Humble Beginnings

Sponsorship was minimal in the first 17 years of Formula 1. While there was the occasional sponsor on driver’s overalls, the FIA had banned sponsorship logos on the cars. For almost two decades, F1 teams were required to compete in the racing colors of their national origin; green for the UK, white for Germany, red for Italy, and blue for France (Sutherland, 2023).

The 1959/1960 Aston Martin in British Racing Green (Photo via Formula 1)

However, a small South African team changed that when they raced a car painted in the orange and red colors of the South African cigarette company Gunston. Driver John Love debuted the new livery on his Brabham BT20 at a non-championship race at the tail end of 1967 before competing in the livery’s first F1 World Championship Grand Prix in 1968 at the season opener in South Africa. Driven by John Love and Sam Tingle, the Gunston-colored cars garnered attention within the paddock. 

While the team only competed in a handful of grands prix and had unremarkable on-track performances, Team Gunston changed the trajectory of Formula 1. At the time, Formula 1 was in a financial crisis. Previous partners like Shell, GP, and Pirelli had stopped supporting the sport, and there was a serious lack of funding (Sutherland, 2023). The FIA were forced to lift their sponsorship ban to keep the sport afloat. Within a few weeks, another team had joined forces with a tobacco company.

The Team Gunston car in 1967 (Photo via BBC)

And Then There Were Two

Colin Chapman’s Team Lotus were two-time Formula 1 World Champions at the start of the 1968 season. His team was always at the forefront of innovation and controversy in F1, even in sponsorship. After watching Team Gunston’s car at the South African Grand Prix, Chapman made a deal with Imperial Tobacco that included a livery change, a name change, and more. No longer British Racing Green, the team unveiled their new red-and-white Gold Leaf Team Lotus livery in another racing series in Australia. 

Chapman would be repeatedly asked to repaint the cars at the next few races to respect tradition. Many viewed sponsorship-led paint jobs as a disgrace to F1 and its years of tradition. Despite the initial protests, the deal began a forty-year spell of association between the tobacco industry and Formula 1 (Clegg & Robinson, 2024). 

Graham Hill in the 1968 Gold Leaf Lotus (Photo via BBC)

Team Lotus became the first full-time F1 team to have a tobacco sponsorship, and later that year they became the first team to win the Formula 1 World Championship, both the Drivers and the Constructors, in a sponsored livery. The partnership between Imperial Tobacco and Lotus continued under their Gold Leaf brand until 1972 and continued with their John Player Special brand until 1986. Team Lotus would later exit Formula 1 in 1994, but their impact on Formula 1 would continue. 

The deal between Team Lotus and Imperial Tobacco started a chain reaction throughout the paddock. Large tobacco companies like Marlboro, Camel, and Rothmans would also enter the sport, causing every title-winning car for over two decades to be sponsored by a major smoking brand. Tobacco sponsors paved the way for different sponsors to enter the sport like we have today. While there have been many great sponsors since tobacco sponsorship was banned, Marlboro is still considered one of the most iconic and recognizable sponsors in the history of the sport. 

Sources

Robinson, Joshua, and Jonathan Clegg. The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World’s Fastest-Growing Sport. Mariner Books, 2024.

Sutherland, B. (2023, March 6). F1 in Africa: How Team Gunston started a sponsorship revolution. BBC Sport. https://www.bbc.com/sport/africa/64684013