Sponsorship values and goals in motorsport, in short: a sponsorship holds only if the brand’s values match the team’s culture and the goals are measurable from the start. The risk is real: on 5 March 2022 Haas terminated with immediate effect its title partnership with Uralkali and Nikita Mazepin’s contract after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Here is a six-step method, with the limits of each step.

Updated in October 2026.

The hard part of a sponsorship is not signing it, but noticing in time that team and brand do not say the same thing, or that nobody has decided what it must achieve. This guide sets out six steps, from reading the team’s culture to managing the relationship, with one public case and the data that exist on fans’ attitude to sponsors.

The six steps in short

• Read the team’s culture: history, ownership, fan base, existing partners, declared values.
• Define the brand’s values: mission, vision and target audience.
• Check the alignment: where values match, where they do not and what happens in a crisis.
• Set measurable goals: awareness, contacts, sales, hospitality, reputation.
• Measure with indicators and tools chosen before signing.
• Manage the relationship over time: regular communication, adaptation and clear renewal criteria.

1. Read the team’s culture

Before sponsoring, you study the team’s history, fan base, ownership, existing partners and declared values. In motorsport it shows in partner portfolios: in 2025 Ferrari confirmed HP as title partner, with the name Scuderia Ferrari HP, added IBM as fan engagement and data analytics partner and UniCredit as a major partner, and parted ways with Bell, Riva, Palantir, Santander, Harman Automotive and Philip Morris (F1Technical). A portfolio moving towards technology and finance tells a culture, and tells other brands whom they would share the livery with.

The limit: culture is not in press releases but in behaviour, and it changes. It has to be re-read at every renewal.

2. Define the brand’s values

Mission, vision, goals and target audience: the brand’s values come from there, not from the team. A value the brand does not practise cannot sustain an association.

3. Check the alignment

You compare, point by point, declared values, audience, way of communicating and behaviour in a crisis. Where they do not match, you walk away, or you set limits and exit clauses in writing.

The Haas case shows the risk. On 5 March 2022 the team announced it had terminated with immediate effect its title partnership with Uralkali and the contract of driver Nikita Mazepin, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and said it was “shocked and saddened” by events; it had already removed the Russian flag colours from the car during pre-season testing in Barcelona (Motor Sport Magazine, CBS Sports). The risk of association also depends on events outside motorsport: that is our reading, but it is why exit clauses are discussed before signing.

4. Set measurable goals

Typical goals are awareness, business contacts, sales, hospitality and reputation. They must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound, and consistent with the overall marketing strategy: different goals require different entries and activations.

The market context weighs: in F1 entry starts from a minimum level of $2 million a year, two seasons minimum, no single race (RTR Sports Marketing, September 2026 survey), and the goal has to justify that threshold. On fans’ attitude, the 2025 global survey by Formula 1 and Motorsport Network, based on more than 100,000 responses from highly engaged fans, reports that 76% believe sponsors enhance the sport and that one in three is more likely to buy from F1 partners (Formula1.com). It is the opinion of enthusiasts about the championship’s partners, not about a single brand and not a sales figure.

5. Measure the return

Indicators and tools are chosen before signing: on-screen brand exposure, surveys, social and website analytics, contacts and sales. An example from our archive: at the 2000 World Ducati Week a regional investment of 294.2 million lire generated an economic impact of 13.8 billion lire, a ratio of 1 to 46.9 (RTR Sports Marketing, archive data, Promozione Alberghiera Rimini), told in the World Ducati Week case study.

It is the return of a territory, not of a sponsor brand, and it dates back 26 years: it shows that return can be measured when you decide what to measure, not that it is guaranteed. After signing, what matters is sports sponsorship activation.

6. Manage the relationship over time

A sponsorship is a long-term relationship: regular communication with the team, monitoring changes in culture and in the market, willingness to adapt the strategy and to listen to feedback. Renewal is not a given and is decided with clear criteria, as the guide on when to renew, renegotiate or switch a sponsorship explains.

How to get oriented

To get oriented there are the page on Formula 1 sponsorship, the one on MotoGP sponsorship, the guide on the cost of a Formula 1 sponsorship and, for the general picture, the article on the benefits of sports sponsorship.

Values are declared in a press release. They are tested in a crisis.

Images: Felix Berger and Michal Wojcik, Unsplash.

Sources: Motor Sport Magazine, Haas ends its ties with Mazepin and Uralkali; CBS Sports, Haas and Mazepin; F1Technical, Ferrari’s 2025 partner portfolio; Formula1.com, Global Fan Survey 2025; RTR Sports Marketing, September 2026 survey of market thresholds in F1 and RTR archive for the World Ducati Week case (Promozione Alberghiera Rimini).