Alcohol companies face F1 sponsorship ban

Alcohol companies could be banned from sponsoring Formula One racing teams if a road-safety lobby campaign proves successful.

Martini signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Williams Formula One racing team earlier this year

According to The Telegraph, charities throughout Europe plan to target Formula One in the autumn in a move that has been likened to when anti-smoking groups prohibited tobacco sponsorship in 2011.

The charities have already successfully prevented the ambitions of Jean Todt, president of the FIA, the governing body for world motorsport, to become a special representative for road safety at the UN.

Organisations including British charity RoadPeace, had written letters to Ban Ki Moon, the UN secretary-general, saying the move would be “absolutely wrong”, but it is understood a group of road safety and anti-alcohol bodies have been assured by the UN that Todt will not be hired in any such high-profile role.

Earlier this year, Bacardi-owned Martini announced it had signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Williams Formula One racing team, creating Williams Martini Racing.

Diageo’s Smirnoff Vodka also agreed a sponsorship partnership with Vijay Mallya’s Sahara Force India Formula One racing team, which Diageo said it would use to reinforce an anti-drink drive message.