Ferrari and Mercedes lead as F1 sponsorships skyrocket and outpace major leagues. Formula 1 sponsorships hit $2 billion in 2024.

The research
The platform SponsorUnited released an interesting analysis on sponsor investments in the world of Formula 1 for the 2024–2025 period. It’s no secret that, thanks to Liberty Media’s efforts in the post-pandemic era, the top category of motorsport has seen a huge rise in viewership and interest, which naturally brought a flood of dollars into the sport.

In 2024, the teams secured around $2.04 billion in sponsor investments. This figure places F1 behind the NFL (American football league), which reaches $2.49 billion, but ahead of sports like Major League Baseball ($1.90 billion) and the NBA ($1.5 billion).
Formula 1 currently includes 340 sponsorship agreements with the teams, with average deals worth $6 million and a total of 319 brands involved.

Mercedes leads the way
The team that earns the most from sponsorship is Mercedes, with $550 million, followed by Ferrari with $450 million, Red Bull at $400 million, and McLaren at $350 million.

The most substantial deals are between Petronas and Mercedes, valued at $90 million, followed by Oracle and Red Bull at $80 million, HP and Ferrari at $75 million, and Ineos and Mercedes at $65 million.
The leading sector is technology, followed by finance.

An interesting part of the research focused on the cost of stickers on the cars and drivers’ suits: the two most expensive parts of the car are the airbox (averaging between $5.7 and $7.5 million) and the sidepods (between $5.3 and $6.4 million); for the drivers, a brand logo on the chest costs between $1.4 and $1.6 million.

As is well known, Lewis Hamilton has the highest number of social media followers (55 million), followed by Charles Leclerc (28.8 million) and Max Verstappen (21 million). Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson are the two drivers who have increased their social media popularity the most over the past year (+70%).

Charles Leclerc is linked to the highest number of brands (18), ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso (16). The driver who generated the most social media interactions related to a sponsored brand was Lando Norris (32.4 million), followed by Charles Leclerc (29.2 million).