As Formula One dithers over the withdrawal of tobacco sponsorship, the British-based pressure group ASH has issued the following statement:

The EU law banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship comes into effect from 1 August but its effectiveness is being threatened by possible non-compliance by at least two Formula One teams, currently sponsored by tobacco companies.

Both the Renault team, sponsored by Japan Tobacco, and Ferrari, sponsored by Marlboro have said they will carry the tobacco livery in defiance of the new law. This is despite the fact that the teams have been on notice of the law’s implementation date for at least 3 years. The situation has not been helped by the fact that the European Commission has failed to give member states clear guidance on how the law should be implemented and what sanctions should be applied in the cases of non-compliance.

Deborah Arnott, Director of the health campaigning charity ASH, said: "It is deplorable that Formula One teams, under pressure from their tobacco sponsors, are threatening to undermine the new law when its intention is perfectly clear – that is, an end to the glamorisation of smoking via sport.

"It is also regrettable that the European Commission has not given member states clear guidance on the implementation of the Directive. But that does not give Formula One free rein to ignore the law. All EU member states should implement the Directive into national law without any further delay. We must put an end, once and for all, to the insidious promotion of a deadly product that kills more than 500,000 Europeans a year."