When Philip Morris unpacked its first smoking F1 livery

For almost five decades, Philip Morris was Formula 1's most prominent and longest-serving sponsor.

For the Swiss-American tobacco company, it all started in 1972 with a partnership with the British BRM team.

And in the winter of that year at the Circuit Paul Ricard, Philip Morris unpacked its first red and white Marlboro liveried F1 car, with a BRM P160B driven by Peter Gethin breaking out of a giant cigarette box.

Marlboro's presence loomed large in the F1 paddock in the seventies and eighties and until the mid-nineties, its colors raced by several teams and countless drivers.

Even a ban on tobacco advertising in F1 in 2006 didn't deter Philip Morris which continued to support Ferrari, with various red and white 'subliminal' graphics appearing on the Scuderia's cars for years until its Mission Winnow brand took over the space in 2019.

But Ferrari dropped the name in 2022, potentially concluding Philip Morris' near 50-year presence in F1.