As Formula 1 continues its transformation from elite racing competition into a global lifestyle platform, brands are rethinking what meaningful sponsorship looks like at scale. When PepsiCo entered Formula 1 through its first-ever worldwide partnership, the move was not positioned as a badge of prestige, but as a growth strategy designed to travel with the sport.
Rather than centering the deal around a single flagship brand, PepsiCo activated Formula 1 as a shared platform for Sting Energy, Gatorade, and Doritos, each mapped to a different dimension of the race weekend experience. Energy, performance, and food culture were treated as complementary roles rather than competing messages.
This Brand Story breaks down how that structure was designed, why Formula 1 functioned as more than a media buy, and what the partnership reveals about building multi-brand relevance inside a single global sport.
- One Sport, Three Brands, One Global Platform
- Formula 1 as a Traveling Culture Engine
- Using Formula 1 as a Global Launchpad for Sting Energy
- Performance Credibility Under Pressure
- Turning Race Weekends Into Food Experiences
- From Trackside to Fan Zones to Retail
- How the Partnership Played Out on Social Feeds
- Why This Campaign Works
- Key Takeaways for Marketers
One Sport, Three Brands, One Global Platform
PepsiCo’s Formula 1 partnership was structured around scale, but executed through precision. The multi-year agreement, running from 2025 through 2030, spans all 21 races on the calendar and more than 200 broadcast territories, giving PepsiCo a consistent global presence across one of the fastest-growing sports in the world.
Rather than activating under a single masterbrand, PepsiCo deliberately deployed three brands with distinct roles.
Sting Energy was positioned as the Official Energy Drink of Formula 1, using the sport’s speed, sound, and intensity as a launchpad for international expansion. Gatorade became the Official Sports Drink and an Official Partner of F1 Sprint, anchoring the partnership in performance, endurance, and recovery. Doritos joined as the Official Savory Snack Partner, focusing on food experiences and bold flavor moments tied to race weekends.
Formula 1 and PepsiCo announce a groundbreaking multi-year agreement that sees PepsiCo become an Official Partner of the sport until 2030#F1 pic.twitter.com/pPlbwWYUKN
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 27, 2025
The partnership also secured comprehensive rights beyond trackside visibility, including Fan Zone activations, hospitality, on-pack promotions, digital experiences, and exclusive product supply and pouring rights at race venues.
Together, these elements positioned Formula 1 not as a single sponsorship asset, but as a global platform through which PepsiCo could scale multiple brands without diluting their individual identities.
Formula 1 as a Traveling Culture Engine
The strategic insight behind the partnership was recognizing Formula 1 as more than a broadcast property. Formula 1 functions as a traveling cultural ecosystem, moving week to week across cities, time zones, and fan communities, while carrying a consistent set of rituals, behaviors, and consumption moments with it.
Race weekends are not confined to the two hours on track. They span days of buildup, fan zone activity, digital conversation, and social viewing, creating repeated opportunities for brands to show up meaningfully.
PepsiCo mapped its portfolio to that journey. Energy aligns with anticipation and intensity, hydration aligns with performance under pressure, and food aligns with communal viewing and celebration.
By treating Formula 1 as infrastructure rather than media, PepsiCo designed a partnership that could scale naturally. Each race became a localized activation point inside a global framework, allowing the brands to plug into the same cultural engine while expressing different functions.
This reframing is what allowed the partnership to operate coherently across dozens of markets without relying on a single message or moment to carry the entire story.
Using Formula 1 as a Global Launchpad for Sting Energy
Among the three brands, Sting Energy had the most to gain from Formula 1’s global footprint. As PepsiCo’s fastest-growing energy brand, Sting is already a leader in several emerging markets, but the partnership provided something it could not achieve through traditional advertising alone: instant global legitimacy.
Positioned as the Official Energy Drink of Formula 1, Sting aligned itself with the sport’s defining attributes: speed, intensity, and sensory overload.
