Filmed live at the Dentsu Beach House during Cannes Lions 2025, this high-octane panel shared how their brands are tapping into the global momentum of Formula (F1) fandom to fuel engagement, growth, and brand loyalty.
Liz Rutgersson, CEO North America, iProspect, moderated this behind-the-scenes look at the marketing engines powering one of the fastest-growing sports in the world.
After counting down an impressive series of statistics – notably of 827 million F1 fans globally, 300 million are between 18 and 34 - Liz settled in with questions for the panel centered on the success of the partnership between these iconic brands.
Liz: “What has been the foundation of [your 20-year] partnership and what has really driven the relationship to what it is today?”
Mark Weinstein, CMO, Hilton: “It starts with shared values. It starts with a partnership you can trust. … The best partnerships are the ones where you put [the complicated contract with all its terms and details] in the bottom drawer and just get on with the work of creating great brand together and great experiences for the fans.”
He went on to describe Hilton’s journey from being merely a place for fans to stay, to becoming a center for F1 fan immersion as featured in their Stay Like a Winner media content.
To celebrate their 20-year partnership with McLaren Racing, Hilton created the ultimate F1 fan experience in the Stay Like McLaren Racing suite at the Trafalgar St. James London, Curio Collection by Hilton, during the British Grand Prix (July 8-20, 2025) complete with racing simulators, media center and papaya décor.
(More about papaya later.)
Liz: “Harry, as the voice of Formula 1, you get a unique experience to understand what fans really care about. How have you seen the audience evolve when it comes to Formula 1?”
Harry Benjamin, Co-host, Chequered Flag (BBC): “The key thing is all about accessibility and bringing fans who are either paying to be there in the grandstands, or watching at home on the telly, [or] listening to the radio trying to be involved in it. How can you bring more value for them and how can you get them and feel like, [even] if they’re not there, they are there? I think that’s what we can provide through the BBC’s Chequered Flag coverage - that sort of visceral nature - because I think there’s just something about the audio medium that puts you right in the moment.”
Liz: “I think what's so exciting about what all three of you are achieving in your own respective mediums is evolution that's moving at the pace of culture. Lou, … McLaren has evolved from a really prestigious brand with a very clear connection to Formula 1 to a real brand of its own where the drivers are important, the brand is important, papaya is important. How have you done that and what's been your journey there?”
Louise McEwen, CMO, McLaren Racing: “It's been a long journey, but if I go back to about 2017 … it was an era where McLaren weren't winning, we weren't doing so well. … Reinvention was really about survival, because if you exist purely to win and you don't win, well, you kind of disappear. … So, we had to reinvent the brand.
“Talk about papaya! We went back to a papaya era. It was the color [our founder] chose, so that gave us an incredible opportunity to lean into our legacy as a team. … In sports, people want affinity. They want to show up in papaya. … Actually, people needed a color to show their pride, their advocacy around the brand. So, that was a big part of unlocking the brand.”
Liz: “One thing that you've done brilliantly is lean into culture but also create culture through media and creative. How has your partnership with McLaren enabled you to do that?
Mark: “I believe that the best brands really find ways to connect through culture, that we're just all looking for our people, our community, our tribes, and so what better way than to tap into the fandom of sports, right? … The ultimate measure is: are we unlocking new experiences for fans? And I think if you look at the media landscape, not only did Formula 1 transform, not only did McLaren have a brand transformation, but the media landscape at the exact same moment did, as well.”
To hear much more from the panelists about their partnership, media strategies, activations, cultural relevance and storytelling, watch the video reply here.
