How 'The Power of a Second' is Keeping Crucial Ferrari Partnership Alive [Exclusive]

Formula 1's days of mass spending may be long gone since the introduction of the budget cap in 2021, but that doesn't mean sponsorship is any less valuable to teams.

With the cap increased by $80 million in 2026 to $215 million, squads still need the backing to be able to operate at the upper limit of what the championship's financial regulations permit.

Ferrari has one of the longest-enduring partnerships in worldwide sport with Philip Morris International, an agreement that has stretched for over five decades. Yet challenges in the landscape of how certain products are portrayed over the past 20 years have posed challenges to that partnership.

So, with PMI's Zyn brand adorning the Scarlet machines since the back end of 2025, and enjoying its first home race at the Italian Grand Prix with the partner on the car, Grand Prix on SI was able to cover the Monza event alongside those who made the partnership possible.

'The Power of a Second'

Michael Schumacher, Ferrari | Scuderia Ferrari

There was a time when F1 was dominated by Tobacco sponsorships. Race circuits were heavily supported by some brands, while almost every car on the grid was running in the colors of whatever company had thrown money at a given team.

Some of the most iconic liveries in the sport's history gave a nod to Tobacco brands - think the Marlboro McLarens and Ferraris, Rothmans and Camel with Williams, West with McLaren and Benson & Hedges on the Jordans of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

But when Tobacco sponsorship was banned after 2006, the landscape changed immensely, not just for those brands but for the teams and circuits as well. The Imola circuit was one casualty - the Italian circuit dropped off the calendar for 2007 and did not return until the COVID era, when F1 scrambled to create a championship-worthy schedule under restrictions.

Yet PMI has remained with Ferrari even throughout the Tobacco blackout. While its presence with the Maranello-based outfit was subdued initially, the arrival of Mission Winnow added a splash of green in the early 2020s.

But now with smoke-free product Zyn, the game has changed again and at the Italian GP earlier in September, the partnership launched 'The Power of a Second' initiative together, taking things past what happens on the track.

Speaking to Grand Prix on SI, Global Head Category Marketing, Oral Products James Ryan explained the importance of keeping the PMI-Ferrari partnership intact throughout the challenges faced.

Zyn x Ferrari — Ferrari deputy team prinicpal Jerome D'Ambrosio and Zyn Global Head Catagory Marketing, Oral Products, James Ryan | PMI

"It is one of the most enduring partnerships in sport," said Ryan. "It's a partnership we have had for five decades and I think for us it is about respecting the legacy of the partnership but it is also now taking this new step, so we call it the extended partnership.

"We first showed up on the car in Abu Dhabi last year [2025] and now here in Monza, it represents a couple of things.

"Fifty years is a long time, and in that 50 years, we have seen a couple of things happen. If you look at our industry, our consumers are expecting more in terms of products that are better alternatives than continuing to smoke.

"For us, it is about understanding the change in consumer preference but also about changing the business. Through this partnership of 50 years, consumer demand has changed, but also our business has changed. So it's an evolution of the partnership."

On what allows the two to be relevant together, Ferrari deputy team principal Jerome D'Ambrosio insisted: "At the heart of it is the shared values.

"That's the starting point and if you have that, you can build that legacy and you have that common ground to be able to move forward together. But if I had to pinpoint one point which is clearly important and needs to be in the DNA of the companies, it's the ability to erase change.

"It has been 50 years of partnership - I wasn't born when it started - and as a company in F1, we have changes, regulatory, for example, so how do we have the open-mindedness to approach these changes together and find solutions to move forward.

"To be able to have a long-lasting partnership, you need the ability to erase change and the attitude towards that, to always be constructive and if you have the DNA, you have the strong base to be able to say, regardless of the environment you find yourself, you know you have common values to be able to work together and find ways."

Soaking up every second in Monza 🇮🇹✨ pic.twitter.com/3ecc2Ua4ab
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) September 4, 2026

With a brand like PMI now unable to carry brand colors on the cars like in previous generations, the brand now has to find new ways of storytelling - which is why 'The Power of a Second' has been created.

"That's how partnership has changed a lot," explained Ryan. "There's an aspect, which is visibility, which is, yes, having your brand on the car, having it on some of the team assets.

"But if you have a look at consumers today, there is a different expectation from partnerships. Visibility is one thing and that is important, but we need to go over and above that, and it is about building out experiences that are proprietary that talk to the passions these adult consumers have. How do we go beyond awareness into something that can really be experienced?

"I think that's now the benchmark. That's why we talk about the idea of 'The Power of a Second'. This is more than just a branding exercise; it is also about saying, 'what is this world, and how does it relate to us?'"

And change is something that Ferrari is used to, having been in F1 since its infancy in 1950.

"It's in the DNA of our sport and change happens very quickly," said D'Ambrosio. "If you think of a lap, it is a defined set of limitations, but the next lap is different; the wind has changed, the tires have changed and the drivers need to adapt.

Ferrari at Bahrain testing — Ferrari Media Centre

"That is in a scale of a lap of the track, but it is true of regulations, even during the season when the FIA sees something they want handled differently, which brings around a new set of problems.

"It is the ability to remain open-minded, the ability to be pragmatic. It is a sport with a lot of passion, but you have to balance that with science. You have to be objective about how you improve and how you anticipate change.

"There is this mix of present, mid-term, long-term and always trying to be ahead of the game."

Challenged with what 'The Power of a Second' means for a competitive outfit in F1, given the fine margins between success and failure in the sport, the Belgian suggested: "A second is a lot. A lot can happen in a second and on one side, in the car for a driver, it is a huge amount. It is what separates 22 cars, more often than not.

"So it is a lot. On the pitwall, it is a decision whether you box or don't box, and you often find yourselves in situations where you have to take decisions in that timeframe.

"You can only do so with a mix of preparation - when you are prepared, you can allow instinct to take control - but it goes fast, so it is something that increases the pressure for the pitwall, the drivers, everyone in the factory, and it heightens the intensity.

"At the same time, if I go back to my driving days, a second is ages. It goes slow. We have an interesting relation with time in racing, but what we want to do is go as fast as possible and remove as many seconds as we can."

And Ryan pointed to the birth of the initiative: "This was an idea that came from us.

"The reason we find it interesting is in motorsports, a lot of it, because it is about innovation, progress and a lot of it is about speed. We thought it would be interesting to juxtapose that with... in amongst all of that speed, there are these really powerful moments that happen - that second - where you really experience. One decision, one moment within that second can change everything.

"So this is an idea that we had that we thought was a really good way to represent our point of view in this whole realm of motorsport."

But where can the partnership go from here? As Ryan points out, the vision starts from here, rather than dwelling on past relations.

"We first showed up on the car at the end of 2025, so in many ways, we are at the front end of what this partnership is going to become," he said.

"So, in terms of future plans, that I can't go into. But I can say this is the beginning of the partnership - something we are super excited about, that Ferrari is super excited about. It is at the back end of 50 years, but the beginning of an exciting chapter."

And while partnerships are always useful financially for teams and for the commercial visibility of the paying brand, there are plenty of far-reaching benefits for both parties.

For Zyn and Ryan, this is clear: "First and foremost, it is about having shared values. When you look at the world of motorsport, when you look at Ferrari, there are these themes of precision, of design and I think those are spaces where both of us play, and these are important spaces for us.

"So in terms of where we go and where this serves us, having those shared values is certainly the foundation of what is going to take us forward and we will continue that mutually beneficial space."

Add us as a preferred source on Google