Ferrari discussing new Mission Winnow deal

Mattia Binotto has confirmed Ferrari are in discussions with title sponsor Mission Winnow over a new contract.

The Italian team were famously sponsored by Philip Morris International’s Marlboro brand in the 1990s and 2000s until restrictions on tobacco sponsorship were introduced.

The partnership was somewhat reignited in 2018 though with PMI launching the Mission Winnow initiative. That year, the name was on the Ferrari cars, while they became title sponsor in 2019.

Since then, the branding has been on and off the car depending on advertising laws in the country where the race is taking place, given PMI is still the parent company.

It was not used in any of the rounds of the 2020 campaign, and it was recently announced neither the name nor logo will appear on the cars in any of the upcoming races in the EU and the UK.

However, Binotto insists this does not say anything about the future of the partnership.

“If you look as well at last year or previous years, there were races where we were not having the logo on the car,” the team boss said, quoted by Motorsport.com.

“That was down to the regulations of various countries, and we are simply trying to respect it as we did in the past and still do today.”

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Indeed, given the contract between the two is ending at the end of the 2021 campaign, many would have wondered if the recent announcement was a sign it would not be renewed.

That does not appear to be the case though, with Binotto stating a new deal is already being discussed for 2022 and beyond.

“You’re right, the contract is finishing by the end of the year,” he added.

“But we have discussions ongoing with PMI, which has been a very strong and close partner for us for many, many years and the relationships are good.

“So how it will be concluded, I think we will see in the next months.”

Ferrari failed to score any points last time out due to issues with high tyre degradation, and Binotto has admitted the team’s problems in that area could carry on until the end of the season.

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