{"id":1793,"date":"2026-05-17T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/2026\/05\/17\/aston-martin-goes-all-in-on-hollywood-izing-f1\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T08:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T08:30:00","slug":"aston-martin-goes-all-in-on-hollywood-izing-f1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/2026\/05\/17\/aston-martin-goes-all-in-on-hollywood-izing-f1\/","title":{"rendered":"Aston\u00a0Martin Goes All in on Hollywood-izing F1"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\tWithin 48 hours of this year\u2019s Cannes Film Festival launch, two Formula One drivers were revving up the Palais\u202fcarpet.<\/p>\n

\tCarlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc \u2014 once teammates at Ferrari, now just gridmates following the Spaniard\u2019s move to Williams \u2014 had photographers in a frenzy as they appeared with their respective partners at festival galas. They had scored an invite to the fest through being global ambassadors at L\u2019Or\u00e9al, but the truth is that Cannes, as its position as the world\u2019s leading hub for international<\/a> cinema slips, is desperate for a slice of the F1<\/a> pie. \t<\/p>\n

\tSince\u00a0Drive to Survive<\/em>\u00a0resurrected the sport in 2018, the fan base has grown by over 68\u202fpercent globally. \u201cThe F1 river has truly burst its banks,\u201d says Rob Bloom, chief marketing officer at\u00a0Aston\u00a0Martin, the fastest-growing team on the grid. \u201cIt\u2019s everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe rapidity of F1\u2019s growth cannot be overstated. Bloom\u2019s declaration is backed up by the stats: In 2025, 1.83\u202fbillion people watched F1, per Nielsen, up 6.8\u202fpercent from 2024. Over 43\u202fpercent of fans are now under the age of 35, with female representation rising to 42\u202fpercent, and at\u00a0Aston\u00a0Martin Aramco Formula One Team, fronted by drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, they\u2019re tallying a 30 to 40 percent year-on-year growth.<\/p>\n

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\t \t\t\t\t\tF1 driver Charles Leclerc and wife Alexandra at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.<\/span> \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Getty<\/cite> \t\t\t\t\t \t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tBut it\u2019s no longer on-track performance that determines the success of an F1 team. What sets\u00a0Aston\u00a0Martin apart is its discovery of the power of fan engagement, commercial partnerships and \u2014 as Brad Pitt and the producers on the $630\u202fbillion box office hit\u00a0F1: The Movie<\/em>\u00a0recognized \u2014 the Hollywood-ization of F1. \t<\/p>\n

\t\u201cFor years, Hollywood has honed its recipe, a recipe built on key ingredients,\u201d begins\u00a0Aston\u00a0Martin\u2019s executive creative director Stu Peddie. There\u2019s the star power \u2014 in this case, the 22 best drivers in the world \u2014 he says, and the gripping story. The sport has cinema\u2019s immersive world-building: It takes us to 24 races around the globe every year, from Mexico City to Singapore, Monaco to Melbourne. It also, continues Peddie, has the platform potential and the ability to create an entire ecosystem of creative assets and experiences around a race or team. \u201cIf you think about Hollywood,\u201d says Peddie, \u201cit thrives because there are multiple storylines. Formula One is the same.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\tIt\u2019s no secret that F1 is now as Hollywood as it\u2019s ever been. At May\u202f3\u2019s Miami Grand Prix alone, among some of the high-profile names to have appeared trackside are Jimmy Fallon, Chase Infiniti, Patrick Dempsey, Chance the Rapper, Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell, DJ Khaled and Lupita Nyong\u2019o. \u201cEvery Grand Prix now feels like a major cultural event \u2014 almost like a Super Bowl weekend,\u201d notes Jefferson Slack, managing director for commercial at\u00a0Aston\u00a0Martin.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt attracts actors, musicians, athletes and global brands who want to be part of that atmosphere. Some are genuine fans of the sport, while others recognize that F1 has become one of the biggest global platforms for audiences, hospitality and brand exposure. We\u2019ve also seen it work the other way, too,\u201d he continues, \u201cwith drivers increasingly appearing in culturally relevant spaces such as film premieres, fashion events and things like the Met Gala.\u201d\u00a0 \t<\/p>\n

\tDespite what some might think, Sainz and Leclerc\u2019s Cannes call-ins made perfect sense. It reflects, Slack says, how F1 has solidified its place at the intersection of sport, entertainment and popular culture.<\/p>\n

