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F1 a good vehicle for brand exposure
 The special Scotch whisky will be decanted into a diamond-encrusted bottle and auctioned for charity. QUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- Throughout the Formula One calendar, tens of millions of dollars are splashed around the track. Sponsorship -- or as McLaren Mercedes prefers to call it, partnerships -- fuels the sport and in the rolling hills of Scotland the team has a link. Ron Dennis, McLaren Mercedes team principal and McLaren Group CEO, has worked with Johnnie Walker master blender Jim Beveridge at the Scotch whisky maker's distillery. The pair have created a special blend to mark 40 years since McLaren made its debut in Monaco with Bruce McLaren at the wheel in 1966. "I think we've won at Monaco 13 times now. And of course to win anything 13 times, you have to first win it 12," Dennis told CNN. "When you go and look at the record books, I don't think anyone is within five races of us. I don't think anyone has won it even close to 13. I don't spend much time looking at the statistics, but it's a race that we at McLaren really understand." McLaren Mercedes began its partnership with Johnnie Walker last race season, and the sponsor re-signed for the 2006 race calendar -- for an undisclosed amount. "The Johnnie Walker distillery is one of the most famous, and the experience so far has just been great," Dennis said. "Something that -- on face value -- is so simple is really quite complicated. It is a fantastic blend of technology and skill that is passed down over tens of years -- maybe even hundreds. It's very interesting." Other McLaren partners include Emirates, Hugo Boss, Hilton International AT&T and SAP. Dennis said that the word sponsorship was not accurate to describe the relationship between the companies because the brands that worked together all benefited from the partnership. "The first thing you have to appreciate is that the word sponsorship to me, it's wrong. A sponsorship always in my mind counters up as some sort of charitable act. A venture that can not make its way on its own commercial two feet so it needs subsidy and therefore it wouldn't happen without sponsorship," Dennis said. And as for their partnership with an alcoholic drinks company, he told CNN that the two companies were working together to encourage drivers to be responsible. "It's bringing a social conscience to the consumer and saying, 'Look we are about taking a responsible approach to developing and racing the highest performance automotive vehicle in the world.' "This is Formula One, it's the pinnacle of the sport, and that philosophy can go hand in hand with taking a responsible approach to the use of alcohol. "The designated driver, the other initiatives that we're working with, trying to convey to everybody -- not just young people -- that you have to have a social responsibility in everything you do, and drinking isn't the exception." The Ron Dennis blend will be auctioned for charity during China's Grand Prix in October -- decanted into a diamond encrusted bottle by team McLaren Mercedes associate partner Steinmetz. That company is also behind a $28,000 ice car -- an exact copy of driver Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren Mercedes -- with a diamond encrusted steering wheel. 
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