announced a deal with Japan Tobacco's Mild Seven brand for the next four seasons.

Mosley said the FIA could find it hard to refuse since teams might then complain to the European Commission that the governing body was abusing its position as a regulator to interfere with commercial agreements.

"We will have to make sure the teams can fulfil their contracts until 2006 and after that it will go out of our hands if we're not careful," he said.

"The worst thing is that it is self-defeating because it still comes in on the television.

"Instead of having a worldwide ban and lots of races in the EU in 2007, they'll probably still have tobacco advertising in 2007 and they'll have damaged the local economy in several places in Europe and aggravated us."