Velo is one of the brands McLaren sponsor British American Tobacco has created to pivot away from cigarettes towards tobacco-free nicotine products, such as Velo's flavoured nicotine pouches or the Vuse brand's e-cigarettes.
In April this year, the Dutch government joined a growing list of European countries to ban the sale of all types of nicotine pouches over health concerns, in particular regarding the accessibility of addictive snus pouches and vapes to minors.
Crucially, however, Dutch legislation concerning the ban on advertising nicotine pouches is still a work in progress, meaning McLaren can legally go ahead carrying its Velo branding in Zandvoort.
"All branding carried on McLaren race cars fully complies with regulatory requirements and advertising standards of each country we race in," a team spokesperson confirmed to Autosport.
That legal vacuum prompted an official complaint to the Dutch Advertising Code Committee by a group of Dutch health organisations, including the Dutch Heart Foundation and the KWF Dutch Cancer Society.
Source: Autosport