\tWith such a wealth of star power at their fingertips, the commercial and marketing branch of\u00a0Aston\u00a0Martin understood immediately what could be gained by investment in brand partnerships, fan activations and targeted audience outreach. Now, Hollywood is no longer just an influence on F1 \u2014 it\u2019s part of the framework. \u201cWe have deliberately positioned ourselves as less like a traditional racing team and more like a modern entertainment and luxury lifestyle franchise,\u201d Slack tells\u00a0THR<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\tSome great examples of this include merchandise collaborations with The Rolling Stones and Disney\u2019s\u00a0Toy Story<\/em>\u00a0ahead of the franchise\u2019s fifth installment releasing this summer.\u00a0Aston\u00a0Martin was the first team on the grid to boast an official skin care partner, Elemis, and its extension beyond motorsport into the broader cultural and luxury ecosystem has landed team-ups with Swiss watch empire Breitling, sports juggernaut Puma and energy drink company Celsius. \u201cTake our South Beach pop-up at the Miami Grand Prix,\u201d says Bloom. \u201cIt was about creating opportunities for people to engage with our team and sport in different ways, creating experiences that leaned into fans\u2019 other interests, from Pilates to HIIT classes with the team. Or the Celsius run club in Miami,\u201d he adds. \u201cThat activation wasn\u2019t about people setting personal bests in a 5K. It was about community: bringing 2,000 people together for a shared experience, united by a shared interest around Formula One.\u201d \t<\/p>\n

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\t \t\t\t\t\t(L-R) Jefferson Slack, Rob Bloom, Stu Peddie<\/span> \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Aston Martin<\/cite> \t\t\t\t\t \t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tIt\u2019s a method Hollywood has had no choice but to latch onto. Take\u00a0The Devil Wears Prada\u202f2<\/em>, which has accrued a cool $440\u202fmillion global box office tally so far, no doubt bolstered by the film\u2019s collabs with the likes of Diet Coke, Starbucks, Samsung Galaxy, Lanc\u00f4me, TreSemm\u00e9, Havaianas, Grey Goose, Google, Mercedes-Benz, Tiffany & Co. and Dior.\u00a0Barbie<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Wicked<\/em>\u00a0followed a similar blueprint, which helped unearth the lucrative effects of dialing into your female audience.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWith [F1\u2019s] growth has come an entirely new demographic of fan \u2014 particularly in the U.S. \u2014 with a younger, female audience. Formula One is so much richer for that,\u201d says Bloom. At\u00a0Aston\u00a0Martin, they\u2019ve made role models out of driver ambassador and head of F1 Academy Jessica Hawkins, as well as F1 Academy driver Mathilda Paatz.<\/p>\n

\tSays Peddie: \u201cIf we look ahead five years, what we really want is for younger female fans entering the sport to see\u00a0Aston\u00a0Martin Aramco as the team they naturally gravitate toward. At the same time, we\u2019ll absolutely continue serving long-standing traditional fans, too. Ultimately, we want everyone to feel like there\u2019s a place for them in this sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAnd so exists yet another commonality between Hollywood and F1: The urgency of inclusion. F1, once considered an exclusive boys\u2019 club, is undergoing something of a transformation regarding its access and outreach, with teams increasingly aware of the need for gender parity off-track. At Aramco\u2019s livery takeover at the 2025 US Grand Prix,\u00a0Aston\u00a0Martin called the campaign The Science Inside and covered the car in aerodynamic equations and engineering formulas. \u201cRather than solely focusing on the car\u2019s visual identity, we wanted to build a meaningful program designed to help inspire the next generation into careers in STEM and motorsport,\u201d says Bloom. \t<\/p>\n

\tIf F1 is the all-encompassing world of film and TV, its drivers are the A-list stars, its technical squads the talented production crews, and, instead of a billion-dollar tentpole release once a year, it\u2019s a momentous, narratively rich, and shockingly dramatic event every other weekend. There are the franchise spinoffs, the merch drops, the celebrity cameos, the brand deals and \u2014 most importantly \u2014 an ever-expanding crowd at the box office. And the teams? They\u2019re all for it. Adds Bloom: \u201cThe Hollywood-ization of the sport has huge power to continue to inspire this generation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Within 48 hours of this year\u2019s Cannes Film Festival launch, two Formula One drivers were revving up the Palais\u202fcarpet. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc \u2014 once teammates at Ferrari, now just gridmates following the Spaniard\u2019s move to Williams \u2014 had photographers in a frenzy as they appeared with their respective partners at festival galas. They had scored an invite to the fest through being global ambassadors at L\u2019Or\u00e9al, but the truth is that Cannes, as its position as the world\u2019s leading hub for international cinema slips, is desperate for a slice of the F1 pie. Since\u00a0Drive to Survive\u00a0resurrected the sport in 2018, the fan base has grown by over 68\u202fpercent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1136,94,95,307,1137,2,116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aston-martin","category-business","category-business-news","category-cannes-2026","category-f1","category-hollywood","category-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}