Rather than focusing solely on performance claims, the brand leaned into the experiential side of F1, most notably through sound. By collaborating with Armin van Buuren, Sting turned the roar of an F1 engine into a recognizable brand cue, sparking curiosity and conversation across motorsport, music, and youth culture.
@arminvanbuuren Been a fan of F1 for over 15 years, and somehow never heard it like this. Once you hear it… You can’t unhear it 👀 #F1SoundsLikeSting #F1Fan #F1 #IHearSting #WhatAn #Ad #F1Sounds #F1CarSounds #CanYouHearIt
This approach allowed Sting to enter new markets through culture instead of awareness-building alone. Formula 1 acted as a shortcut to relevance, helping the brand scale beyond its core regions while maintaining a distinct identity.
In this context, the partnership was less about sponsoring a sport and more about using F1 as a global stage for expansion.
Performance Credibility Under Pressure
While Sting Energy focused on sensory intensity, Gatorade anchored the partnership in performance and endurance. Its role as the Official Sports Drink of Formula 1 and as an Official Partner of F1 Sprints extended the brand’s long-standing association with elite athletic output into motorsport.
The alignment with Sprint weekends was deliberate. Sprint formats are defined by compressed timelines, higher stakes, and sustained physical and mental strain, conditions that closely mirror the environments where Gatorade has historically built credibility.
By focusing on these moments, the brand positioned hydration and recovery as essential components of performance rather than background support.
On-site hydration services, trackside branding, broadcast integrations, and interview backdrops reinforced that positioning without overstatement. Gatorade did not attempt to reinvent itself for motorsport.
Instead, it translated an existing narrative about fueling peak performance into a new arena where pressure, precision, and endurance are equally central. This continuity is what allowed the brand to feel authentic within Formula 1’s ecosystem rather than adjacent to it.
Turning Race Weekends Into Food Experiences
For Doritos, the Formula 1 partnership was less about performance and more about atmosphere. As the Official Savory Snack Partner of Formula 1, Doritos focused on how fans experience race weekends, both at the circuit and beyond it.
The brand leaned into Formula 1’s high-energy environment by aligning bold flavors with speed, heat, and intensity. Culinary activations such as Doritos Loaded at race venues transformed food from a secondary concession into part of the fan experience.
Rather than treating snacks as an afterthought, Doritos positioned eating as something that belonged inside the spectacle of race day.
Product innovation reinforced that link. Limited-edition flavors inspired by racing, such as Turbo Heat, tied the sensory experience of the snack to the physical sensations associated with Formula 1.
With global activation rights, Doritos was able to show up consistently across markets, creating familiarity without repeating the same execution everywhere.
In doing so, the brand connected itself to the social side of Formula 1 fandom, the shared moments in the stands, in fan zones, and at home, where food becomes part of how fans watch, celebrate, and remember the race.
From Trackside to Fan Zones to Retail
With the brand roles defined, the partnership came together through experience design rather than repetition. PepsiCo treated Formula 1 weekends as multi-layered events, using the track as the anchor and building outward into fan zones, retail, and digital touchpoints.
Fan Zones became the central engagement layer. Across all 21 races, interactive experiences, racing simulators, branded food and drink moments, and hospitality spaces allowed fans to engage with Sting Energy, Gatorade, and Doritos beyond passive viewing.
These physical experiences were designed to be sampled, photographed, and shared, extending their impact well beyond the circuit.
Off-track, the partnership carried into everyday environments through on-pack promotions, co-branded products, and point-of-sale activations. Broadcast integrations and digital content reinforced consistency, but the emphasis remained on experience rather than messaging.
By connecting trackside presence with retail and at-home consumption, PepsiCo created a continuous loop where Formula 1 fandom translated naturally into brand interaction, regardless of where fans chose to engage.
How the Partnership Played Out on Social Feeds
While the Formula 1 partnership was announced through official channels, its cultural validation happened on social platforms, where creators and fans began decoding what the deal actually meant for the sport and for everyday consumption.
