‘F1: the Movie’: How the Sport Became an Entertainment Powerhouse

If it seems like Formula 1 is inescapable this summer, there’s good reason.

Apple’s “F1: The Movie,” starring Brad Pitt, hit theaters Friday. It’s one of Apple’s biggest bets on entertainment, with the company’s characteristic slick production, A-list cast, aspirational feel, and hefty price tag. The tech giant has gone all out to promote the movie, and even pushed discounted tickets using an iPhone notification.

Apple isn’t the only company betting on Formula 1. The sport, with its air of globe-trotting luxury and peak performance, has become a darling among brands. Tommy Hilfiger has a capsule collection tied to the “F1” film, and Heineken is using it to work itself into the cultural conversation. Formula 1 kept cropping up in conversations Business Insider reporters had with marketers during the recent Cannes Lions ad festival in the south of France.

How did an exclusive, complex sport, with drivers hidden behind helmets and cars, enter the cultural mainstream?

The sport got a big boost from the Netflix docuseries “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” which was not only a massive hit but was also credited with getting people to watch more races. The series started in 2019 and has run seven seasons so far.

Formula 1 owner Liberty Media has worked to capitalize on the sport’s increased popularity in the US. It added a second American race to the calendar in 2022, the Miami Grand Prix, and a third in Las Vegas in 2023, and has amplified the glitz factor with celebrities and splashy ceremonies.

Teams are doing their part. McLaren Racing, home of the McLaren Formula 1 team, is doing a Trafalgar Square takeover in July to promote the team. Louise McEwen, CMO of McLaren Racing, said it was important to reach new and existing fans outside the track.

“Seeing the new fans come into the sport, we needed to show up in their worlds and be meaningful in their worlds,” she told BI at Cannes Lions. “Only 1% of fans ever go to the track in their lifetime.”

Formula 1 is still small compared to mainstream American sports like football and basketball, but the US has been one of its fastest-growing markets since Liberty’s acquisition, according to Nielsen Sports. Globally, Formula 1 grew its fan base 12% to over 826 million in 2024. Women now make up 41% of the fanbase, and 16- to 24-year-olds are the fastest-growing age group, per Nielsen.

A limitation of Formula 1 is that its drivers are obscured by helmets and cars, making it hard for fans to connect to them. Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has been on a mission to expand the company’s global footprint and US audience by promoting its drivers as actors in the drama of the competition.

Cost is another limiting factor. Even basic tickets to this year’s Miami Grand Prix went for hundreds of dollars. Those factors and the complexity of the sport have raised questions about how far its popularity can go.

Brands are eagerly capitalizing on Formula 1’s rise

F1 is considered expensive and logistically challenging from a sponsorship point of view. Still, according to the research firm Ampere Analysis, sponsorship spending on F1 and its teams is expected to reach $2.9 billion this year, up 10% over 2024.

Jae Goodman, whose Superconnector Studios firm connects brands to entertainment, said he saw F1’s impact directly at the Miami Grand Prix, where he said that for every official sponsor, there was another brand attaching itself unofficially to the race. He was eager to see how the new Apple movie would confirm its relevance.

“From a marketer’s perspective, F1 feels like it’s at the center of culture right now,” he said.

Mastercard, Qualcomm, and Atlassian are among those that are hoping to get the sport’s high-tech gloss to rub off on them through team and media partnerships on and off the track.

Some brands are looking beyond just putting logos in stadiums and on jerseys.

For its sponsorship with the Formula 1 Oracle Red Bull Racing team, the Norway-based videoconferencing company Neat had its products used by the team’s staff and in their hospitality suite, so that Neat could invite prospects to sporting events.

Uber Advertising, pitching prospective clients, described how beauty brand La Mer sponsored rides to and from the Miami Grand Prix.

Lenovo marketer Emily Ketchen recently discussed with BI how its partnership with Formula 1 includes using AI tech to improve the viewing experience.

“That fusion of tech and performance is where we see a really nice alignment for our brand and for theirs,” she said.