The Formula One season starts this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix. This isn’t a lifelong passion for me. I’ve been following the racing series since a couple of years into the Netflix show “Drive to Survive.”
I enjoyed the show because it felt like a travel reality show with some racing mixed in. The series helped catapult Formula One closer to the mainstream.
That travel angle shows up in real life, too. Many Formula One teams partner with the same travel brands frequent travelers use every day, including hotel loyalty programs, airlines, and cruise lines. You may already have a favorite team and not know it.
For most people, it’s still a novelty, but it works perfectly for my weekend schedule. Since it’s an international racing series, races often start early on Sunday mornings. It’s a fun, leisurely event that’s on while I’m waking up and having my first cup of coffee.
F1 still isn’t close to being as popular as traditional American sports like football or baseball. Even big races like the US Grand Prix draw only about 1.5 million viewers.
As it’s grown in popularity in the US, the schedule has expanded with two races: the Miami Grand Prix and everyone’s favorite, the one-and-done Las Vegas Grand Prix.
I don’t have a favorite driver or team. I’m kind of a front-runner who roots for drivers who seem fun and cars that look pretty. It’s the opposite of traditional sports fandom for me.
I’ll be rooting for Cadillac this year since it’s a new team and one of two American teams, along with Haas. The team also has two fun drivers, Valtteri Bottas (sadly, it’s not pronounced BoatAss) and Sergio “Checo” Perez.
This is the first year F1 will be available in the US only on Apple TV. I was watching the new season of “Drive to Survive” over the weekend and noticed a Marriott Bonvoy logo on the Mercedes cars, so I decided to see if other teams had similar travel partnerships.
Finding a race team with relatable travel partners could be a fun way to follow F1 this season. Here’s a look at the teams and drivers partnered with some of the most popular travel brands.
F1 Team Hotel Partners
Mercedes
This is the partnership that gets the most TV time. You’ll see the Marriott Bonvoy logo on the cars for drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. The team stays at Ritz-Carlton hotels if you want to get really granular.
McLaren
McLaren won the constructors’ championship for the best team last year, and Lando Norris won the drivers’ championship. The other driver, Oscar Piastri, is Australian and finished third last season. Hilton is the team’s hotel partner. The team is also partnered with Mastercard and Etihad Airways.
Haas
Haas is one of two US teams. It’s partners with MGM Rewards. Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman drive for this lower-midfield team. For comparison, McLaren and Mercedes are considered top-tier teams.
Red Bull Racing
This is one of the most popular teams because its top driver, Max Verstappen, dominated the championship for years before Norris won last season. His new teammate this year is Isack Hadjar, who raced for a different team last season.
If you follow Hard Rock International on social media, you’ve probably seen plenty of Red Bull Racing content over the past few years, since the brands are partners. The team is also affiliated with Mobil and Visa.
Audi
This is the first year for the team after several rebrands over the past decade. It now partners with World of Hyatt. Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto are the drivers. Both drivers are charming in their own way, but the team doesn’t have an interesting track record over the past few years.
F1 Team Airline and Cruise Partners
Alpine (pronounced “Al Peen”)
Alpine partners with MSC Cruises, which you can get comped through Wynn Rewards. The team also works with Qatar Airways and Boeing. Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto are the drivers.
Ferrari
This is one of the most well-known F1 teams. The cars are iconic, the team has a long racing history, and it features two of the sport’s most popular drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Its only travel-related partners are VistaJet and Shell.
Aston Martin
Aston Martin is owned by a wealthy businessman, so his son, Lance Stroll, gets to be an F1 driver. The other driver, Fernando Alonso, is entertaining but well past his prime and could retire at any time.
The team probably doesn’t need outside funding, so it only has partnerships with Atlas Air and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
Visa Cash App Racing Bulls
This team is considered Red Bull’s junior squad. Liam Lawson was demoted from Red Bull last year, and rookie Arvid Lindblad is the only new driver on the grid this season.
Hahnair, Visa, and Ford are the team’s only travel-related partners.
The Leftovers!
Cadillac doesn’t have any partners close to the travel world.
Williams has just one partner that could be considered travel-related, Zoox, and that’s a stretch. However, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz are solid drivers for this upper-midfield team.
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Marc grew up on the mean streets of the South Bronx. He's the rare combination of Yankees and Jets fan which explains his often contrarian point of view. He learned about gambling at a young age working down the street from a bookie who took action on anything from the mainstream sports to the last three digits of the purse for certain horse races. Yeah, that's a thing. Today Marc is a freelance writer and social media consultant which allows him to work anywhere there's a wifi signal. This allows him to work from the sportsbook at Red Rock Resort or the food court at The Venetian where you’ll find fast and free wifi. Writing about steak, booze, gambling and Las Vegas is a tough job but somebody has to do it.