By Riccardo Tafà| Posted January 23, 2024 | In Formula 1, Formula1
The world of Formula 1 sponsorship is where elite engineering meets high-octane marketing, creating a globally appealing platform for brands eager to harness its unparalleled visibility. With F1’s rapid rise in popularity, driven by thrilling competition and digital innovation, it has cemented itself as one of the most coveted arenas for sponsorships.
However, this prestige comes with fierce competition for limited sponsorship assets. This article delves into the current sponsorship landscape, uncovering opportunities, challenges, and strategies for brands to thrive in this exhilarating space.
Formula 1 has experienced a remarkable resurgence in global popularity over the past decade. According to Formula 1’s 2024 Global Fan Survey (conducted with Nielsen Sports), the sport’s cumulative TV audience exceeded 1.5 billion viewers in the 2023 season. Additionally, the sport’s younger demographic has grown significantly, with 62% of new fans aged 16-35 (Source: Nielsen Sports, 2024 Global Fan Survey).
Platforms like Netflix’s Drive to Survive have amplified this growth, bringing gripping rivalries and behind-the-scenes drama to a broader audience. The show has been credited with increasing F1’s U.S. viewership by 40% since 2018 (Source: SportsPro Media, Netflix Analysis, 2023), with races such as the Miami and Austin Grands Prix attracting record crowds and TV ratings. For sponsors, this translates to an unprecedented opportunity to connect with engaged fans across all age groups and regions.
Formula 1’s digital presence has revolutionized fan engagement. The league’s social media channels boast +70 million followers globally as of January 2025, making it the fastest-growing sports entity on platforms like Instagram and TikTok (Source: Formula 1 Digital Report, 2024). These channels enable teams and sponsors to interact directly with fans, offering real-time updates, interactive polls, and behind-the-scenes content.
For brands, this digital surge presents opportunities to craft targeted campaigns. Sponsors like Petronas and Red Bull effectively leverage their partnerships by creating exclusive video content that achieves millions of views per race week. These digital activations go beyond traditional advertising, delivering measurable results in brand engagement and visibility (Source: Nielsen Sports ROI Study, 2024).
The physical real estate for sponsorship branding on F1 cars, team apparel, and trackside assets is extremely limited. With only 10 teams and 20 cars on the grid, each sponsor competes for prominent placements that can cost upwards of $50 million per year for a primary spot on a leading team like Mercedes-AMG or Ferrari (Source: Forbes, F1 Sponsorship Valuation Report, 2024). For example, Aramco’s title sponsorship deal with Aston Martin is valued at over $60 million annually (Source: Motorsport.com, Sponsorship Insights, 2024), underscoring the premium price tags attached to high-profile visibility.
Adding to the challenge, many teams are locked into long-term agreements with existing sponsors. For instance, Red Bull’s partnership with Oracle and Mercedes’ deal with Petronas span multiple seasons, limiting entry points for new brands (Source: Team Annual Reports, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, 2024).
To counter the scarcity of physical branding opportunities, sponsors are innovating in digital and experiential activations. Brands like Heineken, an F1 global partner, have pioneered virtual experiences, hosting live-streamed fan Q&A sessions with drivers and creating AR filters that fans can use on race weekends (Source: Heineken F1 Sponsorship Activation Report, 2023). Similarly, DHL’s innovative “Fastest Pit Stop Award” integrates seamlessly into F1 broadcasts and digital channels, aligning the brand with the sport’s core theme of speed and precision (Source: DHL Press Releases, 2024).
Emerging teams like Haas and Williams Racing offer cost-effective entry points into the sponsorship ecosystem. While partnerships with top-tier teams often require hefty budgets, smaller or developing teams provide greater flexibility in sponsorship deals (Source: SportsPro Media Analysis, 2024). These collaborations also allow brands to build a narrative around growth and innovation, aligning with teams striving to climb the F1 hierarchy.
Sponsoring an F1 team or event delivers a high ROI through global exposure and association with a premium sport. Nielsen Sports reports that F1 sponsors receive an average 6:1 return on their investment due to the sport’s extensive broadcast reach, robust digital ecosystem, and affluent fanbase (Source: Nielsen Sports ROI Study, 2024). Additionally, 73% of F1 fans are more likely to purchase a brand associated with their favorite team, a compelling statistic for consumer-focused industries like automotive, luxury goods, and technology (Source: F1 Fan Survey, 2024).
The sport’s expansion into new regions, such as the Middle East and the United States, is creating fresh opportunities for sponsors. The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2024 attracted a live audience of over 400,000 attendees and became the highest-grossing event in F1 history, with ticket revenues exceeding $100 million (Source: Las Vegas GP Financial Overview, 2024). These regional expansions provide sponsors with targeted reach in high-growth markets.
As F1 aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, sustainability has become a focal point for both the sport and its sponsors. Brands like Lenovo and Mercedes-Benz have partnered with F1 teams to highlight their own green initiatives, such as transitioning to hybrid or electric vehicles. In 2023, 87% of F1 fans expressed support for the sport’s environmental initiatives (Source: F1 Sustainability Report, 2023), making sustainability-focused sponsorships a strategic avenue for brands.
Formula 1 sponsorship represents a rare blend of prestige, global reach, and cutting-edge innovation. For CMOs of forward-thinking brands, the sport offers a platform to connect with a diverse, engaged audience and achieve unparalleled visibility. However, success requires navigating a competitive and evolving ecosystem with strategic foresight.
