GlaxoSmithKline has struck a deal to sponsor motorsport’s flagship event Formula One with NiQuitin its brand to help smokers kick the habit.

The BMW Williams team is to advertise NiQuitin CQ - nicotine patches, lozengers and chewing gum - under a one year contract with the healthcare giant.

NiQuitin QC will be seen for the first time on the track at this weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix in Imola.

General manager and vice president GSK Consumer Healthcare UK, Simon Pulsford, said: “The deal 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.”

Under proposed legislation, Formula One - with its £225m a year dependence on tobacco - is among a number of sports which will no longer be able to rely on tobacco sponsorships form 2006.