Technology brands have flooded into F1 in recent years, investing huge amounts of money across the grid, but with so many fighting for space and impact, are they getting the visibility and cut through they would expect from such large investments?
Lucid’s proprietary platform allows us to reveal and then dig into the fact that 12.5% of all live deals come from the tech sector, and this number is growing. Luscid’s technology tells us firstly that these are highly efficient investments and there is a clear fit between the brand values of the multitude of cybersecurity, enterprise software and fintech brands and Formula 1’s strength in speed, innovation, performance and data-driven excellence.
However, the competition is fiercer than ever. With numerous sponsors spread across just 10 teams, visibility is shrinking, and brands are paying more for less impact.
As the grid becomes more crowded, brands need to think very hard about where and how they invest to ensure their sponsorship delivers impact and efficiency.
The F1 Tech Sponsorship Boom
F1 and tech brands are a natural match. The sport is built on cutting-edge engineering, real-time analytics, and high-performance innovation, which are exactly the attributes tech companies want to be known for.
It’s no surprise that F1 now ranks as the second-best option for tech partnerships among 89 sports and entertainment properties, scoring 87.8% on our partnership suitability index, trailing only soccer at 91.8%.
As more tech brands flood the space, the battle for visibility is only getting tougher, making it harder for sponsors to justify their investment.
Why tech brands are drawn to F1
Fan perception data shows that F1 outperforms other sports in key areas that align directly with tech brand values:
- Innovation: 113.3% stronger than average, with fans seeing F1 as the home of cutting-edge technology.
- Intelligence: 114.2% stronger than average, positioning F1 as a showcase of strategy, engineering brilliance and precision.
- Data-driven performance: 67.6% stronger than average, reinforcing F1 as the ultimate sport for analytics, AI, and performance-led branding.
In addition, F1 is a ‘safe space’ for tech leaders. The hospitality is world renowned, and the popularity in key markets and with key demographics is beyond question at this point. Dare we even mention ‘Tech Bro FOMO’ and the ability for the business’s leadership to sip champagne in some of the most exclusive sporting venues on the planet?
The Challenge: Too many tech brands, not enough space?
The tech sector’s collaboration with F1 has created some real challenges:
- Diminishing visibility: As sponsorship saturation increases, individual brand recognition is getting harder to achieve. With a growing number of similar logos fighting for space, even major sponsors risk being overlooked.
- Category blur: With so many tech brands in F1, differentiation is becoming increasingly difficult. If you’re investing here, standing out must be the priority.
- ROI pressure: With marketing budgets under more scrutiny than ever, sponsorship investments must go beyond brand awareness and deliver measurable impact.
F1’s prestige and global reach make it an attractive sponsorship platform. However, when every brand follows the same strategy, differentiation becomes the real challenge.
Where else could sponsors look?
F1 remains a premium sponsorship space, but there are alternative routes to consider, places where they can own more visibility, dominate messaging, and maximise ROI. Our data identified three emerging opportunities with strong tech-brand alignment and less market saturation:
- Cycling: Just 5.3% sponsorship clutter, giving you more space to dominate activations.
- Golf: A premium, high-net-worth audience with only 3.3% sponsorship clutter, making it a prime strategic growth market.
- Tennis: A global, innovation-driven sport with exceptionally low 1.5%, a genuine first-mover advantage.
These alternative sponsorship opportunities offer strong alignment for brands looking to achieve real visibility before the competition catches up.
Where do F1 sponsors Go From Here?
The F1 sponsorship roster is growing faster than the sport itself, making it harder for technology brands especially to achieve meaningful visibility, cut through and ultimately ROI.
Every brand is looking to maximise their investment, the key is strategic alignment. Finding the right sport or team that not only reflects their brand values, ambitions and budget but also ensure they actually engage their future customers and achieve stand out positioning, F1 may be perfect for some, but Luscid’s data also shows us that there are other properties that make more sense for many of the brands investing their millions.
Sponsorship decision making is evolving, thankfully. Using deep data in this process is becoming business critical, especially in F1.
Want to discover how Luscid’s data driven insights can help you make better investments drop us a line, we’d love to chat.
