Why LVMH's $1.5B Formula 1 Bet Is No Average Luxury Partnership

Forbes

a day ago

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing during the Formula 1 pre-season testing at Sakhir Circuit in ... More Sakhir, Bahrain on February 26, 2025. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
When my favorite Cashmere Wolf, Bernard Arnault, chairman of luxury behemoth LVMH Group, watches Max Verstappen navigate treacherous corners at 180 mph during the Formula 1® Bahrain circuit, he does so with an eye towards his calculated $1.5 billion, 10-year investment into a competition rapidly growing in popularity. Like the Group's 2024 Paris Olympic Games sponsorship, this unprecedented partnership, announced in late 2024 and aligned with the sport's 75th anniversary and season, represents far more than logo placement on fast cars. Three distinct LVMH maisons—TAG Heuer, Louis Vuitton, and Moët & Chandon — each now play carefully choreographed roles in what amounts to luxury's most ambitious sporting investment in Arnault's latest exercise of strategic narrative layering.
Arnault orchestrated TAG Heuer's takeover from Rolex the role of official timekeeper for Monaco's Grand Prix; integrated Louis Vuitton's bespoke trunks as carrying cases for Formula 1 trophies; and ensured Moët & Chandon's omnipresence across newly rebranded races, Formula 1 TAG Heuer Monaco GRAND PRIX; Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian GRAND PRIX 2025; and Formula 1 Moët & Chandon Belgian GRAND PRIX 2025.
These LVMH brands will peacock on 24 global stages across nine months—stages that drew 1.5 billion cumulative TV viewers last year with an average viewership of 70 million per race—reaching a sundry audience that may never have entered a Louis Vuitton boutique or considered a TAG Heuer timepiece. With these spectators skewing younger and more diverse than traditional luxury consumers, Arnault clearly has his eyes set on future customer cultivation, something many luxury brands often eschew in favor of those who can afford their products today.
With Formula 1 now making scheduled Grand Prix stops in my Miami backyard for the next 15 years, I ventured onto the tracks last month to understand the sport's growing entanglement with luxury. What I discovered were strategic partnerships navigating a balance between a rich motorsport tradition, a lifestyle signature, and a technologically savvy fanbase increasingly led by women.
KEITH, SCOTLAND – OCTOBER 30: (EDITORS NOTE: This image is a composite, and has been digitally ... More retouched) The Aston Martin AMR24 is showcased inside the historic Still House at the Glenfiddich Distillery in Keith, Scotland, on October 30, 2024. This unique setting celebrates the newly announced global partnership between Glenfiddich and Aston Martin Formula One® Team. (Photo by Guidofor Glenfiddich)
'Formula 1 is really having a moment,' Rob Bloom, CMO of Aston Martin Formula 1, told me over a dram of Glenfiddich 50YO Simultaneous Time, part of the single malt scotch whisky brand's Time Re:Imagined collection, and the rarest of the scotches Bloom and I would taste that evening. 'There are still new people discovering Formula 1 today. [This growth is attracting]
After racing McLarens at the McLaren Track Driving Event, followed by a MIAMI GRAND PRIX® Track Preview Experience & Paddock Tour, both courtesy of Chase Sapphire Reserve, I traded my track day sneakers for heels and a Donna Karan silk dress as I headed to the Mandarin Oriental for an exclusive dining experience with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One TeamTM to sample Glenfiddich's impressive lineup.
The dinner was part of Aston Martin F1's multi-year partnership with the scotch brand, announced at the November Las Vegas Grand Prix, where Glenfiddich unearthed a rare cask from 1959 – the very year Aston Martin debuted in Formula 1 – to create a commemorative single bottle expression. In aligning origin stories, both brands enlisted the marketing strategy of borrowed equity from each brand's legacy to augment their respective audience. In this well curated pairing, an Aston Martin enthusiast and a Glenfiddich connoisseur both share a love of the artisanal, of precision engineering, and a deep appreciation for heritage, innovation, and the relentless pursuit of distinction.
'The growth mindset that exists in the team is that we'll never settle,' Bloom said. 'There is that ongoing pursuit of excellence and betterment. Even when we win a race, the only thing we're thinking about is the next race and the next win. Which in a way is addictive. It feeds you and everybody in the organization lives with this growth mindset.'
Under Bloom's marketing leadership, the brand is leveraging F1's burgeoning popularity by actively engaging with new audiences through lifestyle integrations and collaborations, such as with Glenfiddich. Beyond just winning races, Aston Martin F1's marketing strategy is towards continuously exalting the brand's image to an impassioned community.
He continued, 'The sport itself is having a real moment. It's not just about that amazing tech racing story and the growth mindset and the competitive nature of the sport. It's actually about an extension into culture and lifestyle, and the fact that F1 shows up in everyday currency.'
This cultural expansion has fundamentally changed how luxury brands approach Formula 1 partnerships. 'Aston Martin's brand is ultimately a lifestyle brand,' Bloom stated, 'and what we want to do as a brand in F1 is to make sure that we show up in a way that is more than just the sport.' Aston Martin F1 has recently collaborated with The Rolling Stones and DJ Dom Dolla to extend racing culture into the music, fashion, and nightlife territories luxury consumers inhabit.
'We want to get measured on how we bring people into the sport and our brand image,' he added. 'Whether you're wearing The Rolling Stones hoodie or drinking a glass of Glenfiddich, you should be able to experience and enjoy that as an extension of your celebration of two brands coming together.'
