How to Value an F1 Partnership: A Framework for CEOs and CFOs
Many CEOs, CMOs and founders I talk to about Formula 1 run companies that lead their markets. Yet for almost all of them, an F1 partnership is a first, and there's no reason they should already know how one works. What I enjoy about working with this group is how quickly they see the opportunity. They grasp what an F1 sponsorship could do for their business long before the detail is on the table. They're also happy to hear from industry specialists who are far less high-profile than they are. It shows how important the framing of the opportunity is.
They're arriving in a growing market. Ampere Analysis projected earlier this year that sponsorship spend across Formula 1 and its teams would pass US$3 billion in 2026, around 15% more than in 2025, as BlackBook Motorsport reported. So how does a business leader who has never bought sport before put a value on it?
Knowing how to value an F1 sponsorship starts with one principle. Valuing an F1 partnership means measuring what the rights and activation will do for one specific business, against objectives agreed at the outset. That value is then set against the full cost, from the rights and activation to the time of the company's own team. The benchmark is the company's own plan.
Why valuing an F1 partnership starts inside the company
In my experience, the real work happens before any rights are discussed. Our job at Racing United is to learn the company from the inside out: its marketing needs, its calendar, the markets it wants to grow in and the customers it most wants to reach. Only then do we layer the sponsorship rights on top, followed by the activation strategy and its execution.
The order matters because the same rights can be worth very different amounts to two companies. A race weekend in Austin could anchor one brand's hospitality programme while another uses it to launch a product. As Airwallex's Vice President of Global Marketing, Jon Stona, told Marketing-Interactive, "the partnership was never about a logo on a car".
A five-layer framework for valuing an F1 sponsorship
At Racing United we value an F1 sponsorship in five layers, and most of them show up in how this year's new partners describe what they are buying.
The business baseline
Every valuation begins with what the company is trying to achieve and the rhythm of its year, from the marketing calendar to the sales cycle. A business that launches products each spring needs different rights from one that closes its largest contracts in December, which is why a client's marketing calendar is where I start.
The audience match
The second layer asks whether the people the company needs to reach are watching. Formula 1 reported in July 2026 that more than 830 million people follow the sport and that 43% of its fanbase is under 35. Women make up 42% of the audience and three-quarters of new fans, a shift we looked at in our piece on Netflix and the rise of women in motorsport. Those numbers only count if they include the company's own buyers, in the markets that matter to it.
For business-to-business companies, the audience inside the paddock counts too. Marsh was announced as Formula 1's first Official Risk Partner in April. Its Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, John Jones, has since told Sector that "there is a real consistency between the business leaders who watch Formula One and really engage with the sport".
The role of the product
The third layer looks at whether the company's product can do real work for the team. In October Adobe announced that from the 2027 season it becomes the Alpine F1 Team's Official AI Fan Experience Partner. The team will use Adobe Brand Visibility, which Adobe describes as an AI search optimisation system, to see how it shows up across leading platforms.
Elastic shows the same pattern at the Audi Revolut F1 Team, which already uses Elastic to support investigations across its engineering software. The two have turned that into a multi-year partnership, with Elastic becoming the team's Official Search and Observability Supplier from 2027. A role like that turns the partnership into a working demonstration of what the product can do, something we explored in Integrations, Case Studies and the Modern Formula 1 Partnership.
Client and pipeline value
Many business cases rest on relationships as much as reach. Hospitality and time inside the paddock give a company a reason to invite its most important clients and prospects. Talking to Sector about the Paddock Club, Marsh's John Jones said: "It really is a marketing environment. You go in, you're meeting with chief marketing officers and global brand leaders." Value of this kind is measured by following invited clients and prospects through the sales cycle, and separating new business the partnership helped create from deals that would have happened anyway. It belongs in the sales plan as much as the marketing plan.
Measurement agreed at the outset
This is the layer that tends to be left until the end. Research by the World Federation of Advertisers with Lumency found that less than 1% of sponsorship budgets typically go to measurement, while nearly three-quarters of practitioners cite measurement and demonstrating ROI as a top challenge. Agreeing at the outset what will be measured, and which data the company will receive, gives the finance team something it can follow from the first race. Both belong in the contract, next to what happens if agreed rights are not delivered.
What the CFO and the board need to see
During a multi-year partnership, and after it, there's an abundance of data to analyse. Broadcast figures, social reach, hospitality attendance, website traffic, brand studies and sales data all arrive at different times and in different formats, and you can drown in it. Without industry expertise advising them independently, most leadership teams have no real way to build the critical framework that connects all of it back to the objectives agreed at the start. Teams report in detail on what they deliver, which is valuable. The board, though, asks a different question: what has the partnership done for our business?
Airwallex, a McLaren partner since 2024, shows what that discipline can look like. After its first season it published a global brand study of 1,900 people by GfK, which found a 58% increase in perceived brand trust among respondents who associated the brand with the team. When the partnership was extended in October, its Chief Financial Officer, Pranav Sood, put it in terms any board would recognise: "Formula 1 is built on the pursuit of marginal gains, and that mindset has shaped our partnership with McLaren Racing."
From F1 sponsorship to marketing platform
Once a leadership team has that framework and understands it, I find they become comfortable integrating the partnership into their wider marketing strategy. That's when it connects to the global awareness and credibility Formula 1 offers, and to the pipeline that comes from a platform that is unique in combining technology and entertainment. The same thinking applies beyond Formula 1, whether a company is looking at IndyCar or endurance racing, and we've written separately about which championship fits which brand. Many decisions about the 2027 season are being made as we speak, often by leaders doing this for the first time. For those who start with their own business, the value of an F1 partnership becomes much easier to see.
Frequently asked questions
How do you value an F1 sponsorship?
Start with the business rather than the rights. Map the company's objectives, calendar, audiences and sales cycle, judge which rights and activation serve them, and set the value they can create against their full cost, including the time of the company's own team.
What can F1 sponsorship do for a B2B company?
It can put a company in front of the decision-makers it most wants to meet. In the Paddock Club, says Marsh's marketing chief, "you're meeting with chief marketing officers and global brand leaders". It can also show the product at work, as Elastic's role with the Audi Revolut F1 Team does from factory to track.
How do you build a board business case for an F1 partnership?
Link every part of the partnership to an objective the board already tracks, such as brand trust, consideration, client retention or new business. Agree the measures and the data you will receive before the term begins, and how results will be reported each season.
How do you measure the return on an F1 partnership?
Measure against the objectives set at the outset. Financial return compares the extra profit the partnership generates with its full cost, while brand results such as trust are reported alongside it. Airwallex, for example, published a GfK brand study after its first season in Formula 1 showing a 58% increase in perceived brand trust among respondents who associated the brand with its team.
When should a company start planning an F1 partnership for 2027?
Work back from the first race the company wants to activate, leaving time to build the business case and plan activation around its own calendar. Adobe with the Alpine F1 Team and Elastic with the Audi Revolut F1 Team have already announced roles that begin with the 2027 season.
