Who sponsors F1 in 2026, and what it teaches a grassroots pitch

In March 2026, Formula 1 put a bookmaker on its official partner list for the first time. Betway's arrival, followed the next month by FanDuel, is the newest twist in a commercial machine that already counts oil producers, cloud computing giants and luxury houses among its Formula 1 sponsors. Who pays to be in F1, and what do they actually get for their money?

The answer works on two levels. Formula 1 sells partnerships to brands that want to be linked with the whole championship. Each team then sells its own deals, led by a title sponsor whose name goes into the team's name. Understanding both, and why the money really flows, also turns out to be useful far down the sport, for any karter or club racer trying to write a sponsor pitch.

Deals change during a season, so check the latest before you quote any of the names below.

F1's own partners in 2026

Formula 1 sorts its commercial partners into tiers. As of 6 October 2026, the sponsorship agency RTR Sports' check against F1's official roster listed them like this:

• Global partners (10): Aramco, AWS, DHL, Heineken, Lenovo, LVMH, MSC Cruises, Pirelli, Qatar Airways, Salesforce.
• Official partners (17): including American Express, Barilla, Crypto.com, Globant, LIQUI MOLY, Louis Vuitton, Marsh, Moët Hennessy, Nestlé (KitKat), Paramount+, PepsiCo, PwC, Santander, Standard Chartered and TAG Heuer, plus Allwyn and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
• Regional partners: Arcos Dorados (McDonald's in Latin America and the Caribbean) and T-Mobile.
• Official providers: Aggreko, Fever, Flexjet, Puma and Tata Communications.
• Official betting operators: Betway and FanDuel, both new for 2026.

The betting tier is the real change. According to BlackBook Motorsport, Betway's deal is non-exclusive and covers parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, plus Canada and Mexico, with betting content on F1's own platforms age-gated. Covers reported that FanDuel's deal covers the United States and Canada.

What each tier buys

The rights shrink as you move down the tiers. In RTR's indicative matrix, global partners get trackside branding at every race, extensive TV exposure, full digital and content rights, premium hospitality at all events, licensing and integrated social media. Official partners get branding at selected touchpoints, moderate TV exposure, defined digital and content rights, and hospitality at selected events.

Below them, official providers get limited branding and content rights. What they are really buying is the supplier title and the business-to-business credibility that comes with it. Regional partners get branding and activation only in their agreed region or events.

Every contract is negotiated, so these are patterns rather than fixed packages. The shape is what matters. Each tier is a clearly defined bundle at a different price, and even the bottom rung gives a brand something it can use.

RTR also names technology, finance and luxury as the sectors crowding into F1, and says that is where the fight for attention is fiercest.

The Formula 1 sponsors on the cars: team title partners

The team list and sectors come from RTR Sports' May 2026 round-up of title sponsors. Mastercard's deal was reported by Insider Sport, Revolut's was announced on Formula1.com, and Motorsport.com covered Williams racing as Atlassian Williams F1 Team.

On money, very little is published. RTR's summary credits reported values of about $110m a year to Oracle, $100m to HP and $90m to Mastercard, and stresses that headline figures mix cash with in-kind support. Figures for the other teams are industry estimates or undisclosed. For the LVMH championship deal, RTR notes that reported numbers conflict, running from below $100m to around $150m a year.

What brands get from Formula 1 sponsorship

An enormous audience

F1 reported a fan base of 827 million in 2025, up 12% on the year before, and a record season attendance of 6.7 million, according to Formula1.com's review of the season. Those are the headline numbers. They are usually not where a sponsor's return comes from.

Not the logo on its own

A study of F1 sponsors from 2006 to 2010 found that only about 10% made a positive return from televised exposure alone. That finding comes from RTR Sports' analysis of F1 sponsorship returns, which also cites an industry rule of thumb of around $2 spent on activation for every $1 of rights fee. The deal pays for itself through what a brand builds around it, not through the sticker.

Experiences for customers

Mastercard's McLaren deal launched "Team Priceless", promising behind-the-scenes access and experiences across race weekends. Revolut's Audi deal includes fan experiences and "exclusive benefits for Revolut customers". In both cases the sponsor is using the team to give its own customers something money cannot easily buy.

A shop window for the product

Revolut Business is also being built into the Audi team's financial operations, and Revolut runs the checkout for team merchandise. Oracle with Red Bull and HP with Ferrari use their deals as technology showcases, RTR says. The sponsorship becomes a live case study for whatever the company sells.

Hospitality that wins business

Paddock access lets partners host senior prospects in an invitation-only setting, which RTR argues works better than collecting leads at a trade show. Several F1 partners sell mainly to other businesses rather than to the public, with PwC, Marsh, Salesforce, AWS and DHL among them.

Social media, and the fine print

Social now carries much of the measured value. One analysis cited by RTR found that 73% of sponsor media value across the opening days of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix came from social channels. The same source makes two practical points: content rights have to be written into the contract before the season starts, and exclusivity in a category commands a premium.

What a grassroots driver can borrow from F1

None of this needs F1 money. Each lesson works at karting or club level, scaled down.

Sell results, not space

If about 90% of F1 sponsors in that study failed to earn their money back from TV exposure alone, a sticker on a kart at a club meeting will not do it either. Open a pitch with what the business gets: customers, client days, content and a local story. Motorsport UK's funding toolkit makes the same point, that sponsors need a clear return and a logo alone does not provide one.

Price in tiers, as F1 does

F1 sells global partners, official partners and providers, each with narrower rights. A driver can do the same with one title package, two or three official packages and several supporter packages. The sponsorship deck template shows how to lay out tiers on a single slide.

Give the sponsor's customers a day to remember

Team Priceless at grassroots scale might be a sponsor's best customer and their child watching from the paddock, a signed photo, or a kart on show at the sponsor's open day. It costs the driver little and is hard for a rival to copy.

Turn suppliers into partners

The Revolut model, where the sponsor's product runs part of the team, translates directly. The tyre fitter, the parts supplier and the printer who makes the stickers could each supply goods in kind and be credited as an official supplier. The guide to which companies sponsor racing drivers covers how to find them.

Build in hospitality for business sponsors

A local engineering firm or accountant can bring a client to a race day. One or two hosted days fit naturally into a title or official package, with a simple plan for the day: arrival, a garage visit, a briefing, lunch, then watching the final.

Put content rights and exclusivity in writing

Agree in writing which photos and videos the sponsor may use, and offer the title partner exclusivity in its category. Neither costs the driver anything, and both add value to the deal.

Report like a works team

Keep a log of what was delivered: posts and reach, photos of the logo at each round, hospitality used. Send it after each event, then a fuller report at the end of the season. That is what makes the renewal conversation easy.

What junior racing should not copy

F1 now carries a beer brand, a lottery operator (Allwyn) and official betting operators among its partners. A driver under 18 should not follow suit. UK rules from the ASA say no medium should be used to advertise alcohol if more than 25% of its audience is under 18, and similar limits apply to gambling and e-cigarettes. If you are pitching for a young driver, the karting sponsorship guide for parents sets out which sectors to leave off the list. For everyone else, how to get racing sponsorship turns these F1 lessons into a step-by-step plan for your first approach.