Formula One braced for attacks over alcohol sponsorship from road-safety lobby
Teams with strong sponsorship links to drinks companies could face seeing their backers legislated away in same fashion as tobacco firms
In a move reminiscent of when anti-smoking groups forced tobacco sponsorship out of Formula One, European-wide charities are planning to take aim at the sport into the autumn.
And the charities have already shown their weight by scuppering Todt’s
hopes of becoming a special representative for road safety at the UN.
It is understood that an alliance of road safety and anti-alcohol
bodies have been given assurances by the UN that Todt will not be given
such a high-profile role.
RoadPeace,
a British charity, had previously written letters to Ban Ki Moon, the
UN secretary-general, saying the move would be “absolutely wrong”, but
it appears that their fears have been allayed.
While the FIA have said Todt is “passionate about
road safety”, seeing “no conflict of interest” in the 68-year-old
taking up any post, the charities have been buoyed by UN’s apparent
blocking of the appointment.
“We are delighted – it would have sent completely the wrong message,” an insider told The Daily Telegraph.
The alliance of non-governmental organisations has become increasingly
antagonised by the alcohol industry’s moves into road safety
campaigning, and they see F1 as an easy target.
After his
extensive work on the issue, Todt had received controversial backing
from Qatar, who are hosting the FIA’s annual prize-giving gala at the
end of this year. As reported earlier this month, the Frenchman had been
nominated by Qatar’s foreign minister Khalid Bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah,
who personally wrote to Ban Ki Moon advocating Todt for the role.
The former Ferrari
team principal, who enjoyed enormous success with the Italian outfit in
the early 2000s, is well known for having political ambitions beyond
motor racing. He hired Nicolas Sarkozy’s former spokesman on
international affairs, Pierre Regent, to run the FIA’s communications.
While the faltering of his UN hopes will be a blow to Todt, of greater
concern to Formula One at large will be the prospect of of having to
defend lucrative alcohol sponsorship in the public arena.
A
source said: “It is going to be just like last time with tobacco
sponsorship. They are going to throw the book at F1 and the teams.”
Three outfits already have major commercial deals with alcohol brands worth millions of pounds a year.
Martini recently rejoined F1 as a title sponsor for Williams, helping to fund the resurgent team’s shiny new motorhome, which gets its second outing this weekend in Hockenheim.
McLaren
are also backed by whiskey manufacturer Johnnie Walker, in a deal that
is thought to be worth around £15 million a year. Force India signed an
agreement with Smirnoff in May.
France has already banned
alcohol sponsorship, and Britain’s Labour Party is preparing to add
similar plans to its manifesto for next year’s general election.
The ban on tobacco sponsorship cost teams millions and they are privately bracing themselves for more lost revenue.
Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher’s
wife, Corinna Schumacher, will address the F1 legend’s fans at this
weekend’s German Grand Prix, with a message in the official programme.
There are also plans for spectators to send messages of support which
will appear on the large timing screens around the circuit across the
weekend when there is no action in progress on the track.
Schumacher’s former Mercedes
team confirmed the future of Nico Rosberg on Wednesday, announcing a
multi-year extension to his contract which will keep him with the team
until the end of 2016 at the very least.
* Update: The
original version of this article said the Johhnie Walker sponsorship
deal with McLaren is thought to be worth around £5 million a year. This
was a mistype: the actual value is £15 million a year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
“We are delighted – it would have sent completely the wrong message,” an insider told The Daily Telegraph. The alliance of non-governmental organisations has become increasingly antagonised by the alcohol industry’s moves into road safety campaigning, and they see F1 as an easy target.
After his extensive work on the issue, Todt had received controversial backing from Qatar, who are hosting the FIA’s annual prize-giving gala at the end of this year. As reported earlier this month, the Frenchman had been nominated by Qatar’s foreign minister Khalid Bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah, who personally wrote to Ban Ki Moon advocating Todt for the role.
The former Ferrari team principal, who enjoyed enormous success with the Italian outfit in the early 2000s, is well known for having political ambitions beyond motor racing. He hired Nicolas Sarkozy’s former spokesman on international affairs, Pierre Regent, to run the FIA’s communications.
While the faltering of his UN hopes will be a blow to Todt, of greater concern to Formula One at large will be the prospect of of having to defend lucrative alcohol sponsorship in the public arena.
A source said: “It is going to be just like last time with tobacco sponsorship. They are going to throw the book at F1 and the teams.”
Three outfits already have major commercial deals with alcohol brands worth millions of pounds a year.
Martini recently rejoined F1 as a title sponsor for Williams, helping to fund the resurgent team’s shiny new motorhome, which gets its second outing this weekend in Hockenheim.
McLaren are also backed by whiskey manufacturer Johnnie Walker, in a deal that is thought to be worth around £15 million a year. Force India signed an agreement with Smirnoff in May.
France has already banned alcohol sponsorship, and Britain’s Labour Party is preparing to add similar plans to its manifesto for next year’s general election.
The ban on tobacco sponsorship cost teams millions and they are privately bracing themselves for more lost revenue.
Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher’s wife, Corinna Schumacher, will address the F1 legend’s fans at this weekend’s German Grand Prix, with a message in the official programme.
There are also plans for spectators to send messages of support which will appear on the large timing screens around the circuit across the weekend when there is no action in progress on the track.
Schumacher’s former Mercedes team confirmed the future of Nico Rosberg on Wednesday, announcing a multi-year extension to his contract which will keep him with the team until the end of 2016 at the very least.
* Update: The original version of this article said the Johhnie Walker sponsorship deal with McLaren is thought to be worth around £5 million a year. This was a mistype: the actual value is £15 million a year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
