PepsiCo joins Formula One as official sponsor in multi-year global sponsorship deal
PepsiCo is joining forces with Formula One, the latest sponsor to use the worldwide racing circuit to showcase its products.
The multi-year global agreement will see Gatorade and Doritos branding adorn tracks starting later this year.
Gatorade will become Formula One's official sports drink and serve as the presenting sponsor of the F1 Sprint Series. Doritos becomes F1's official savoury snack partner, while Sting Energy will be the official energy drink of Formula One.
As an official partner of Formula One, PepsiCo gets rights to TV-visible trackside advertising, Fan Zone activation opportunities at 21 races, tickets and hospitality experiences, and exclusive marketing rights for featured brands.
The sponsorship deal will also extend to F1 Academy, the Formula 4-level racing championship for women.
Formula One boasts a cumulative global audience of 1.6 billion viewers and active fan base of 826 million.
The 24-race 2025 schedule, which kicked off March 16 in Australia, ends Dec. 7 in Abu Dhabi. The Montreal Grand Prix is June 15 at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025.
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New York Times
9 hours ago
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SPIELBERG, Austria — The narrative surrounding Lando Norris's bid for a maiden Formula One world championship in 2025 had been sliding one way. While Oscar Piastri, cool and calm, had barely missed a beat so far this season en route to five wins in the first nine races, even in the moments when Norris was faster, he was making too many mistakes. Advertisement Nailing qualifying, something that once came so easily to him, had a real challenge – in part due to a braking struggle with the 2025 McLaren. Sunday fightbacks then proved too little, too late. His victory from pole in Monaco was supposed to be the turning point that ignited his title charge, only for his mistake last time out in Canada, breaking the first rule of racing by making contact with his teammate, undid all that good work. But as Austria featured the season's first true wheel-to-wheel fight between the two McLaren drivers — now surely in a two-horse race for this year's championship with Max Verstappen 61 points off the lead — it was Norris who came away the victor. Sunday felt like Norris's race to lose before it even started. After sitting out FP1 for McLaren young driver Alex Dunne, he topped FP2, FP3, and all three stages of qualifying en route to scoring pole by half a second. The biggest pole margin of the season so far on the year's shortest lap. It was a lifetime in F1 terms. But after the lights went out on Sunday, Piastri made clear this would be a win Norris would have to work for. Charles Leclerc being squeezed by Norris off the line let Piastri pass at Turn 1, the Ferrari driver focused on trying to attack Norris. The McLarens then set off into the distance, stealing a march at a blistering early pace. It was such a pace that Norris feared their two-stop strategy plan could be jeopardized, reaching the target laps requiring careful tire management. He had to push flat out to keep Piastri, who was glued to his gearbox right through the opening stint, at bay. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner commented post-race how Piastri 'was basically making love to his exhaust pipe for lap after lap after lap, and the tires are not dying.' Too graphic, perhaps, but a backhanded compliment to McLaren's advantage in this critical area for car race pace. Advertisement At no point did McLaren seek to intervene in the fight, as it had done back in Australia — here sticking to its principles by giving Norris and Piastri the freedom to fight as they traded the lead back and forth in the space of two corners on Lap 11 of 70, Norris ultimately staying ahead. 'We both knew what to expect from each other,' Norris said. 'We both want to race hard and race fair. It goes both ways.' A brief moment of panic for Norris came when he grazed the gravel at the final corner a few laps later, but Piastri didn't go for a lunge into Turn 1. This gave Norris time to then prepare to defend the inside at the top of the hill. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said post-race he was proud of how his drivers had conducted themselves on the track, the only really close moment coming when Piastri tried to attack Norris at Turn 4 shortly before the first pit stop, when he locked up and narrowly missed the sister McLaren's rear. The pit wall informed Piastri after his tire change that the move had been 'too marginal' — an assessment he agreed was fair. 'Missing the back of your teammate by not a lot is certainly pushing the boundaries,' Piastri admitted. 'Even if I hadn't been told anything, I didn't think it was a wise decision to try that one again.' He immediately apologized on his radio after crossing the finish line much later. 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Norris kept asking which corners he was losing time to Piastri. At first it was the higher-speed Turns 6 and 7, then Turn 1 and Turn 3. He asked, got told, and responded. 'Do that every lap, please,' said Joseph after Norris had nailed the early right-handers with three laps to go. Advertisement That precise level of communication was part of the improvement Norris has been working to make in recent weeks. 'As much as I like to not have any radio and just do my own thing and concentrate, when you've got some quick guys behind you or ahead of you, there's nothing wrong with asking for a bit of guidance and a bit of help every now and then,' Norris said. He admitted he'd been 'trying to be a bit more accepting of help.' Upon crossing the line, there was no great outburst of emotion or celebration from Norris, as F1 heard when he won in Monaco. Austria is a track he's always performed well at, and was always going to be a good place for him to rediscover his groove — aided by the suspension update McLaren had introduced in Canada to help his braking feel. He sounded more Piastri-like responding to Joseph's words of congratulations. Grateful and happy, but calm. The significance of the result after what happened in Canada cannot be understated. Norris left that weekend on a low, braced for what Stella said would likely be 'tough conversations' about the misjudgment that caused the clash with Piastri. Norris said on Thursday the team had emerged from it stronger, and he'd put Canada out of his mind. Yet Norris made mention of the incident in the post-race news conference at the Red Bull Ring, saying the team had to 'put Montreal behind us — behind me for sure. It's something that I wished never happened.' To dominate Austria as he did was the perfect response, as much as he may have claimed there was no point to prove. 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