Replacement for champagne in alcohol-free countries

[raymondu999]

Hey all. We know Bahrain and Abu Dhabi are two races where alcoholic sponsorship is not allowed, and they don't even use champagne on the podium celebrations. I believe it was mentioned somewhere a while back that it was rose water, whatever that was. But we saw in both raises that it doesn't squirt well, and the squirting was, put simply, a damp squib.

Shouldn't they replace this with something more fizzy to produce a better effect?

[Gerhard Berger]

I think a bottle of pepsi would have been better! The podium celebrations were pretty lame. They couldn't squirt the liquid out of the bottles and when Vettel poured some into Hamilton's mouth, Hamilton spat it out!

Also, i find it a bit strange that Abu Dhabi and Bahrain should put this ban on alcohol at the podium, yet Malaysia (another Islamic state) allows champagne on the podium.

btw Raymundo, Rose water is an ingredient used to make many middle eastern deserts like Turkish delight and muhalabee. On it's own it is not that nice IMO.

[Morteza]

Those are Islamic countries you know, and that's the reason for not bringing alcoholic drinks on the podiums.
Anyway, I believe if they had brought Pepsi/Coca-Cola in champagne bottles, it would have had a better effect in terms of being fizzy

EDIT : I posted what I wrote at the same time with Gerhard so there is a Pepsi similarity between them

[mcdenife]

Also, i find it a bit strange that Abu Dhabi and Bahrain should put this ban on alcohol at the podium, yet Malaysia (another Islamic state) allows champagne on the podium.

Malaysia is not an islamic state but a state where islam is the largest religion. Indeed its constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Neither are Abu dhabi or bahrain for that matter. Iran however is an islamic state. There is a difference between an islamic state and a muslim country

[PlatinumZealot]

Strange that the rosewater was more fizzy last year.

I think that they are not allowed to consume alcohol in public only in private. That is why RedBull could still pop the Mumm champagne in the back rooms.

[Richard]

You can also drink alcohol in licensed premises, usually hotel restaurants/bars.

I know loud outdoor music is prohibited in Dubai in case it encourages dancing. I wonder if that is the case in AD? The RB music was very loud and outdoors!

[Gerhard Berger]

You can also drink alcohol in licensed premises, usually hotel restaurants/bars.

I know loud outdoor music is prohibited in Dubai in case it encourages dancing. I wonder if that is the case in AD? The RB music was very loud and outdoors!

This is UAE we are talking about, not Saudi Arabia.

[spinmastermic]

How about Diet Coke and Mentos?

[gridwalker]

I too was somewhat disappointed by the lack of the obligitory podium champagne-bukkake shot : it seems like such a shame that they couldn't even rustle up a bottle of Grape flavoured Schloer to douse the new champion with (that stuff can go off with a bang, let me tell you) ...

I can't tell you the name of what they were failing to spray, but it is probably similar to what they used in Bahrain, where race organisers created a special non-alcoholic drink for the podium celebrations from a mix of locally grown fruit (pomegranate and trinj) combined with rosewater.

You'd have thought they'd have at least tried spraying a bottle or two before handing it to the new champion for podium celebrations.

As for only legally drinking alcohol in private : there were many of the red bull team who were shown drinking booze on international TV ... how public can it be?

[ringo]

They should carbonate the rose water to give it some fizz.
Or use those sparkling non alcoholic champagnes.

Imagine how lame Vettel's Hall of Fame picture will look?

wont look like these:
http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/hall_of_fame/

[Richard]

You can also drink alcohol in licensed premises, usually hotel restaurants/bars.

I know loud outdoor music is prohibited in Dubai in case it encourages dancing. I wonder if that is the case in AD? The RB music was very loud and outdoors!

This is UAE we are talking about, not Saudi Arabia.

The loud music in Dubai is something I know about from being there and reading of arrests in the local media. The problem was caused by bars spilling into outdoor areas, plus some noisy ex-pat parties. So they had a crack down to ensure music and alcohol were indoors only.

[alelanza]

Well, at least is not like when Williams started to be succesful and didn't celebrate any podiums with champagne in any countries due to their saudi sponsors back then.

[mkw0101]

I saw the Yas Marina GP celebration and it was very lame and diaspointing to get nothing but duds.

Why just they can bring in a tank full of regular water and with three hoses with good amount of water pressure and the drivers can spray the heck out of each other.

Or supersoakers can be used.

[i70q7m7ghw]

It's a terrible choice for final race. Poor track layout that practically prohibits overtaking, no champagne, celebrations dumbed down because nobody wan'ts to offend the locals. The venue is visually amazing, but everything else is poor.

They seriously needs to revise the layout otherwise this track is good for nothing, what good is a title showdown on a track where it's basically impossible to overtake unless you have better striaght line speed? The layout is too slow and technical, it's easy to just brake early and block the driver behind, as Petrov did all race.

In my opinion it's the worst race of the season. What made me laugh was Eccles-cake was saying it can stay on the F1 calendar 'forever' before the f***ing race!

[raymondu999]

I was hoping they would actually just change it with maybe sparkling grape juice or sparkling water