One last champagne celebration for Ferrari Trento as it bids farewell to F1’s top spot

For 4 years, Ferrari has graced the highest step of each Method 1 podium — simply not the pink Prancing Horse Ferraris pushed by Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz. Quite it is the bottle of Ferrari Trento glowing wine sprayed by victors in celebration. The easy black bottle has change into synonymous with the game’s iconic ceremony, significantly for the hundreds of thousands of followers who found F1 in the course of the Netflix-fueled “Drive to Survive” period. Nonetheless, a billion-dollar deal inked by F1 and LVMH noticed the checkered flag wave on Ferrari Trento’s reign. Beginning in 2025, the French luxurious conglomerate’s marquee champagne, Moët & Chandon, will make its return to be ceremoniously sprayed on the rostrum.

These 4 years had been a dream, in line with Matteo Lunelli, the president and CEO of Ferrari Trento. “The Method 1 podium is probably the most iconic celebration on this planet of sports activities, and it’s the place the custom of opening a bottle of bubbles on the rostrum began,” he shared. Lunelli’s childhood reminiscences included watching Italy triumph within the 1982 FIFA World Cup with bottles of Ferrari Trento in hand. So when conversations started in 2019 to probably deliver the winemaker to Method 1, he was greater than keen to leap on the likelihood.

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“Then the Covid pandemic got here and it appeared just like the world was going to alter. However we had been dedicated to persevering with our challenge,” he stated. “At the moment it was not an apparent resolution in any respect as a result of no one knew if huge occasions had been coming again and if the world can be totally different, however we knew that this was an awesome alternative for Ferrari Trento, so we began in 2021.”

The gamble paid off. Not solely did the pandemic restrictions begin to elevate, however the model entered F1 when the game was on the precipice of an enormous growth, significantly within the US. “It was a little bit little bit of a guess on the time that turned out to be an awesome resolution for us,” Lunelli stated.

Within the brief time the 2 had been partnered collectively, they made some outstanding reminiscences. Lunelli recounts Lewis Hamilton celebrating his a hundredth grand prix win: “We knew that it may occur in Russia so we ready a really particular bottle, however clearly you do not know till the final flip,” he defined. “So we had this bottle prepared for the rostrum in Sochi and when he noticed it, he realized that it was for him and we’ve a ravishing image of him from that second.”

Then there’s Lando Norris, whose bottle-smashing antics have made him a fan-favorite on the rostrum. “I advised Lando that the bottles are actually not made for smashing on the ground, however he is a good champion, and he likes to do it, even when it makes me a little bit bit scared,” Lunelli stated. “The glass bottle just isn’t made to be thrown on the ground, however he’s one of the best at celebrating on the rostrum for certain. He has one of the best type.”

Lando Norris, McLaren, 2nd place, sprays champagne on the rostrum on the Hungarian GP after breaking Max Verstappen’s trophy.

Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photographs

Even Daniel Ricciardo’s notorious shoey acquired the inexperienced gentle from Lunelli. “Clearly a shoe just isn’t actually probably the most acceptable solution to drink our Ferrari, but it surely’s about pleasure,” he stated. “All the pieces is appropriate from Daniel as a result of he is such a improbable particular person. I all the time say we like to see any person having fun with Ferrari in a pleasant glass, maybe with the meals within the Paddock Membership, however that second of victory is a second of celebration and pleasure, so it’s completely acceptable.”

Naturally, Lunelli has a particular place reserved for Ferrari double podiums, which he’s dubbed “Ferrari squared.” But one second stands out above the remainder: Leclerc’s long-awaited victory on the Monaco Grand Prix in 2024. “The Prince of Monaco stated that if Charles received, he would spray himself on the rostrum,” Lunelli recalled. “It was very out of protocol. The Monaco podium is elegant and formal but it surely was such a pleasure for him [Prince Albert]. He sprayed Charles after which drank from the bottle — it was iconic, and will certainly be one in all our most memorable moments in F1.”