Thirty years ago, a cowboy and an astronaut taught us how rivals can come together to overcome challenges.

Pixar’s Toy Story, featuring protagonist Woody and the heroic space ranger Buzz Lightyear, was the first fully computer-animated feature film and became a cultural milestone for many. Thirty years on since the movie that resonated across generations hit the big screen, Formula One team Aston Martin has launched a collaboration with Pixar, focusing on the overlapping theme of teamwork.

Rob Bloom, Aston Martin F1 team’s chief marketing officer, explained why the two brands are an ideal match. “Toy Story’s story of teamwork is enduring,” he told The Athletic. “Toy Story, 30 years in, has continued to reinvent itself and brought in new storylines and characters. That’s what Aston Martin has been doing for 100 years. That’s what makes Toy Story a classic and what makes Aston Martin a classic brand.

“There’s a lovely alignment in story, but most importantly for any collaboration, it will resonate with the audience. We are very focused on fans and new opportunities to engage them.”

F1’s fan base is becoming younger and more diverse, with 43 percent of fans below the age of 35. That’s up from 30 percent in 2018, per F1, and it comes when the sport is riding waves, from Drive to Survive to Brad Pitt’s F1 movie.

The big question teams face is how to meet the evolving fan base, and part of the answer is through storytelling with sponsors.

Most millennials, who are now in their late twenties to mid-forties, were children when the first Toy Story was released in 1995, and have grown up alongside the franchise. The 30th anniversary of the inaugural movie, combined with Toy Story 5 coming out on June 19, 2026, has given Aston Martin an entry point.

The collaboration with Toy Story features limited edition helmets inspired by Buzz Lightyear and hoodies and is part of the team’s I / AM DROPS series of one-off collaborations, which has previously featured The Rolling Stones and DJ Dom Dolla.

Aston is aiming to attract new fans via the deal with Pixar (Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team)

Aston Martin’s goal is to make its exclusive 112-year-old brand, which is competing in a championship not known for its diversity over a 75-year history, more inclusive. To some extent, the team has its finger on the pulse; partnering with TikTok and The Rolling Stones and, before the British Grand Prix in July, launching a gel nail polish that matched the colors of this season’s car, the AMR25. It also set up a matcha pop-up in London’s Covent Garden.

Within a few weeks, Aston Martin went from a technology-heavy ‘activation’ event in Austin, which included an equation-filled livery and a competition for science, tech, engineering and mathematics students to solve F1 engineering problems, to announcing the Toy Story collaboration. The aim is to serve different audiences, telling fans that they’re welcome, regardless of how they were introduced to or engage with the sport.

“There’s such a buzz and energy around the sport, and we’ve long spoken about the impact of streaming platforms coming in, what the Drive to Survive effect is in Formula One, particularly in the U.S.,” Bloom said.

“But it’s more than that. It’s the social media storytelling that’s happening by the teams, the drivers, the sponsors in the sport and the fans themselves. It’s the impact of having more races in the U.S. It’s Formula One appearing on the big screen with the huge success of the F1 movie. It’s the extensions into fashion and culture and lifestyle and collaborations.

“All of this is coming together to really create this surge in fan base that we’re seeing, and also the extension of fans outside of that typical core motorsport fan into that newer, younger, more female audience.”

F1’s ‘new classic’

Aston Martin made its F1 world championship debut in 1959, but lasted only five races — one of which came in 1960. In the late 2010s, Aston Martin returned to the sport as a sponsor for Red Bull Racing, before, in early 2020, then-Racing Point owner Lawrence Stroll invested in the luxury car manufacturer, and a year later it emerged on the grid in Aston Martin’s iconic green livery. After 61 years, Aston Martin was competing in F1 again.

“In so many ways, it’s an exclusive brand,” Bloom said, adding that the team wants a “more inclusive philosophy.”

Put simply: Not everyone will own an Aston Martin, but through F1, the team wants everyone to feel they can be part of its community. Given how F1 fanbases have rapidly grown and evolved over the last few years, Bloom’s focus has been on “brand positioning.”

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in action during the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix. (Hector Vivas / Getty Images)

“We see ourselves as a new classic. We continue to reinvent and make Aston Martin punch outside of category. That’s why it’s such a famous brand. It’s a cultural icon. Formula One is a cultural phenomenon,” Bloom said, emphasizing the need to be a “point of difference to the grid” when building a fan-engaged team.

Through sponsorships, the team wants to reach different audiences and increase engagement. TikTok, which Aston Martin began partnering with in 2021, is an early example of this approach, leading to this year’s ‘Creator Collective’, where five prominent users of the social media app won the chance to collaborate with the team. Bloom said, “We set out with the philosophy on day one of co-creation. It reflects their other interests, of music, fashion, art and food. Creators can help us to engage that fan in their own authentic ways.”

Creating an enduring brand

The typical F1 fan has transformed through the COVID-19 pandemic. According to analytics company Nielsen, F1 has more than 825 million fans worldwide, up 63 percent since 2018. As the sport grew, Bloom noticed that new fans want to find broader ways to experience and express their fandom, rather than just attending a race weekend.

“The behaviors of how they are consuming content is changing,” he said. “Nobody was asking for a nail gel or a matcha or a Rolling Stones collaboration”, adding the collaborations were examples of the team “learning or recognizing these changes of behaviour.”

Some of today’s trends in the paddock, such as the heavy focus on the drivers and their personalities, were prevalent in previous eras. An example would be the 1970s, when 1976 world champion James Hunt was competing. His famed rivalry with Niki Lauda was the basis of the Hollywood movie Rush. Bloom described it as a “rock-and-roll era” as the sport crossed into other industries, including fashion and pop culture.

“A decade ago or so, (F1) got very focused on tech and regulations and rules, and there was a barrier to entry to be a fan,” Bloom said. “Lifestyle has come back into play, which has accelerated the growth of the fandom. But now the human stories are really emanating.”

There is a balance to strike, however, given how technologically advanced the sport is.

“There shouldn’t be a segregation between lifestyle fans and tech fans,” Bloom said. “People are Formula One fans, and it’s our job, and it’s the sports job, to try and make every part of this as accessible as possible.”