Top 10

Which sponsors have spent the most with Formula 1 in the past decade?

Which big brand put up the most cash across the past decade?

Sam Hall

Friday 24 April 2020 21:08

Formula 1 sponsors come and go, but which companies have spent the most to be a part of the sport? Formula Money provided GPFans with the numbers behind F1.

A budget cap of $145 million is set to be introduced for the 2021 Formula 1 season, but this number is tiny in comparison to the numbers involved when talking about the sponsorship deals that make the racing possible.

10: Claro/Telcel/Telmex - $218m

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This Mexican telecommunications company has rebranded several times across the past decade and they have also been involved with several teams - largely due to sponsorship deals with Mexican drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez.

Force India/Racing Point, Sauber/Alfa Romeo and Ferrari have all run with the branding. Gutierrez wore the branding on his overalls during his stint at Haas, but the then Telcel logo did not feature on the car itself.

9: Mobil 1 - $237m

Mobil 1 were a prominent sponsor of McLaren until the 2017 season when, after two poor years of reliability in the McLaren Honda relationship, the sponsor jumped ship to Red Bull.

The oil and lubrication specialists also pay to have their brand visible at certain grand prix venues.

8: Vodafone - $299m

Another former McLaren sponsor, Vodafone branding featured on the McLaren throughout the early part of the decade but, at the end of 2013, the two parties parted ways.

The move coincided with the move away from McLaren of Lewis Hamilton but the two were not related, Vodafone announcing their intentions ahead of the season.

As with Mobil 1, the brand also made the most of the trackside advertising options.

7: Rolex - $327m

Rolex are the global partner of Formula 1. The giant green and gold clock hangs over the end of the pit lane at every grand prix and each session opens with the hand ticking across on live television.

At most grand prix, the branding can be seen along the start straight and on various trackside advertising boards along with the live timing screens.

6: Infiniti - $345m

Infiniti is the luxury car wing attached to Renault. Prior to rejoining the championship as a factory outfit in 2016, the Infiniti branding covered the sidepods of the Red Bull car.

At that time, Red Bull were powered by Renault and were in essence the factory team, much in the same way to how they currently operate with Honda. But when Renault entered themselves, the Infiniti logos were removed, and placed on the yellow Renault cars.

5: Pirelli - $381m (excludes the value of the tyre supply)

It is difficult to calculate the overall value of this particular sponsorship deal, so we'll focus on the money that changes hands.

Unlike when you have a flat tyre and need to pay for a new one, Pirelli pay Formula 1 for the privilege of supplying these tyres.

Clearly visible with branding at every circuit, sponsorship of the 'Pirelli Hot Laps' experience and with logos on every car, this deal could actually be the biggest bargain to appear on this list!

4: Shell - $412m

A common theme across the next few entries is one certain team. Ferrari.

While Shell enjoyed a large amount of trackside promotion across the decade, it is Ferrari who have benefited most from the sponsorship money of Shell in a relationship that stretches back to 1924.

3: Santander - $514m

Chiefly a sponsor of Fernando Alonso, both Ferrari and McLaren have benefited from the sponsorship of the Spanish bank.

The relationship with McLaren ended in 2016, the later years of the partnership only involving Santander UK due to a connection with Jenson Button, while the bank ended their partnership with Ferrari at the end of 2017.

2: Philip Morris International - $625m

The largest sponsor of any single Formula 1 team is this tobacco brand. By far the most controversial sponsor currently involved in Formula 1, given that tobacco advertising is banned in several countries, including Italy, Philip Morris continue to pump money into Ferrari through the Mission Winnow.

This initiative aims to create engagement around the role of science, technology and innovation as a powerful force for good in any industry, but such is the association to cigarettes, that even the official Formula 1 game removes the branding from the cars.

1: Petronas -$735m

Petronas are best known for their close relationship to the Mercedes Formula 1 team. Perhaps the figure here is so high due to the consistent level of sponsorship across the entire decade, but Petronas have also made the most of trackside advertising across the decade.

Petronas has been the title sponsor of Mercedes since returning to the sport in 2010 and the company also acted as the title sponsor to the Malaysian Grand Prix throughout it's stay on the calendar.