Money talks in motorsport. Numbers tell stories. Formula 1’s transformation from a male-dominated spectacle to a gender-balanced entertainment phenomenon represents a shift in sports business paradigms.
Nielsen Sports reports that F1 has accumulated 750 million fans worldwide. Women constitute 41% of this base, and the fastest-growing segment is women aged 16 to 24.
This demographic evolution mirrors broader changes in consumer spending patterns, with women projected to control 75% of global discretionary spending by 2029.
Motorsport, Fashion, and Streetwear
The transformation extends into retail ecosystems. Independent ventures like Two Girls 1 Formula generated $100,000 in revenue by addressing gaps in official team merchandise. The market exposes limitations in current offerings. Helena Hicks, founder of Females in Motorsport, notes team merchandise remains “male heavy” with limited options for women.
Consumer demand outpaces product evolution.
Puma attempts solutions through collaboration with A$AP Rocky, creating unisex collections. The initiative represents broader industry recognition of market gaps. Traditional luxury partnerships persist—LVMH signed a decade-long agreement, Tommy Hilfiger maintains its Mercedes relationship—yet new categories emerge.
Take Sherry Ma’s Grandstand Project, which crystallizes broader market shifts, for example.
Her venture, sparked by personal frustration with existing merchandise options, mirrors Formula 1’s cultural evolution from pure motorsport to a lifestyle brand.
Ma’s trajectory from business student to F1 fashion entrepreneur represents market correction in action. Her insight—that female fans seek statement pieces for race weekends rather than standard team merchandise—highlights the gap between traditional motorsport retail and contemporary consumer demands. The project’s focus on race-specific collections, launching with Las Vegas-themed pieces, demonstrates an understanding of F1’s event-driven commerce potential.
The venture’s authenticity stems from community integration. Ma recruits models from car meets, includes TikTok content creators, and partners with Car Girls of Los Angeles. This grassroots approach contrasts with top-down corporate merchandise strategies. Her commitment to donate 3% of proceeds to women in motorsport initiatives places the business within broader industry transformation narratives.
Mascara Money’s Moment
The beauty sector leads F1’s commercial metamorphosis, transforming sponsorship models through what I’m calling “mascara money” – the intersection of cosmetics capital and motorsport marketing. This evolution mirrors F1’s dramatic demographic shift, with Nielsen Sports data confirming over 300 million female fans worldwide and women comprising 41% of the global fanbase. Most notably, the fastest-growing segment comprises women aged 16-24, representing a seismic shift in the sport’s cultural positioning.
Rimmel, a UK beauty powerhouse, strategically aligned with F1 Arcade, while Charlotte Tilbury made history as the first female-founded company to partner with F1 Academy.
This invasion of the beauty sector isn’t coincidental – it corresponds with broader market intelligence, showing that women will control 75% of discretionary spending by 2029, creating an imperative for brands to establish authentic connections with female consumers.
American brands Anastasia Beverly Hills and e.l.f. opted for direct driver sponsorship, backing Bianca Bustamante and Katherine Legge, respectively. These partnerships represent more than mere logo placement – they signal fundamental shifts in motorsport’s commercial DNA, reflecting what F1 Academy Managing Director Susie Wolff calls “authenticity behind trying to create positive and impactful change in the sport.”
Wolff orchestrates this convergence of beauty and speed with strategic precision. Her initiative secured partnerships that transcend traditional motorsport boundaries, with American Express deploying car livery as a canvas for women-owned businesses – a move that produced emotional resonance when South Florida kitchen Caja Caliente’s owner saw her logo on a global stage. This exemplifies what Wolff describes as “packages which can be commercially very interesting for partners.”
The upcoming Netflix docuseries—produced by Reese Witherspoon—slated for 2025 promises to crystallize this narrative shift. Wolff’s self-described “bold and disruptive” approach, with three additional “dream partners” pending announcement, suggests beauty’s gravitational pull in F1 continues to strengthen. This aligns with broader industry trends – the average F1 team sponsorship deal has jumped from $2.87 million in 2019 to $5.08 million in 2024, indicating growing commercial confidence in the sport’s diverse appeal.
Market metrics validate this strategy. More than Equal’s research reveals a stark contrast: female fans are 50% likely to support women’s sports sponsors, dwarfing male fans’ 0.1% conversion rate.
Il Makiage’s Arsenal Women partnership serves as proof of concept, driving 33% growth in brand preference since 2022.
These numbers illuminate a paradox – while traditional motorsport sponsorship chased male demographics, the beauty sector identified untapped commercial energy in female fandom. As Hicks notes, F1 needs to “improve on its offerings for women and look at how it can market itself.”
For Wolff, success isn’t merely about getting women drivers into Formula One – it’s about “challenging their perception that it’s a man’s world” and demonstrating that “this sport has opportunities for women, either on track or off track.” The beauty sector’s growing influence suggests this vision is already materializing, powered by brands that recognize the commercial and cultural value of authentic female engagement in motorsport.
The mascara money phenomenon reshapes not just sponsorship strategies but F1’s fundamental relationship with its evolving audience.
Commercial Shift
The commercial implications manifest in sponsorship structures.
The average F1 team partnership deal has increased from $2.87 million in 2019 to $5.08 million in 2024. Contract durations shortened from 5.2 years to 3.2 years, creating space for brand rotation and market testing. IT companies now represent 20% of F1 sponsorship spending, up from 3% in 2019. Financial services grew from 2% to 17%.
Title partners of top teams generate an average media value of $6 million per race. Teams redesign sponsorship packages. Brands recalibrate marketing strategies. The sport’s guardians balance tradition with evolution. Female engagement creates pressure for infrastructure changes—security measures, facility design, and event planning.
Further, this transformation also suggests broader implications for sports business models. F1’s adaptation to changing demographics provides a blueprint for other series. The intersection of fashion, beauty, and motorsport creates new commercial territories. Traditional sponsors face competition from sectors previously considered peripheral to racing.
Geographic expansion accompanies these demographic shifts. Saudi Arabia reports 11% fan growth, with a 22% increase among viewers aged 50-69. The UAE shows a 6% increase. European strongholds maintain momentum—the UK is up 2.3%, and Germany is rising 4.5%. Netflix’s Drive to Survive influences persist, with 35% of viewers indicating increased race viewership intention. One in four fans credit the series for their initial interest.
But there continue to be challenges.
The sport relies on driver personalities for engagement. Marketing strategies require refinement. Infrastructure needs modernization. The commercial opportunity presented by female fans remains partially unrealized. Critics suggest that over-reliance on specific demographics risks market instability.
Money talks in motorsport. The numbers indicate a future where gender diversity drives commercial success. F1’s adaptation to this reality may provide the blueprint for other sports seeking similar transformation. The billion-dollar question remains: Will the sport’s infrastructure evolve at pace with its audience?
This article also appears in Vincenzo Landino’s Business of Speed.
READ MORE – How F1 Las Vegas turned into the ultimate luxury platform
