SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium — At the Belgian Grand Prix, the racing wasn’t the only action on the track.

Returning as title sponsor of the event for the second consecutive year, Moët & Chandon took part in the launch of an exclusive culinary experience that allowed guests to dine on the circuit.

Dubbed The Out Lap, the moveable feast took place in a sleek glass-walled bus where Michelin-starred French chef Yannick Alléno and Benoît Gouez, chef de cave at Moët & Chandon, presented food and wine pairings, such as a wagyu beef, foie gras and glazed eel with Grand Vintage Collection 1996 Champagne.

Over three outings — one on Friday and two on Saturday — groups of 12 people were accompanied by former racing drivers Jacques Villeneuve, Karun Chandhok and Naomi Schiff, and acclaimed commentator David Croft, who told stories about the stops along the historic track, including its treacherous Eau Rouge stretch. 

Codesigned by Formula 1 and Moët Hennessy, the wines and spirits division of luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the $13,450 experience will travel to the Dutch, Italian and Spanish Grand Prix this year, with each destination offering a locally tailored menu.

Next season, it will be available in even more locations, illustrating the depth of new experiences unlocked by LVMH’s 10-year deal as global luxury partner of F1.

“This is where we work super well together. We brainstorm together,” Sibylle Scherer, chief executive officer of Moët & Chandon, told WWD in an interview at the F1 offices in the paddock of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. 

“The success of Formula 1 is that it’s always on the move. There’s constant innovation happening,” she added. “We learn from each other. We also learn a lot from the past and what we interpret and create for the future. So there’s a very lively, positive exchange between us.” 

This time last year, Moët & Chandon — the sport’s official Champagne from 1981 to 1997 — was keen to underline its historic relationship with Formula 1, stretching back to the 1950s. Now it wants to emphasize its ongoing involvement in every facet of the sport, from the parc fermé to the podium.

“Formula 1 creates these extraordinary performances, but behind every driver, there is this collective. There are hundreds of people — the engineers, the mechanics, the strategists, the designers — and they work with incredible precision,” Scherer said. 

“That resonated super strongly with us, because we feel like it’s the same thing when you create a bottle of Moët — also this collective effort from the vineyards to the cellar,” she added.

“This year we are approaching it with even more emotions, and we learned how we fit in: not sticking a logo there, but how do we fit in in a meaningful way? So that was for us the big learning curve, from returning to belonging again, and being part of this tapestry,” she emphasized.

Keeping Heritage Alive

After making its presence felt in Spa with a branded Cool Down Room, champion’s corridor and podium in 2025, the Champagne house this year brought back the Silver Trophy, a sculpted silver Jeroboam that Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli hoisted after beating Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen to win the race. 

It was a reinterpretation of a tradition dating back to the 1996 and 1997 seasons, when the Silver Jeroboam was raised on the podium by the race winner, while the Silver Trophy was awarded at season’s end to the driver with the most Grand Prix victories.  

The trophy was carried to Spa from the Château de Saran, Moët & Chandon’s stately home in the Champagne region, in the trunk of a vintage Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman that has ferried Formula 1 legends like Alain Prost and Jean Todt. 

“What is super important for us: heritage must remain alive. You can never just take something old. You always need to bring it into today’s world, so we have a very modern interpretation of this historic Silver Jeroboam,” Scherer said.

Underscording the growing links between Moët & Chandon and the drivers, Antonelli dedicated his win to his father Marco, signing a jeroboam of bubbly on the podium in gold marker pen with the personal message: “Happy Birthday Dad.”  

Another driver gifted a magnum of Moët & Chandon to everyone on his team last Christmas, Scherer noted. “Everyone is happy for us to be back because it feels very authentic,” said the executive. 

LVMH was also present in the paddock at Spa through its LVMH House, which offered an immersion into the worlds of Louis Vuitton, Moët Hennessy and Tag Heuer through demonstrations by specialized artisans. The concept, which premiered at the Miami Grand Prix, will travel next to Madrid. 

Meanwhile, Sephora hosted a glam station, reflecting its partnership with F1 Academy, the female-only racing championship that launched in 2023.

A Growing Fanbase

In 2025, the first year of LVMH’s 10-year partnership with F1, the sport’s global fanbase grew to 827 million people, boosted by the release of “F1: The Movie,” according to data published by the Formula One Group. That was up 12 percent year-over-year and a 63 percent increase versus 2018.

In addition to producing record viewing figures on TV, the sport is making huge inroads on digital, helped by series like “Passenger Princess” with comedian Amelia Dimoldenberg. 

The Belgian Grand Prix remains a standout event, attracting the largest TV audience of last season, and drawing a record attendance of 400,000 this weekend, including King Philippe of Belgium and rapper Stromae. All of this is benefiting Moët & Chandon.

“We measure a lot: visibility, earned media, consumer engagement, brand consideration, and of course, the value we create in the markets for our clients and partners. I would say that the first signals are super positive for us, particularly around the recognition that Moët & Chandon is an authentic part of Formula 1. No one questioned us coming back,” Scherer said.

Significantly, she said a study conducted by F1 found that one in three fans cited Moët & Chandon as their favorite Champagne brand. “That wasn’t the case before, so I think that’s a very clear KPI,” she said. 

That’s welcome news as the Champagne house continues to navigate a challenging market. Global shipments are expected to remain broadly flat this year after declining 2 percent in 2025, according to producers’ association Comité Champagne.

On top of that, harvests are expected to be heavily impacted by Europe’s record heatwave, which followed catastrophic hailstorms in June. Moët & Chandon is gearing up for another early harvest next month, with plans to have some grape pickers start as early as 4:30 a.m. to avoid the heat. 

“Of course, the challenge ahead is how do we adjust to climate change? How do we adjust to make sure we can produce the same quality or an even better quality? But also, how do we protect our people?” said Scherer.

“It’s important to stay agile and to try different things. And then, of course, we also need to start innovating or experimenting with new grape varieties, different spacing between the vines,” she added.

Moët & Chandon is also banking on markets like Southeast Asia and Africa as future growth drivers. Among the clients it hosted in Spa were trade partners from South Africa, where Moët Hennessy is the market leader.

“The answer needs to be nuanced, and we just have to make sure we protect value. It should never be volume over value,” Scherer said. “For the more mature markets, our focus needs to be to reinforce our desirability to create value and relevancy, and then, of course, there are still areas where there’s growth potential.”