Heineken’s Senior Global Brand Director Gianluca di Tondo has rfevelaed the desire of his company to expand into the Asian market with more races on the continent in future.
Speaking to the Formula 1 website, Tondo said, “Heineken is super-strong in Europe, We were born in Europe and are a European brand – but the playground for the future is Asia Pacific.”
“Asia Pacific is a strategic area for us and having seven races around this area is fantastic and the passion for Formula 1 in Asia is tangible.”
Tondo is keen to see a race in Vietnam, “We are very present in Vietnam through a local partner and they were our guests in Monza and they were over the moon. So why not have a race in Ho Chi Minh City?”
Liberty Media, F1’s new owners, are keen to entrench th sport in traditional markets while growing it in the United States which might bring them into conflict with Heineken’s ambitions.
But Tondo said, “If there is program to double up in the US that, of course, is very interesting for us as the US is our biggest market. If you take it as a single market, it is still our biggest one.
“In the US it is easier to activate things that become popular and we are open for discussions to make Formula One even more popular together,” added the Heineken executive.