The Japanese Grand Prix 2025 this weekend (April 5-6) at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan, a 5.807 km. long race track, is the perfect venue where innovation and regulation meet.
The GP weekend invitation came from Philip Morris International (PMI) and its partner, Ferrari, one of the top racing teams in Formula 1 (F1).
“We have a long-standing partnership with Ferrari and we leverage this in terms of building relationships, keeping relations warm with our stakeholders, our business partners, including the media,” said Dave Gomez, Communications Director of PMFTC Inc., the local affiliate of PMI.
Gomez said there are a lot of similarities between F1 and PMI.
“F1 is a highly-regulated industry race but teams are forced to innovate, to compete, and win. The same with, I guess, our products. We come from a highly-regulated industry and through innovation, we are able to compete better and hopefully, secure a smoke-free future,” he added.
Japan happens to be a huge market for PMI, Nagoya particularly, where IQOS was launched in 2014.
“There’s a sentimental value to Nagoya, the birthplace of IQOS. We launched IQOS here. Nagoya was one of two pilot cities in the world where we launched the IQOS. The other city was Milan. Since then, it has grown tremendously,” Gomez said.
The number of smokers who have quit smoking in Japan alone has reached close to 8 million.
“Hopefully, the experience in Japan is replicated around the world, including the Philippines where IQOS has been around for five years now,” he added.
F1 Qualifying
On Saturday, April 5, Max Verstappen literally “stopped them” when he grabbed the pole position from Lando Norris for the Japanese Grand Prix. He pipped Norris by 0.012 seconds with his final lap of the session. Oscar Piastri was only 0.044s behind Verstappen.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc secured fourth on the grid with George Russell completing the top five. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton had to settle for a disappointing eighth.
Suzuka is a circuit considered as one of the most challenging for race drivers.
Key performance highlights
Gomez disclosed that there are now six global markets where more than 75 percent of net revenues are generated from smoke-free products such as IQOS.
Over US$14 billion cumulative investments behind smoke-free products have been made since 2008.
The race goes on
Gomez said PMI remains unrelenting in securing a smoke-free future.
With this in mind, 99 percent of the total shipment volume of PMI products is covered by youth access prevention programs in indirect retail channels. Also, 99 percent of contracted farmers supplying tobacco to PMI are making a living income with almost zero prevalence of child labor. Another feather to its cap: PMI’s manufacturing facilities have been certified as 61 percent carbon-neutral.
Also on Saturday, PMI hosted a talk on “Future-Proofing Innovation: Bridging the Gap Between Progress and Policy” with Stephen Edwards, editor of the Financial Times Longitude; Jackson Cox, founder and president of the American Association of the Indo-Pacific (AAIP); and Fred Roeder, managing director, Consumer Choice Center.