STOP Welcomes Attorneys General Calling for F1 to End Tobacco and Nicotine Sponsorships

(New York, United States, June 8, 2026) – Tobacco industry watchdog, STOP, applauds Attorneys General from 19 states and jurisdictions for taking Formula One Group (F1), the organization that runs the sport of F1, and the sport’s regulator, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), to task for permitting Zyn and Velo nicotine pouches to be marketed to young fans.

Citing F1’s popularity boom, its significant youth viewership and the danger of exposing young people to highly addictive and harmful nicotine products, the Attorneys General call on the FIA and F1 to terminate all current sponsorships involving all tobacco and nicotine products, including nicotine pouches, and to prohibit such sponsorships in the future. They also point to the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), which banned tobacco advertising targeting youth, including specifically limiting sponsorship of auto racing events.

“Tobacco company sponsorship is roaring back into Americans’ lives at the track and online, and it must stop. F1 is masking addiction and harm in the imagery of sports and potentially putting millions of children on a fast track to poor health. We thank the Attorneys General for their commitment to protecting the public from tobacco and nicotine product marketing in F1,” said Jorge Alday, Director of STOP at Vital Strategies.

Alday continued: “Public health advocates and experts have been calling on F1 to end tobacco sponsorships for years, including 160 organizations earlier this year and now the 19 Attorneys General, but the sport remains stuck in reverse. Now is the time for F1 to take responsibility for protecting its young fans and stop driving addiction.”

With a strategy that includes partnerships with Disney, Lego, Mattel’s Hot Wheels and Hasbro, Formula One has been working to grow the sport by reaching a younger and more globally diverse audience, with the U.S. a key target. That goal lines up squarely with Philip Morris International (PMI) and British American Tobacco’s (BAT) plans to recruit new users.

Among the findings in STOP’s fourth “Driving Addiction” report, we revealed that the majority of the sport’s followers on TikTok and 40% on Instagram are aged under 25 years, more than four million American and European children between the ages of 8 and 12 follow F1 and the sport’s dedicated “F1 Kids” content is exposing young viewers to nicotine brands.

BAT’s Vuse e-cigarette and Velo nicotine pouch brands and PMI’s Zyn nicotine pouch brand feature prominently on the McLaren and Ferrari team cars, respectively, and on the suits of drivers who are heroes to young fans. BAT and PMI promote these sponsorships on social media and in ways that appeal to youth, with music events, design collaborations, competitions and more.

The potential risk is clear. Nicotine can harm brain development, which continues until age 25, and nicotine pouch use among youth nearly quadrupled in the U.S between 2022 and 2025. Research confirms the brands promoted via F1 are the most (Zyn) and one of the most (Velo) popular nicotine pouch products used by American youth. Youth e-cigarette use also remains a significant risk, with Vuse being one of the most popular brands. Ending these sponsorships in F1 will help protect young fans from being exposed to industry marketing designed to lure them into what could be a lifetime of addiction.

Please contact the STOP press office for more information or to speak to a STOP spokesperson.

Notes to Editors

Research conducted for STOP estimates that cigarette companies have spent an estimated $4.6 billion over the last 57 years to get their brands in front of consumers through F1.

STOP has published four “Driving Addiction” reports. The first examined the resurgence of tobacco spending in the sport. The second, tobacco companies’ reach among young F1 fans on social media. The third exposed how Netflix had become a vehicle for tobacco industry advertising, and the fourth, how the sport’s strategy to capture a young, diverse global audience—including children—aligns perfectly with tobacco companies seeking new routes to reach those people with their harmful products.

In March 2026, at the start of the new race season, a letter signed by 162 organizations from 57 countries was sent to Formula 1, calling on the sport to stop helping the industry market nicotine products to F1’s millions of young fans. Letters were also sent to Disney, Lego and Mattel encouraging them to join this call to action.

About STOP

STOP is a global network of academic and public health organizations. STOP connects experts in all aspects of the tobacco industry’s business to expose and counter its relentless efforts to sell harmful, addictive products. For more information, visit exposetobacco.org.