F1's Cultural Revolution: How Formula One Became the Blueprint for Brand Relevance

Formula One (F1) has pulled off the marketing equivalent of a perfect pit stop: transforming from a niche motorsport to a cultural phenomenon. But the real breakthrough wasn't Netflix or celebrity sightings – it was a fundamental rewiring of how sports connect with culture in the digital age. 

A recent Winnin analysis of F1's cultural impact reveals a blueprint that goes far beyond motorsport – one that shows exactly how brands can build cultural relevance at scale. 

The Audience Revolution Nobody Saw Coming 

The numbers tell a story that would shock F1’s old guard. Among fans aged 18–24, the sport now achieves near gender parity: 52% male and 48% female. Stats like this aren’t just a gradual demographic drift. Instead, it’s a complete audience flip, as less than ten years ago, in 2017, only 8% of F1’s viewers were women.  

This shift reveals something crucial for brands: authentic cultural moments happen when new voices gain platform power, not when traditional marketing pushes messages at established audiences. 

Drama Drives Everything—And The Data Proves It 

The Miami Grand Prix exemplifies F1's emotional-first strategy. This year's event saw a staggering +210% year-over-year engagement spike, generating over 7.2 million social engagements alongside 275,000 onsite fans. But here's the insight that matters: the most viral content wasn't race highlights or winner celebrations. 

Instead, audiences gravitated toward moments spotlighting driver personalities, crowd reactions, and high-stakes drama. They wanted behind-the-scenes team banter, podium reactions, and anything that revealed the human side of what appears to be a purely technical sport.

For example, an Instagram video from @redbullracing – which amassed over 640k likes on the platform – provides a silly behind-the-scenes look at the laughs shared by the two Red Bull drivers, Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda.

The Brands Getting It Right 

Some brands have cracked F1's cultural code, and the results are striking. LEGO captured 40% of all branded F1 engagement through a strategy that made the sport part of their world, not just their marketing plan. Their life-sized car builds and featured driver parade moments generated over 16M engagements during the Miami weekend alone. 

Liquid I.V. took a different yet equally effective approach, creating an F1-themed influencer house that served as both an activation space and a content studio. Rather than aiming for mere sponsorship visibility, they built an environment designed for social storytelling and fan connection. 

The common thread? Both brands understood that F1 fans expect authentic fan service, not advertising dressed up as activation. They created experiences that felt native to F1 culture while amplifying their own brand narratives. 

Platform-Native Content Is Non-Negotiable 

F1's social-first approach reveals perhaps the most actionable insight for brands across industries. The sport thrives because its content adapts to platform language rather than forcing uniform messaging everywhere. 

On TikTok, F1 succeeds with reaction edits, driver memes, and POV humor challenges, while Instagram rewards race-day carousels, behind-the-scenes reels, and team lifestyle content. YouTube delivers with full race highlights, radio moments, and long-form recaps. 

Success isn't about posting everywhere. It's about understanding that each platform rewards different content styles and emotional tones. F1 teams and drivers operate like full-time creators because they recognize that cultural relevance requires speaking fluent social media, not just having a social media presence. 

The Fashion Forward Play 

F1's expansion into fashion demonstrates how sports properties can extend cultural influence beyond their core category. From adidas x Mercedes-AMG collections to PUMA's partnerships with Ferrari, fashion has become a key expression of F1 identity. 

LVMH's multi-brand approach exemplifies sophisticated cultural integration. TAG Heuer operates as the Official Timekeeper while Louis Vuitton's trophy trunk content generated nearly 3M views – each touchpoint reinforcing luxury credibility while maintaining distinct brand personalities. 

What This Means for Everyone Else 

F1's cultural breakthrough offers a masterclass in modern brand building that extends far beyond sports marketing. The principles are transferable: new voices reshape narratives, emotion drives engagement, authenticity scales better than frequency, and platform-native content outperforms uniform messaging. 

Most importantly, F1 proves that cultural relevance isn't about chasing trends. The brands winning F1 contribute to its cultural conversation. It comes down to understanding where culture lives and showing up authentically within those spaces.  

As audiences increasingly discover content through the creators and formats they already consume, the question is much deeper than whether one’s brand should be part of cultural moments like F1. Brand marketers must ask themselves whether their brands know how to show up where culture lives and speak the language of the communities that matter to their growth. 

F1 moved from motorsport to mainstream by recognizing that today's audiences want access, authenticity, and emotional connection over performance statistics. The brands that understand this shift are building the playbook for cultural relevance across every category. 

Rodrigo Maroni is the Head of US at Winnin, the cultural intelligence platform that reveals actionable insights to grow your brand’s cultural relevance. Today, global leaders like AB InBev, Red Bull, Netflix, and L’Oréal rely on Winnin to stay culturally connected, anticipate trends, and keep winning their Share of Attention™.