Polina Morozova, an experienced Web3 PR and marketing advisor, explores the close relationship between the motorsport and crypto advertising, and how it goes beyond mere visibility.
Formula 1 has become much more than just a motorsport. It is an intersection of luxury, sports, fashion, technology, and increasingly finance and crypto, and it closed its 2025 season with a global fanbase of 827 million, marking a 12% rise year over year and a 63% surge since 2018. Every circuit and every Grand Prix attract new supporters across the globe with the energy and speed they deliver.
It’s hard to imagine any F1 season without big sponsors of various niches. For several years, crypto and now AI partners have been increasingly growing their presence: Vercel on Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS, OKX and Gemini on McLaren, Kraken and Williams and many others. The drivers are actively present at top-tier events as speakers and event partners, and Crypto.com has its name woven into the championship itself.
At first glance, it looks like another display of luxury PR deep-pocketed marketing. Sponsorship in Formula 1 has never been cheap, and crypto companies have become some of the sport’s most visible commercial partners. But at a closer look, there is a true goal behind it—investment in direct access to one of the world’s fastest-growing and increasingly affluent audiences, particularly in Asia-Pacific, where both digital asset adoption and F1 fandom are accelerating.
APAC is where the growth lives
Europe still remains the largest overall fanbase market; however, it’s impossible to ignore Asia’s tremendous growth within the last several years. The return of the Shanghai Grand Prix boosted the Chinese fan engagement by 39% and reached 221.1 million supporters, and India has built an audience of 78.8 million, nearly 90% of whom say they want Formula 1 to return with a home race.
Both old and new audiences are not exactly the same. The new generation follows the races on social media and streaming platforms and is more digital-savvy in general. They support the long-term sustainable vision of the royal sport rather than stick to tradition. The percentage of women supporting Formula 1 teams is also growing consistently making this sport attractive for a broader audience in the world.
For crypto and tech companies, such trends are particularly meaningful. APAC has consistently been one of the world’s leading markets for crypto adoption, with strong participation from both retail users and institutions. Formula 1 increasingly attracts an audience that values technological innovation, speed, performance, and constant progress—the same qualities many digital asset firms seek to associate with their brands.
For instance, the partnership between Mercedes-AMG Petronas and Vercel aims to bring together innovators from the global technology community through executive leadership forums, technology events, and behind-the-scenes access, bringing technology closer to fans, customers, partners, and developers around the world, while Kraken share a commitment to safety, security, and cutting-edge technology on the track and in the world of finance. McLaren impressed everyone with their drivers’ collaboration with Gemini and bespoke social media integration highlighting their support of innovation and progress.
Formula 1’s growing popularity and digitally engaged fan base have made it a valuable platform for many crypto companies and a gateway to the best talent and influence potential.
Fast cars, faster adoption: what crypto brands are actually buying
The obvious answer is reach and visibility, but the more interesting one is trust. Crypto has a credibility problem, and the industry knows it. Attaching a brand to a century-old sports institution with strict commercial vetting and mainstream cultural cachet buys a form of legitimacy no amount of digital advertising can manufacture.
The fan data backs the strategy. In F1’s 2025 Global Fan Survey, 76% of fans said sponsors enhance their experience of the sport, and one in three said they’re more likely to buy from an F1 partner brand, a figure that climbs to 40% among Gen Z and 41% among women, the segments driving the sport’s growth.
Today’s deals are structured differently: multi-year commitments with heavy contractual obligations, signed in a market that has already survived several boom-and-bust cycles. Firms planning to vanish in 18 months don’t sign contracts built to outlast a cycle. This wave looks less like top-of-the-bubble exuberance and more like established players buying a seat at the mainstream table.
The global trend comes to Marina Bay
For readers here, this isn’t happening somewhere else. It arrives on our doorstep every autumn. The Singapore Grand Prix has become one of the most commercially valuable events on the schedule. It’s the sport’s first night race, taking place in the center of a worldwide financial hub. In 2026, it introduces its inaugural Sprint weekend: a second competitive event, increased airtime, greater attendance, and enhanced sponsor
exposure.
Marina Bay has been saturated with crypto activations for several years in a row from the paddock to the fan zones to the conference circuit around it. For one week a year, this city becomes exactly what crypto brands are paying for: young, affluent, international, and curious.
Beyond the logos: what F1’s crypto integrations mean for fans
It becomes clear that crypto and tech brands clearly demonstrate their interest in long-term presence and broader plans for growth and contribution. Brand activations act as a signal, not just as a promo and shiny marketing. The industry moves marketing budgets from influencer hype to decade-long sports contracts, and it tells the fans something about its own time horizon.
Sponsorship becomes a bet on demographics, not an endorsement of any token or yield figure. The industry has decided the young, mobile-first, Asian F1 fan is its future customer. Whether you become one should depend on what you know, not what’s on the livery.
The logos are on the cars. The real race is for the audience. For crypto firms competing for long-term trust and mainstream recognition, the grid has become far more than a billboard; it has become a gateway to their next generation of users.
Polina Morozova is an independent Web3 PR and marketing advisor who has led communication strategies for various blockchain and fintech projects. Based in Bangkok, Thailand, she combines academic insight with hands-on media experience.
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