Formula One Will Do Anything for Ferrari

From Road & Track

Ferrari has been accused of preferential treatment by Formula One's governing body, the FIA, for decades. In many ways, that treatment is warranted. Ferrari has been in the series since its inception in 1950 and is easily one of the most well-known car constructors in the world. Ferrari brings name recognition, history, passion, and all other sorts of buzzwords to the sport.

The Scuderia essentially has Formula One in a headlock, and can make it do whatever it wants, mainly by threatening to leave the sport to pursue another series. And now it seems that another Ferrari is taking advantage of that influence.

Formula One has announced that Ferrari Trento, an Italian maker of sparkling wine, will be the "official toast of Formula One" and be present on the podium at every race this year. It's still a bubbly white wine, but is not technically champagne as it's not from France. As PlanetF1 points out, Ferrari Trento has been on podiums before, but now it'll have a prime spot at every race on the calendar, meaning that the French bubbly will no longer be sprayed.

Ferrari the winemaker is unrelated to Ferrari the automaker. But the announcement was made by new F1 president Stefano Domenicali, a past Ferrari team principal. That means a former head of Ferrari has guaranteed that a Ferrari will be on the podium in every single 2021 race. That's a stark change from the last few seasons.

But if the tifosi can't be cheering for one of its drivers on the top step, at least they can drown their sorrows in some sparkling wine sprayed by a Mercedes driver.

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