Much of the early conversation centered on discovery and interpretation rather than promotion. Creators reacted to the announcement by breaking down brand roles, explaining why Sting Energy was suddenly audible in F1 engine sounds, or unpacking the significance of Gatorade securing naming rights to the Sprint format. The recurring theme was not skepticism, but curiosity.
@steph.sinco Sting Energy meets Formula 1! This isn’t just a collab, it’s a full-on energy takeover. High speed, high energy, and that signature stinggg? Strap in because F1 just hit turbo mode. 😎 #F1SoundsLikeSting #fyp @Sting Philippines
Sting Energy’s sonic activation, in particular, sparked a wave of organic commentary. Creators fixated on the idea that the F1 engine already sounded like “sting,” framing the partnership as a cultural alignment rather than a forced insertion.
Gatorade’s presence generated a different kind of conversation. Rather than reacting to visuals, creators contextualized the brand historically, drawing parallels between iconic Gatorade moments in other sports and what Sprint naming rights could mean for Formula 1.
Videos speculated about future driver endorsements, black-and-white sweat-style ads, and how hydration culture might translate into motorsport. The tone positioned Gatorade as “arriving” in Formula 1, not testing the waters.
@marissakumari Pepsi Co is getting into Formula 1: which means we’re getting a Gatorade sprint race and trackside Doritos #f1 #formula1 #gatorade #pepsico #doritos #motorsports #womeninsports #womneinmotorsports #f1contentcreators #sports #danielricciardo
Doritos, meanwhile, showed up where fans already live: grocery aisles, Costco runs, and snack reviews. Creators filmed themselves hunting for limited-edition F1 flavors, reacting to empty shelves, reviewing taste profiles, and debating whether packaging alone could influence purchase decisions.
These videos framed the partnership as tangible and accessible, reinforcing that Formula 1 fandom does not stop at the track.
@real.nayn Trying to find the NEW Doritos F1 Golden Sriracha😲🏎️ #dorito #doritos #f1 #fyp #formula1
Notably, much of this content was not sponsored. Creators spoke in the language of fans, explaining things to other fans, often explicitly stating why the deal felt smart or inevitable. Even critiques, such as mixed reactions to flavor profiles or availability, functioned as proof of engagement rather than rejection.
Taken together, social content did not amplify a single campaign message. Instead, it normalized the partnership.
Why This Campaign Works
The Formula 1 partnership succeeds because it was designed as a system. PepsiCo avoided the common trap of forcing multiple brands into the same sponsorship space by assigning each a clear, non-overlapping role that maps directly to how fans experience race weekends.
Energy, performance, and food are not abstract brand territories here. They are natural consumption moments embedded in the sport itself.
Another strength is format intelligence. Aligning Gatorade with F1 Sprint leverages higher-intensity weekends and elevated viewership, reinforcing credibility without extra explanation. Using Sting Energy as the Official Energy Drink turns Formula 1 into a market-entry accelerator, especially in regions where the brand is scaling fastest. Doritos complements both by owning the social and sensory layer of fandom.
Finally, the partnership treats Formula 1 as infrastructure rather than inventory. Fan Zones, retail extensions, and digital experiences ensure the activation lives beyond the track and beyond broadcast, allowing relevance to compound across markets and seasons instead of peaking on race day.
Key Takeaways for Marketers
- Design sponsorships as platforms, not placements: Long-term, multi-market growth comes from systems that scale across touchpoints, not from isolated logo visibility.
- Separate brand roles to prevent dilution: Clear ownership of energy, performance, and food allowed each brand to grow without competing for the same attention.
- Align brands to formats, not just leagues: Sprint weekends provided a natural performance narrative for hydration and endurance, increasing relevance without extra messaging.
- Use global sports as market-entry accelerators: Formula 1 offered emerging brands instant legitimacy and cultural access in new regions.
- Extend relevance beyond the venue: Fan Zones, on-pack promotions, and retail integrations translate live sport into everyday consumption moments.
