F1 announces new Champagne sponsor

Champagne Carbon has been named as the new official fizz of motorsport’s most prestigious championship, Formula One.

Lewis Hamilton at Formula One World Championship, Rd7, Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Montreal, Canada, Sunday 11 June 2017.

The Champagne, which has already been sprayed on the winners’ podium since the start of this season, made its official debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday 30 July.

It is the first Champagne to be sprayed in celebration by the top three finishers since 2015 when Champagne Mumm’s sponsorship of the championship came to an end. The brand now sponsors Formula E.

LVMH’s series of non-Champagne sparkling wines were used last season.

The wine now being sloshed around at the end of each race is a 2009 blanc de blanc grand cru and the bottles are coated in a special ‘carbon cloth’, derived from the same carbon fibre used to make the race cars themselves and which takes a craftsman a full week to apply to just one bottle.

Sean Bratches, managing director for Commercial Operations at Formula 1, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Champagne Carbon as one of our partners. Tradition, mystique, celebration and taste are common characteristics of both Formula 1 and Champagne Carbon.”

“The unique feature of a bottle made with carbon, the material so representative of the amazing technology in our sport, is a further element that makes Champagne Carbon the perfect product for the drivers to celebrate with on a Formula 1 Grand Prix podium. We are excited about this partnership, which I am sure will develop as we go forward and bring exceptional products to F1 fans.”

Alexandre Mea, CEO of Champagne Carbon added: “The partnership between Champagne Carbon and Formula 1 is, for us, the perfect fusion of ideas. We share a similar story – of great heritage, the constant pursuit of perfection and a relentless desire to innovate. My family has been involved in making champagne for almost two centuries and has been a producer since 1920, around the same time that the first true golden era of Grand Prix racing was beginning.

“Since then we have always sought to be different, to set new standards and to chase the dream of creating the finest champagnes possible. At Carbon, we are winemakers first and foremost, and we blend a passion for exceptional winemaking using traditional skills with cutting-edge materials processes to create something truly original. For me, this has great symmetry with Formula 1.”

“Both possess rich heritage, both rely on supreme craftsmanship but simultaneously both have always looked to the future. For me, this partnership is a perfect match and means just one thing – the future is now”.

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