Red Bull Racing has announced its newest partnership with a brand that is familiar to consumers around the world and not a newcomer to the world of racing, but brand new to Formula 1.
McDonald’s famous ‘Golden Arches’ will be placed front and center on the RB21 cars of Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda for the Brazil Grand Prix weekend in early November.
In partnership with the Red Bull drink brand’s roll-out in stores across Brazil, this will mark a potentially exciting new era for both food and beverage brands. In addition, according to the announcement, one of the McDonald’s stores in Sao Paolo will be transformed into a “Red Bull Pit Stop” for race week.
The History of McDonald’s in Motorsport
While this is the first time that McDonald’s will be joining as a sponsor on a Formula 1 track, McDonald’s as a brand is entrenched in other areas of motorsport — primarily in America.
Michael Cuviello / Amarillo Globe-News / USA TODAY NETWORK
IndyCar and, more recently, NASCAR, have been the subject of deep partnerships with the fast food brand.
In 1999, Tony Kanaan, now team principal of the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team, drove under a McDonald’s sponsorship. Later, from 2004-2007, McDonald’s sponsored the four-time championship-winning car of IndyCar’s Sebastien Bourdais. Finally, in 2009, McDonald’s sponsored a team livery for the season.
Similarly, McDonald’s has been a sponsor of NASCAR on an inconsistent basis in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s before joining with Chip Ganassi’s Team from 2010-2020 and 23XII from 2021-present.
All of this said, this would be the first time that not only McDonald’s has thrown their hat in the Formula 1 sponsor ‘ring’, but the first time that there has been a McDonald’s sponsorship on a car outside of a United States-based series.
The Brazil Partnership Could Spell a Larger Deal for Red Bull and McDonald’s in the Future
McDonald’s will serve as an official partner of Red Bull Racing for the next eight weeks, with the largest activation being in Brazil. Along with the sales of drinks at McDonald’s locations, the logo on RB21’s livery, and the Red Bull Pit Stop in Sao Paolo, the team has hinted at there being more to come.
Marketing director of Red Bull Brazil, Gabriel D’Angelo Braz, commented to the press on the partnership, saying that it is the “first stage” of the partnership.
“This partnership is super special for us. It’s two brands everyone loves coming together to offer products the public loves – now in the same place. Our mission is to give people wings, and the Sao Paulo Grand Prix is proof of that. The public will be able to [experience] it in a whole new way, with exclusive experiences at major McDonald’s stores.”
Gabriel D’Angelo Braz via PlanetF1
While it is understood that this partnership may have been forged as far back as early in the 2024 F1 season, it appears that the brands may first look to test the partnership in 2025 before moving to 2026 to tackle other markets. The headquarters of McDonald’s is in America, after all…
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