FOROMULA ONE/Sponsorship: Williams yesterday signed a historic anti-smoking sponsorship deal which could see Formula One's dependence on tobacco finally run out of puff. The Grove-based outfit have agreed an initial one-year deal with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare whose products are designed to help people give up smoking.

The company's NiQuitin CQ range will be displayed prominently on the team's cars from this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in Italy.

Williams dominated the sport for much of the 1990s when they were run under the Rothmans and Winfield brands but renounced cigarette sponsorship when they joined forces with engine suppliers BMW.

"We have been tobacco-free for three years," said Williams marketing director Jim Wright. "We used to be sponsored by tobacco companies, but we also used to make cars out of aluminium.

"Life moves on and we are all more aware now of public health. This is landmark deal for a Formula One team and a first for motorsport. We're helping motor racing kick the habit."

Five of F1's 10 teams - Ferrari, McLaren, BAR, Renault and Jordan - are still reliant on tobacco sponsorship to the tune of around a200 million a year so yesterday's announcement is a small but significant step in the opposite direction.

"Formula One is a global sport where we can get across the message that smoking is not the cool thing to do," said Simon Pulsford, general manager and vice-president GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare UK.

"We can advertise across all mediums, there are no restrictions on stop-smoking advertising.

"Smoking causes severe health problems. We want to make giving up smoking using NiQuitin CQ more aspirational, and the BMW Williams F1 team provides a perfect means to that end.

"It allows us to inspire hundreds of millions of smokers, who have been bombarded with pro-tobacco messages through Formula One for decades, to give up smoking."

FIA, the sport's world governing body, are planning legal action aimed at overturning a European Union law banning tobacco advertising from mid-2005 having initially agreed a date of October 2006 to take into account current sponsorship deals.

The ruling body have warned the row could see tobacco advertising continue after 2006 with European races replaced by countries like China, Bahrain and Turkey where there are no laws against it.

The dispute has already seen Austria being told it will lose its place after next month's grand prix while this year's Belgian Grand Prix was booted off the calendar because of local anti-tobacco laws.