Mastercard will become the naming partner of McLaren’s Formula One team from 2026, The Athletic can reveal.
In an announcement set to be made public imminently, McLaren has struck a deal to expand its existing sponsorship agreement with Mastercard, with the global payments giant becoming its named partner.
The team’s official name will become ‘McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team’ from next season.
The Mastercard deal is estimated to be in the region of $100 million per season, sources with knowledge of the matter disclosed to The Athletic on condition of anonymity. It is a long-term agreement that is understood to run through to the mid-2030s.
It is also believed to stand as the biggest title sponsorship agreement on the F1 grid, and is the largest commercial deal in McLaren’s history.
It will be the first time since the end of 2013 that McLaren has raced with a title sponsor. Back then, its high-profile agreement with Vodafone ended and was followed by a long period of decline for the team overall.
“We wanted it to be the right partner, with the right long-term commitment, with the same values as McLaren, and a brand that we felt could add value off the track,” Brown told reporters at an event in Amsterdam announcing the partnership. “If you look at Mastercard, what they’ve historically done in other sports, the amount of reach they have, how global they are, it’s a perfect fit for us.
“For us, it was all about finding the right partner. We had plenty of opportunities, as you can imagine, over the past nine years, but this is one that was a no-brainer for us.”
Brown did suggest there would be no significant changes to McLaren’s papaya livery despite the expanded agreement, with many teams often giving over large chunks of their paint scheme to their major partners.
“I don’t expect radical change, as far as what our racecar looks like today,” Brown said. “We’re quite happy. We think (the design) is very distinctive, so of course, you’ll see some enhancements and some modifications, especially as the car will look different in how it’s developed (for 2026), as far as the race car itself. But it will be very recognizable next year from what you see this year.”
McLaren announced in July 2024 that Mastercard would be joining as a new primary partner, with the deal being fully launched at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last November.
The McLaren cars have raced with Mastercard branding since the Las Vegas race, while this season a large Mastercard logo has also been present on the side of McLaren’s motorhome hospitality unit that houses the team at race weekends during European rounds.
But the expansion of the partnership into a title agreement is a big step for McLaren, which was previously the only team left on the F1 grid that did not race with a title sponsorship. This was even after it successfully ended its run of poor results with a resurgence in 2023 and then F1 constructors’ championship in 2024.
McLaren’s bare livery at the 2014 Australian GP after decades of running blue-chip sponsorship caused a stir in F1 circles at the time (Jon Buckle/PA Images/Getty Images)
Under the leadership of Zak Brown, McLaren Racing’s CEO who took charge at the end of 2016, the team has overhauled its commercial portfolio.
Besides Mastercard, it has significant partnerships with technology giant Google and crypto exchange OKX. A further 50 sponsors are listed on the team’s website, including brands such as Dell, Android, Allwyn and Hilton.
Speaking in February, Brown estimated that McLaren had the greatest commercial revenue for any team in F1 history through 2024, when Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri helped secure its first constructors’ championship in 26 years.
Brown always claimed to be cautious about bringing a title sponsor back to McLaren, as he prioritized protecting the team name and brand from market fluctuations. But when the possibility of Mastercard eventually becoming a title sponsor was put to Brown in Las Vegas last year, he did acknowledge that a name combining the two brands had “a nice ring to it.”
“This is a very long-term partnership,” Brown added in November. “We’re having all sorts of discussions as to what the partnership looks like today, and what it could potentially become.”
Why now for McLaren?
As varied as McLaren’s sponsorship portfolio may have been, the absence of a title sponsor made it stand out from the rest of the F1 grid. Other teams have moved to cash in on the sport’s boom in popularity in recent years, bringing with it an array of new brands wanting to adorn cars with their logos.
Ferrari announced technology company HP as its new title sponsor in May 2024. Red Bull brought Oracle on board ahead of the 2022 season. Mercedes has a long-term partnership with Petronas, while Aston Martin has Aramco as its title partner. In the case of Racing Bulls, it has two title partners in Visa (a Mastercard rival) and Cash App, its official name being ‘Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.’
McLaren is now making the same choice at a time when its own on-track success and off-track popularity is reaching a new peak.
The team is poised to comfortably win its second straight constructors’ title, likely with a handful of races to spare before F1 returns to North America in October. Piastri and Norris are also clear of the rest of the pack in the fight for the drivers’ crown — Max Verstappen in third is 97 points behind Piastri — to set up an intra-team title fight through the remainder of the season.
McLaren therefore has the chance to clinch a first title double since 1998, when Mika Häkkinen won the drivers’ championship. It has pulled clear of rivals including Ferrari and Red Bull going into the final season of the current F1 technical regulations.
Speaking in November, Brown was eager to emphasize the importance of the McLaren brand regardless of its on-track fortunes, and how that would continue to appeal to sponsors and partners.
“One of the things when I got started at McLaren was being able to lean into the power of the McLaren brand coming back,” Brown said. “I’d say that’s very important. Given (Mastercard’s) portfolio in sports (including sponsoring the UEFA Champions League), they will be well aware that you have good years, bad years. But you’re always going to have the McLaren fans. And we’re here to win.”
Regardless, the profile boost offered by a team at the very top of F1 would have made the prospect of a title partnership increasingly appealing to Mastercard, ensuring its name and logo would accompany much success for at least F1’s short-term future. McLaren’s rise would also have made any potential deal more lucrative for the team, making this an ideal time to strike an agreement.
F1 team naming rights have proven increasingly attractive to companies involved in finance and banking. Revolut will also be a title sponsor in F1 next year with Audi, which is taking over the Sauber team.
Mastercard does have history in F1 prior to its latest foray in the sport with McLaren. The short-lived Mastercard Lola team planned to race in 1997, only to fail to qualify for the season-opening round in Australia. When it then collapsed financially, Mastercard spent four seasons sponsoring the Jordan team, which these days races as Aston.
(Top image: Clive Rose/Getty Images)