New Marlboro Ferrari deal worth almost $500m

Ferrari's inauguration of a new F1 logo for this year, with its angular red and white colors and black wording closely resembling Marlboro cigarette packets

(GMM) Ferrari's new Marlboro deal is worth almost half a billion dollars to the famous Italian team.

The Maranello based team, officially known as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, said in a brief statement this week that Philip Morris International had extended its existing contract to the end of 2015.

The original deal was set to run until the end of next year.

The anti tobacco-advertising rules in F1, Europe and most of the rest of the world means that Marlboro's actual red and white branding cannot be displayed on the Ferrari single seaters.

But Sportspro reports that Philip Morris is still pledging $160 million to Ferrari for the F1 sponsorship each year.

The new deal follows Ferrari's inauguration of a new F1 logo for this year, with its angular red and white colors and black wording closely resembling Marlboro cigarette packets.