Ferrari restores 'Mission Winnow' branding for Bahrain

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Ferrari has formally lodged a change of team name with the FIA ahead of next weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

It restores the 'Mission Winnow' branding from cigarette and tobacco manufacturing giant Philip Morris International, which had been dropped for the season opener in Australia.

Formula 1 has banned the direct advertising of tobacco products since 2006, although Ferrari continued to have Marlboro as a title sponsor until 2011. But the 'Mission Winnow' exploited some grey areas in the rules to get around the governing body's current regulations.

'Mission Winnow' ditched for Melbourne but Ferrari preparing a surprise

Ferrari is not alone, with McLaren also doing a deal to carry the 'A Better Tomorrow' branding from British American Tobacco.

However Australia is noted for much stricter anti-tobacco laws covering the promotion of tobacco products. The World Health Organisation has also criticised the growth of 'indirect' tobacco advertising through general slogans and initiatives.

Local pressure groups had attacked the use of the 'subliminal' Mission Minnow in Ferrari's original entry name and on the livery of the race car, and threatened to take legal action against the team.

As a result, Ferrari opted to to register for the first race as simply Scuderia Ferrari, and used special 'anniversary' decals on the SF90 in Melbourne in place of 'Mission Winnow'. Changes were also made to team members' attire.

At the time, Philip Morris confirmed that the 'Mission Winnow' branding would indeed be back after Melbourne.

"We are here to stay," the company tweeted. "Mission Winnow will remain the title partner of the Scuderia Ferrari team. The changes are currently planned only for Australia."

Sure enough, with Bahrain taking a more relaxed view on the issue, Ferrari has duly filed its request to race under the previous full name of 'Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow'. It will also restore the 'Mission Winnow' branding to the car and personnel.

The FIA's formal entry list for Bahrain confirms the change of name.

Ferrari - which has a partnership with Philip Morris extending back several decades - previously used the 'Mission Winnow' name and livery in pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in February.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.