Italy's Peroni teams up with Ferrari in new partnership

ROME : Italian premium beer brand Peroni Nastro Azzurro has entered a multi-year partnership with Ferrari's Formula One team, the latest move in the shifting sponsorship alliances in elite motor racing.

The five-year agreement with Peroni's 0.0 per cent non-alcoholic version of the beer - for which financial details were not disclosed - starts this year and includes branding on Ferrari cars and driver uniforms.

"Formula 1 was a territory that we have already covered, that we knew, and with this partnership we return to Italy, teaming with an Italian brand," Birra Peroni Marketing Director Viviana Manera told Reuters at the launch of the deal in Rome.

Peroni, part of Japanese brewer Asahi Group Holdings, was previously with racing team Aston Martin for three seasons.

The deal is a key part of Asahi's strategy to increase consumer demand for its alcohol-free beverages, with the aim of making these products 20 per cent of its portfolio.

As part of the partnership, Peroni will run a 2,024 bottle limited-edition product called Tifosi, or supporters in Italian.

The alliance with Ferrari was partially revealed last year when the team said it had signed a deal starting in 2024 with Asahi Europe without, however, specifying which particular brand would be involved.

Spanish beer brand Estrella Galicia left Ferrari earlier this month after being a partner of the Italian team, and its driver Carlos Sainz, for many years, to rejoin former partner McLaren Racing.

Saudi Arabian energy giant Aramco in December signed a new five-year agreement to become exclusive title sponsor of the Aston Martin team.

The 2024 F1 season starts in Bahrain on March 2.