Once the domain of die-hard petrolheads and Sunday-afternoon dads, Formula 1 has gone from engine roars to cultural resonance. A bold reinvention turned it from a niche sport into a global entertainment brand, and it’s no accident. It’s business strategy at 300 km/h.

At Alfred, we don’t just build fan zones. We engineer emotional pit stops. That’s why what we did with Williams Racing in Barcelona was more than just an activation, it was part of something bigger.

Here’s how F1 went full throttle into the future, and why it aligns perfectly with the way we think about experience, branding, and cultural relevance:

1. From checkered flags to hashtags

When Liberty Media acquired F1 in 2017, they didn’t just inherit a sport — they inherited a sleeping brand. Their vision? A digital-first entertainment empire.

F1 embraced platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, and of course, the now, legendary Netflix effect with Drive to Survive. They built a content flywheel, feeding audiences with drama, data, and behind-the-scenes access that blurred the line between sport and series.

Takeaway for brands: If you want relevance, meet your audience before the product. Don’t wait for them to show up, already be in their feed.

2. Fans first, engines second

F1 used to speak only to the grid. Now it speaks to the crowd.

By transforming race weekends into immersive cultural festivals, complete with live music, street art, collabs with fashion houses like Tommy Hilfiger and Palm Angels, and experiential zones like ours with Williams Racing, F1 invites everyone in.

The product isn’t just the race anymore. It’s the lifestyle, the feeling, the participation.

Takeaway for brands: When experience becomes the product, your job is no longer to sell, it’s to stage. To choreograph memory, emotion, story.

3. Racing? Yes. Entertainment? Hell yes.

Drama is strategy.

F1 leaned into storytelling, rivalries, redemption arcs, strategy blunders, turning qualifying sessions into cliffhangers. That’s what makes group chats go off and casuals turn into superfans.

Even Williams Racing, a legacy team with deep heritage, has embraced a younger, more dynamic positioning, social content, bold creative, and fan-first initiatives that reignite emotional connection.

Takeaway for brands: If you’re not designing for emotional investment, you’re designing to be ignored.

4. Adapt or die (or get overtaken by Netflix)

From technical regulation changes to environmental commitments, F1 is evolving with a clear strategy: stay thrilling, stay relevant.

This includes data-driven fan insights, geo-targeted activations, and leveraging AR/VR experiences to connect beyond the track. Brands like Red Bull and Ferrari may lead the points, but Williams and others are winning hearts with cultural fluency.

Takeaway for brands: Innovation is not optional,  it’s table stakes. Reinvention isn’t a risk; staying the same is.

5. New boss, new game

Liberty Media didn’t just polish the F1 logo, they replatformed the sport.

They invested in IP, content studios, esports, direct-to-consumer apps, and brought in new partnerships that repositioned the F1 ecosystem as a multi-revenue media property. Teams became media brands. Circuits became destinations. Fans became co-creators.

Takeaway for brands: Your industry may be old. Your brand shouldn’t be.

So what did we build in Barcelona with Williams Racing?
Not just a fan zone. We created a real-world touchpoint for an evolving brand — one that’s moving at the speed of culture.

Because motivation isn’t static. It’s in motion.

And that’s Alfred. Always a few laps ahead.