Globant Co-Founder Guibert Englebienne interviews Jonny Haworth, F1's director of commercial ... More partnerships at the Globant and F1® Miami Garage Event
'What's really interesting is that as fans come in, they're younger, they're more diverse, they're more female and the challenge we have is that their interest in the sport spans everything,' Jonny Haworth, F1's director of commercial partnerships discussed during the Globant and F1 Miami Garage Event panel at the Miami Autodrome Paddock. 'The deep technology, the cars, everything that goes on the track all the way through to the culture and the lifestyle that goes on with drivers. And our role is to try and engage each of those audiences in a completely different way.'
This diversification challenge is precisely where technology partners become essential to luxury brands' F1 strategies. Globant, through its multi-year Official Partner agreement with Formula 1, is using engineering and data to lean into human emotions. F1 has now gone from a niche automotive competition watched mostly by enthusiasts into an immersive experience accessible to global onlookers.
'Technology was getting into our pockets and therefore was changing the way we could connect 7 by 24 with the brands that we love, creating an emotional bond,' Guibert Englebienne, Globant's co-founder said. 'You need to make it memorable. It's a big investment for people to come here. So our vision is that technology can be used to improve that, to expand, to bring some gravity to the sport, and the combination of engineering with data with a very human oriented company. '
Formula 1's fundamental marketing objective, according to Donna Birkett Baida, the organization's director of marketing, is to 'make people fall in love with it, with our sport and with our brand.' She likened this to the complexity of human love, aiming for both 'incredible highs and passion' and 'a level of comfort.' The ultimate goal is to create 'moments that are so memorable' and drive engagement, 'really bringing people... from just being aware of our brand and that latent interest in our brand to actually genuinely falling in love with it.'
Globant is now developing a Formula 1 customer-facing app to enhance fan experience while providing data to devise continued engagement opportunities. 'What I love about the app—and we're still in the conceptual stages—is that it's going to move us from being reactive,' Baida shared. 'Which is really important because we have to be with our fans – react to their behaviors, requirements, and needs – but moving us much more towards being proactive and trying to anticipate what their requirements are and give them the best possible Formula 1 experience.'
Tag Heuer clock during the Formula 1 pre-season testing at Sakhir Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain on ... More February 26, 2025. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Shifting from efficiency to intimacy was exactly what Formula 1 needed to court new audiences, particularly the female demographic reshaping the sport's identity. This growing female F1 fanbase is inspiring entirely new forms of artistic expression within the circuit.
Take Samantha Zimmermann, a fine artist whose motorsports realism captures both the technical precision and emotional sensations evoked in racing. Working primarily in oil paint and graphite pencil, Zimmermann has found her niche painting live at major IMSA and HSR events.
'Lyn Hiner, Anita Lewis, and I were invited to display our work within the Paddock Club,' Zimmerman shared with me in email. 'In addition to having art on display, we are also doing live painting demonstrations throughout the weekend! Guests who visit the marketplace space within the Paddock Club will also be invited to participate in the paint-by-numbers feature.'
LVMH was undoubtedly betting on this demographic shift when structuring their billion-dollar F1 investment. TAG Heuer has been actively cultivating the sport's female future through its partnership with F1 ACADEMY™, the all-female single-seater racing series designed to propel women toward motorsport's highest levels. 'We have a unique opportunity to fundamentally change our industry, driving female participation at every level of motorsport,' Susie Wolff, a former F1 test driver and managing director of F1 ACADEMY™, said in TAG Heuer's brand magazine.
Since becoming F1's official timekeeper, TAG Heuer CEO Antoine Pin reports traffic in stores has increased by double digits, forcing the brand to increase production on the car-related models. The timepiece manufacturer's position jumped from 15th to 11th among top Swiss watch brands by sales in 2024.
With Formula 1 now attracting over 800 million viewers annually—40 percent of whom are women—the sport's unique combination of technological sophistication, global reach, and cultural expansion creates opportunities for luxury brands to access passionate communities where, as with the pursuit of luxury, precision, innovation, and excellence are already expected. The racing platform serves as both scientist and laboratory in teaching brands how to win over consumers prioritizing experiences over products, authenticity over exclusivity, and emotional connection over transactional relationships.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 04: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing ... More RB20 leads the field into turn one at the start during the Sprint ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Miami at Miami International Autodrome on May 04, 2024 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by)
Baida's F1 mission to 'make people fall in love with our sport and our brand' represents a seismic shift from luxury's once pragmatic exclusivity to a now fervently passionate inclusivity. When TAG Heuer reports double-digit store traffic increases and jumps from 15th to 11th in Swiss watch rankings because of the Formula 1 partnership, particularly at a time when tariffs are upending the Swiss watch industry, it reaffirms emotional connection as luxury's most recession-proof currency.