Formula 1 fans have had March circled on their calendars, eagerly awaiting the return of the world’s fastest sport. The 2025 season roared to life with high expectations, fresh storylines, and an electric atmosphere. Now, with the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix in the books, we’re diving into the performance of luxury sponsorships and the record-breaking engagement fueling F1’s explosive start.

First Grand Prix Engagement

As we saw in our 2024 Formula 1 report, race excitement translates to social media engagement. Grand Prix events with compelling storylines also tend to yield more interactions and video views from fans.

This was evident in 2024, when Formula 1’s biggest social media spikes came from races with high-stakes storylines. The British Grand Prix led the season with over 68 million interactions, fueled by George Russell’s pole position and Lewis Hamilton’s emotional home victory. Monaco saw a surge as Charles Leclerc finally won on home soil, while Abu Dhabi’s engagement was driven by Lando Norris securing second in the championship and key driver farewells, including Carlos Sainz leaving Ferrari and Hamilton’s final race with Mercedes. These moments show how historic wins and emotional narratives amplify fan engagement.

The 2025 season started with excellent engagement results. The first Grand Prix, held at the Melbourne circuit, surpassed 56.7 million interactions across Formula 1’s official social accounts, while the second event of the year, the Chinese Grand Prix, reached 55.6 million engagements.

Comparing these figures to last season, the impact is evident. These first two 2025 Grands Prix already rank among the top eight most engaging races of the 2024 season. To put it in perspective, the first 2024 Grand Prix, held in Bahrain from February 29 to March 2, achieved 33.5 million engagements, and the Chinese Grand Prix saw engagements soar by 66%. These numbers confirm that fans are more eager than ever to interact with Formula 1 and enjoy their favorite sport.

TikTok: A Key Space for Formula 1 Teams

Over the last few years, TikTok has solidified itself as a valuable and essential platform for sports organizations. The popular video-sharing app has transformed how fans interact with racing—from both the league and team. TikTok allows for a more authentic and casual connection between drivers and fans, showcasing fun and even absurd moments that resonate with the platform’s dynamic style. The popularity of formats like podcasts, easily convertible into viral social media clips, maximizes content reach. On TikTok, a single moment can generate multiple posts, laughs, and a genuine connection with the drivers’ personalities, making it a key channel for expanding the Formula 1 community.

To maximize TikTok’s potential, sports organizations can use tools like Blinkfire Trends. This tool makes it easy to find trending content on TikTok, allowing for quick identification of videos and hashtags generating the most impact. This way, drivers, teams, and brands can create content aligned with trends, optimizing their presence and connection with the audience.

LVMH and Formula 1: The Return of Luxury to the Track

One of the biggest stories of the 2025 Formula 1 season so far is the return of iconic luxury brands from the LVMH Group: Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer, and Moët & Chandon. While some of the brands continue to partner with individual teams like Ferrari & Armani, Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team & Boss or MoneyGram Haas F1 Team & Champagne Taittinger, they are now solidifying their relationship with racing by sponsoring the league as well. This move reinforces LVMH’s commitment to premier global events, offering a powerful platform to engage vast audiences and further elevate their brand prestige.

It’s worth noting luxury brands’ historical relationship with motorsport. One example is TAG Heuer, a pioneer in Formula 1 sponsorship since 1969 and the first luxury brand to have its logo on an F1 car and the first to sponsor a team.

Louis Vuitton debuted in the Championship’s first race as the ‘naming partner’ of the Australian Grand Prix, and Moët & Chandon will do the same for the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix. To maximize the return of sponsorship spend, it’s crucial to measure the LVMH’s impact on not only Formula 1 and the event’s official channels but also across drivers’, teams’, and media’s accounts. This way, brands investing in sports sponsorship ensure they capture every valuable data point to maximize their return on investment.

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Written by Rocío Valls
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March 27, 2025
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