Record-breaking 100 US companies now partnered within Formula 1

Sam Cooper
Lewis Hamilton at the Circuit of The Americas. United States October 2021

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton during FP2 of the United States Grand Prix. United States October 2021

In a sign of Formula 1’s growing popularity in the States, 100 US companies have become partners within F1.

Since Liberty Media’s acquisition of F1 in 2017, the United States has been targeted as an area of expansion. First Netflix was allowed to shoot behind-the-scenes for the hugely popular Drive to Survive series and a further two races in the country have been added to the calendar, initially with the Miami Grand Prix this season and Las Vegas in 2023.

Formula 1 stars have also becoming recognised figures with drivers such as Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton appearing on late-night US talk shows. Both are also involved in upcoming film projects based on the sport with Hamilton set to be a producer on a film staring Brad Pitt.

This expansion into one of the biggest markets on the planet has had its benefits for F1’s new owners and a new survey has revealed that 100 American companies are now partnered with the sport.

Spomotion Analytics found that the number of US partners in F1 had doubled in recent years and more than 30 new U.S. partners have joined Formula 1, among them tech companies like Qualcomm, Alphabet and Salesforce. Tech companies account for almost half of the new partners with most of them listed on the stock exchange.

The rise in partnerships from the country means the US now accounts for almost a third of all partners while the second largest is the UK market with 30.

Given their American CEO, it is unsurprising to see McLaren as one of the most popular teams in the country in terms of partnerships. Zak Brown has helped McLaren team up with companies like Dell, Arrow Electronics, Alteryx Analytics, Cisco, DeWalt, Gopuff, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs.

With the Andretti Group’s proposal to join F1 yet to be ratified, Haas remain the only US-based team but have few partners to show for it. Williams also have US ownership links in the form of Dorilton Capital.

The sport’s most famous team, Ferrari, has seven US partners, only three fewer than they do in their native Italy.

Spomotion Analytics partnership analyst Björn Stenbacka described the county as having “Formula 1 fever” and predicted the number of partnerships was only likely to rise.

“What we see is exceptional,” Stenbacka said. “Formula 1 has traditionally been ‘the European racing series’, but not anymore. Since Liberty Media took over in 2017 a lot have happened. USA is now the most important single market for Formula 1, with a lot of attention from both fans and companies.

“We will probably see more Fortune 500 companies in Formula 1 in 2023. USA has the Formula 1 fever.”