The Paddock Club experience is surely the best way to get a taste of Formula 1. At the recent British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the action on the track was electric, with Carlos Sainz winning a dramatic race for Ferrari, while off the track the club was alive with excitement and entertainment.
As a guest of Ferrari Trento – the official sparkling wine of F1 – it took a newbie like me a few moments to adjust to the roaring sound of motors, but the Paddock Club offered a perfect place to enjoy the celebration of racing.
One must-visit spot was the Ferrari Trento podium, which provides an excellent photo opp with the F1 championship trophies. There was also a band playing, plus drinks flowing aplenty in various tents with views over the iconic circuit. A red carpet leads you to the entrance of the Silverstone pit lane and paddock complex – an eye-catching futuristic construction.
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Inside the trophy-adorned walls of the Paddock Club there’s a hive of hospitality. Chefs prepare delicious dishes from the world’s favourite cuisines, and the produce used is carefully purchased from markets local to the circuit in Northamptonshire. All around you there’s plates of lobster, delightful sweet treats, and of course there’s open bars located across all levels of the club.
The Ferrari Trento podium at Silverstone
(Image credit: Kaye O’Doherty)
Track tour and celeb spotting
The exuberant displays of food and drinks are just the start of your special day. One of the main highlights was the truck tour around the track. Friendly experts took us through Silverstone’s extreme bends like Maggots Corner and explained how drivers reach top speeds around particular sections of the course. Although the truck we travelled on wasn’t going quite as fast as the race cars, seeing all of the crowds gathered around the circuit was an incredibly moving experience.
The feeling of excitement was topped off with a tour around the pit lanes where we were able to catch a glimpse of the cars being prepped ahead of the grand prix. Celebrities including Tom Cruise, Stormzy, Gordon Ramsay, influencer Lydia Millen and Made in Chelsea star Emma Walsh were also spotted.
On the terrace overlooking the race start line, we met Matteo Lunelli, CEO and president of Ferrari Trento. A celebratory bottle of Ferrari F1 Silverstone Trentodoc sparkling wine was popped open and we all enjoyed a glass of the lively and revitalising tipple. Lunelli told us about the brand’s founder, Giulio Ferrari, and his ambitious plan to create an Italian Trentodoc capable of competing with the best French Champagnes. We learnt about the grapes which are hand-picked at the Ferrari Trento winery in Trentino, then aged in the bottle giving each Trentodoc its own unique flavour.
Race winner Carlos Sainz celebrates his British Grand Prix victory
(Image credit: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
9,000 corks are popped
Today, Ferrari Trento’s bubbles are popped by race winners on the podium after every F1 grand prix. If this wasn’t a fantastic enough achievement, Formula 1’s partner also prides itself on being a force for good – after every grand prix, a bottle is signed by the top three drivers and auctioned off for charity.
Over the course of the grand prix weekend, organisers expected more than 9,000 bottles of Ferrari Trento to be opened. The phenomenal success of the brand in F1 explains why Ferrari Trento’s partnership was recently extended by two years, therefore remaining the “official toast” of F1 until 2025. Brandon Snow, F1’s commercial managing director, supported this and said “we are very excited to continue to have Ferrari Trento present at every podium until 2025”.
Attending the British Grand Prix in person and getting behind-the-scenes Paddock Club access with Ferrari Trento was a truly riveting experience – something to put on your bucket list, and a day of dreams for any F1 fan.
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