It took more than 70 years, but Formula 1 finally caught up to fans in the United States.
A decade after it put a race in Austin, Texas, five years after Liberty Media bought it, and more than four years since Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive made open-wheel racing binge-worthy, F1 sold out its newest race in Miami almost immediately.
As the world’s best drivers tear around Hard Rock Stadium this weekend, a host of brands and sponsors will be drafting on the sport’s momentum. From cryptocurrency companies to the race teams themselves, here are just a few of the entities moving at top speed to get fans’ attention.
Crypto.com locks down naming rights
Just before making a big splash at Super Bowl 56—along with the rest of the digital currency industry—Crypto.com signed a nine-year deal to become the title partner of what’s officially known as the F1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix.
That gave the cryptocurrency platform naming rights to The Crypto.com Terrace hospitality area, with a 360-degree view of the track (and exclusive observation deck at Turn 4), as well as the Crypto.com Fan Zone right in the middle of Hard Rock Stadium’s field. The company is also giving away 57 NFTs featuring footage of laps from the race, as well as creations from its NFT gallery, despite that sector slowing down amid myriad caution flags.
OKX crashes the party
In a bold bit of ambush marketing, cryptocurrency platform OKX announced a multi-year partnership with McLaren Racing. That deal makes it the official primary sponsor of McLaren’s Formula 1 team and its McLaren Shadow esports team, with the company noting that “no other crypto company besides OKX can claim to be the largest partner to a Formula One team.”
The world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange (by volume) displayed its brand all over the McLaren MCL36 F1 cars. OKX’s logo was also spread across the racing team’s suits and helmets of drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.
“We are thrilled to announce this primary partnership with OKX ahead of the Miami GP,” said Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing. “The first-ever Miami Grand Prix is the perfect occasion for us to launch this significant partnership, through which we will collaborate with OKX to take our fan experience to all new levels.”
Phygital challenge
The crypto folks don’t have a monopoly on Formula 1’s Web3 presence. Even the sport’s collectibles partner, Mighty Jaxx, wants a piece of the metaverse.
The company’s 8-inch-tall Mighty AllStars vinyl figurines of drivers including Louis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas come with “phygital” (“physical meets digital”) features including online authentication, digital games, NFTs and skins for digital displays. Created by collectibles studio Yarms, the figures cost $159 for a single driver and $318 for a team of two drivers and collectible prints.
“Whether you’re a fan of teams like Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull or McLaren, or are simply a fan of a particular driver, we are very excited to be working with Formula 1 in curating a global, phygital fan experience campaign and creatively engage fans from all generations to bring a new edge to the sport simultaneously across all 10 teams and 20 drivers,” said Jackson Aw, founder and CEO of Mighty Jaxx.
More driving and surviving
Formula 1 picked its week in Miami to tell the world that Netflix has picked up its Drive to Survive series for another two seasons. A Top 10 show in 56 countries, including the U.S., Drive to Survive shows how much better racing can be when you stop watching cars make turns and start watching drivers and race teams engage in some shiftiness of their own.
Will Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton ever get along? Can the other teams steal some more of Mercedes and Red Bull’s drama for themselves? Will more drivers get photoshopped out of a job or lose their seat to a billionaire’s kid? Season 5 streams in 2023.
Speeding into South Beach
Williams Racing is the third oldest team in F1 and has won 16 titles since forming in 1977. Luminaries including Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve have driven its vehicles to glory.
Owned by private investment firm Dorilton Capital since 2020, Williams debuted its FW44 racer in 2022. It has placed drivers Nicholas Latifi and Alex Albon in charge of bringing it back to the front of the pack.
In Miami, Williams parked itself at 846 Lincoln Road. It’s taken over Lincoln Boulevard with a racing simulator, social-worthy show car, driver appearances, shop and prizes. Meanwhile, at the W South Beach hotel, the team has parked its graffiti-coated FW41 painted by Los Angeles based artist Sergio J. Quinonez—better known as Surge. While Williams wants fans to check out its ride, it also wants them to track down more of Surge’s work in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District.
“The events at Lincoln Road and South Beach have been really cool, and it’s so nice to see how many fans have turned up,” Albon said. “Lots of them have seen us on Drive to Survive, so to get to experience F1 in person is really exciting for them and makes them embrace us even more.”
Pulling 5Gs
Presented as a Miami Grand Prix partner earlier this week, Verizon is introducing the event’s roughly 80,000 fans per day to its Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network. Its 5G Multi-View gives fans at the track with a 5G-capable device the ability to see up to seven camera angles and hear race commentary through the event’s official app.
However, if you’re there mostly to treat the race as a global hot spot and check out performances by Post Malone, Zedd, Tiesto and The Chainsmokers, the app’s Hard Rock Beach Club Ultra Pass offers three 360-degree camera angles with audio from the concert stage streamed in 4K.
Want food, drinks or souvenirs? Verizon teamed with AiFi and the Miami Dolphins on The Hard Rock Stadium Express Shop. Just tap your credit card as you enter, grab some items, exit the shop, and get your receipt via text message.
“Verizon is laser-focused on creating new 5G-powered innovations, unearthing what’s possible using the power of our network and working with partners to transform industries ranging from sports to retail,” said Srini Kalapala, svp of Verizon Technology and Product Development. “This is a great opportunity to reimagine the fan and shopping experience at sporting events.”
