Ferrari has done an about turn on its ‘barcode’ livery and replaced it with a plain red rectangle from today.
Marlboro is the only cigarette brand with an ongoing involvement in F1 via a longstanding commercial arrangement between Philip Morris and the team, and while the full logo has not appeared for some time, the Italian cars have run with the barcode design in the place where the Marlboro name used to appear.
That led to some controversy in the media this week, to which Luca di Montezemolo responded by claiming that the design was nothing to do with the cigarette brand, despite the fact that various versions of it had been used in place of full branding by Ferrari and McLaren for over two decades.
The team announced today that the barcode has now gone, while still denying – to the bemusement of any sane observers – that it had any connection with Marlboro…
The statement read: “Together with Philip Morris International we have decided to modify the livery of our cars starting with the Barcelona Grand Prix.
“This decision was taken in order to remove all speculation concerning the so-called “bar code” which was never intended to be a reference to a tobacco brand.
“By this we want to put an end to this ridiculous story and concentrate on more important things than on such groundless allegations.”
Adam Cooper F1 
I find Ferrari’s denials hilarious. Of course it was a “coded” reference to Marlboro! It sure wasn’t there because it was beautiful….
Whether or not you think the ban on tobacco is fair is a separate question entirely. The ban is in place. This was a crafty attempt to get around it. Busted.
It just looks like a Marlboro pack top now!