To thrive in this space, brands must leverage digital platforms, prioritize sustainability, and think creatively to overcome inventory constraints. By adopting a flexible and innovative approach, brands can not only secure a place in the world of Formula 1 but also redefine what it means to be a leader in sports sponsorship.
Experience the power and put your brand in front of millions with motorsport sponsorship. Whether it's Formula 1, MotoGP, NASCAR, IndyCar, or WEC, RTR Sports give your brand the opportunity to appear on television at the most prestigious race tracks in the world.
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Managing Director for RTR Sports, Riccardo graduated in law at the University of Bologna. He began his career in London in PR, then started working in two and four-wheelers. A brief move to Monaco followed before returning to Italy. There he founded RTR, first a consulting firm and then a sports marketing company which, eventually, he moved back to London.
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Read MoreIn an era where it is possible to get anywhere with a click, there is a strong temptation to approach teams and properties directly for sponsorship projects.
By doing so, we are convinced that we are shortening the value chain, saving time and money. However, these DYI methods are anything but risk-free and what initially appears to be a competitive advantage soon turns into a problem that is difficult to resolve. That’s why there are agencies. And this is why you should rely on us for your sponsorships.
When first approaching a motorsport sponsorship project, it is difficult to know immediately which stakeholders are correct, what the decision flow is, and what the right timelines are for each process. Motorsport is a very specialized field of action, and fitting effectively into its paths can take a lot of time and therefore money. We, on the other hand, know referents and spheres of action and know who to talk to, when and how. So you are also more effective.
Motorsport is an immense passion, and for our heart colors we would be willing to do anything. But business is a different business, and it is important to make the best possible strategic decisions based on independent research, statistics and reliable data. A motorsport sponsorship agency like RTR has an objective, 360-degree picture of the scenario and can tell you what is really best for you: which racing series, which athlete, which team. This is because we possess a great deal of data and information on ratings, segmentation and attitudes. Because the numbers don’t lie. Never.
Activations are the real heart of motorsport sponsorship. Without them, there remains only a blank sticker on a motorcycle, car or uniform and no contact with the public, no emotional connection, no impact on the bottom line. Then how do you do it? It certainly won’t be the teams or the athletes who will help you leverage sponsorship and enjoy the many marketing rights you have paid for. To bring out the best in a motorsport marketing project, you need an agency that knows how to use sponsorship to engage the fanbase online, to reach out to Shopping Centers, to organize hospitality, to develop B2B and B2C opportunities, and to get “your” athletes in front of millions of potential consumers.
Would you ever go to the dealer who sold you the car and ask if the competitor’s car is better? No, of course. So, how do you expect to get firm measurements of the effectiveness of your sponsorship if you do not rely on someone super partes? At RTR, we have always worked with independent third-party agencies that allow us to know the return on any exposure of your brand on TV and in the media. In addition, we believe in calculating ROI as the ultimate measure of your success-so we can tell you for every penny you spend how much you are making.
We have been involved in motorsport sponsorship and sports marketing for more than 15 years. We are consultants in the sense that our goal is to maximize your investment, but we are also an agency that manages the project from start to finish. We have been doing this since 1995 with passion and professionalism, following three principles that have become cornerstones of our business: independence, verticality and transparency.
I would like to highlight the fact that one of the qualities of RTR is its great ability to approach the sponsorship scenario strategically, together with its passionate attitude, its amazing enthusiasm for solving problems, and its high level of professionalism.
Gianluca Degliesposti
Executive Director Server&Storage EMEA
Eurosport is truly delighted with its business relationship with Riccardo Tafà, who has become extremely popular, thanks to his detailed knowledge of the sports marketing sector and his highly diligent attitude to work.
Francois Ribeiro
Commercial Director
Passion and Expertise are the features that I have found in RTR since the very beginning. Serious and reliable professionals but also very helpful, nice and open-mind people, willing to listen and compare different ideas. All the values in which RTR believes make this agency a partner, not just a supplier, a partner with whom we have had the opportunity to achieve significant commercial results in term of success and image.
Luca Pacitto
Head of Communication
We have been working with RTR Sports Marketing for over 10 years. The objectives and the programmes of collaboration continue to be renewed and to grow with mutual satisfaction. I believe RTR is a team of great professionals led by Riccardo Tafà, who I consider a manager of exceptional skills and with a great passion for his work.
Lucio Cecchinello
Team Principal
I have known and worked with Riccardo Tafà since 1995 when we collaborated for the first time on a project for the Williams Formula 1 team. Several clients followed. After leaving Williams to work for Gerhard Berger then owner of the Toro Rosso F1 Team, I turned again to Riccardo to seek his help in finding a tool supplier for the team and Riccardo duly obliged with an introduction to USAG, a partnership with Toro Rosso which endured for five years. I recently started a new role as Group Commercial Director for the renowned Andretti Autosport organisation and I find myself working with Riccardo once again on a number of interesting projects. Why has this relationship with Riccardo endured ? He’s smart, knows the commercial side of sport inside out and back to front and he’s honest and trustworthy. Riccardo Tafà is a “doer” not a “talker”: in over 20 years I have never had a dispute either with him or with a company that he has introduced and each partnership introduced by Riccardo has delivered quantifiable ROI to rights holder and sponsor alike. I can think of no better testimonial of Riccardo’s diligence, knowledge, contact base and hard work than that.
Jim Wright
Group Commercial Director
The online platform where you can discover the latest trends, strategies and insights from the exciting world of sports marketing.
View our blog
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