Revealed: F1’s official wine supplier’s verdict on Lando Norris’ ‘spike’

No Lando Norris victory celebration would be complete without the McLaren driver’s sparkling wine 'spike', where he flamboyantly opens the bottle with a shake and a bump on the dais to get the party started.

It’s a move we’re expecting to see in F1 2024’s final six races, held at fast and furious pace as two triple-headers, six races in seven weeks, from Austin this weekend to Abu Dhabi’s traditional season finale on December 8th.

But, while you might expect Norris’ energetic celebration 'spike' to set nerves on edge at Ferrari Trento, F1’s official sparkling wine, that couldn’t be further from the truth – with the brand very supportive of it.

“Obviously, as a wine producer, we think that the best way to enjoy Ferrari is to drink it, not spray it,” says Matteo Bruno Lunelli, Ferrari Trento’s President and CEO, exclusively to Crash.net.

“But, in the end, this is also a moment of joy and celebration, so it’s nice to see when the drivers really enjoy it, and certainly Lando is quite iconic in the way he celebrates it.”

Ferrari Trento may be a relative newcomer to F1, with its deal lasting from 2021 through the end of 2024. But, the brand’s foundation by Giulio Ferrari in 1902 predates the World Championship. It was sold 50 years later to Trento wineshop owner Bruno Lunelli, with the third generation now in charge.

Ferrari Trento is unrelated to the world famous red F1 team, though second-generation wine maker Gino Lunelli was good friends with the legendary Enzo Ferrari. But, it’s an impressive player in the market – with storage capacity for 20 million bottles at its Italian base, and six million sold in 2023.

Of that total, 70,000 of those were popped at Formula One Grands Prix last year, and almost 20,000 enjoyed in Miami – Ferrari Trento’s biggest event for 2023, with Las Vegas second.

“Las Vegas would be a close number [to Miami], but it’s not in the total because a lot of the hospitality facilities [serving Ferrari] are located inside of the casinos around the city,” says President and CEO Lunelli.

“Last year in Las Vegas, not only were we were served in the F1 Paddock Club, but some other locations organised by the different casinos, which are on the Strip. For example, we were at the Las Vegas Bellagio, which organised a very nice hospitality area just behind the fountains of the casino. This was not the official F1 hospitality. Bellagio itself managed it, and they chose to serve and pour Ferrari to all their guests throughout the weekend.

“We were also served, for example, inside the Four Seasons Hotel, which was an amazing activation. All of the guests of the hotel received a Ferrari F1 edition bottle as a welcome in the room.”

Of course, with a glass in hand, the focus is firmly on the race – and here Ferrari Trento has exponentially grown its brand awareness by being sprayed on all the podiums throughout each F1 weekend, from F1 to Porsche Supercup.

“Our Ferrari Trento jeroboam becomes part of the show in Formula One, because it gets into the hands of the drivers,” Lunelli says.

“In addition to that, all the guests in the best hospitality of the Grand Prix can enjoy and experience Ferrari Trento throughout the race weekend. So this makes our partnership quite special compared to other partners that have different kind of categories of products.”

Of course, Ferrari Trento also provides sparkling wine to celebrating F1 teams, whatever the occasion, to keep the party going that little bit longer and make the results that much more memorable before the inevitable pack-up.

The Italian sparkling wine producer also gives back; with the custom-made podium bottles auctioned on merchandise site F1 Authentics and proceeds going to the Make a Wish Foundation. Driver meet-and-greets are also organised for the charity, ensuring meaningful experiences for sick children.

“In the past we did other initiatives like this, for example, when in Imola 2023, the Grand Prix was cancelled, unfortunately because of the flood,” Lunelli says.

“We thought it was a nice initiative to auction the bottles that were never used on the podium and we had very strong response, together with Pirelli and with Formula 1, we auctioned all the trophies and the bottles that should have been delivered to the drivers and almost €100,000 Euros were raised.

“All the proceeds were given to support emergency efforts in the affected areas. So this is an angle of social responsibility that we are really happy to have inside of our F1 partnership initiatives.”

It’s a fun aspect of the motorsport business, but Ferrari Trento proves there’s far more to supplying sparkling wine at Grands Prix than you’d expect.