Champagne returns to F1 podium

Aug.2 - Champagne has returned to the F1 podium.

Last year, the sport's long-time sponsor Mumm left the sport, leaving drivers spraying bottles of fizzy Chandon on the podium instead.

However, McLaren sponsor Chandon actually makes sparkling chardonnay, ending F1's decades-long flirt with champagne.

But the Washington Post reports that champagne is now back, with $3000 bottles of 'Carbon' sprayed into the crowd by Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas in Hungary.

The newspaper reports that every bottle that will be sprayed on the podium from now on "is coated in the same carbon fibre that F1 cars are made of".

"For me, this has great symmetry with formula one," said Carbon Champagne boss Alexandre Mea.

F1's champagne history dates back to 1950, when after a grand prix in the Champagne region of France, a large bottle was presented to the winner.

But it was not until 1966 when, at Le Mans, Jo Siffert's accidentally shaken bottle was inadvertently sprayed into the crowd, starting the tradition.

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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