When Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both made the podium at Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix, the McLaren team were not the only ones celebrating.
In April, Liquid I.V. announced it’s become an official partner of McLaren Racing, doubling down on its alignment with Formula 1 after activating at the Miami and Vegas Grand Prixs last year — sponsorships that acted as proof of concept for a larger partnership.
“We learned that the F1 fan is already our consumer,” said Brittany Shaw, VP of Integrated Marketing at Liquid I.V. “They’re traveling, they’re spending long days at the races. They care about performance, and they were already bringing Liquid I.V. on the go with them. This wasn’t about entering into a new space, it was about leaning into one that we were already part of.”
The partnership, which runs through 2027, kicked off in Miami April 29 to May 3 at the McLaren fan fest, where the team was celebrating its milestone 1,000th Grand Prix campaign. A Liquid I.V. Hydratruck on-site distributed more than 97,000 sample sticks, including the brand’s newest flavor, Hydration Multiplier Sugar-Free Ring Pop Cherry.
Liquid I.V. will support the team’s day-to-day functional hydration needs throughout the season with Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier Sugar-Free products available within the McLaren Mastercard F1 Team Hub and Priceless Lounge. The deal also includes branding — their logo is now on the F1 pit crew’s helmets and on the overalls of McLaren F1 Academy driver Ella Lloyd.
A Partnership Driven By Shared Ambition
In McLaren, Liquid I.V. saw a partner that was not just successful — the team won both the Constructors’ and the Drivers’ Championship in 2025 — but one that shared its drive for innovation and who they also just connected with on a human level.
“What was great is that the drivers, the pit crew, the engineers, everyone part of the McLaren family, already used Liquid IV. So that helped make the partnership feel really organic and natural,” Shaw said. “We will continue to provide them with all their favorite flavors and make sure that they’re fully stocked up, especially as they’re traveling and on race weekends.” (In case you’re wondering, Piastri’s favorite flavor is Hydration Multiplier Sugar-Free Lemon Lime.)
The McLaren deal is the latest move in a sports marketing strategy that saw Liquid I.V. debut a Super Bowl ad in February and commit to a three-season partnership with the Los Angeles Football Club in 2025.
Formula 1 had another record-breaking season in 2025, drawing 52 million fans in the U.S., up 11 percent from the prior year. The sport’s fanbase is also getting younger and more diverse: 43 percent of fans are under 35 (up from 30 percent in 2018), and 42 percent are female (up from 37 percent). It seeped even further into the culture with the success of “F1 The Movie,” which became the highest-grossing sports film ever, earning $630 million at the global box office.
All of that contributes to a powerful environment for marketers. According to the 2025 F1 Global Fan Survey, 76 percent of respondents believe sponsors enhance the F1 experience, and 1 in 3 said they were more likely to purchase from F1 sponsors (a figure that jumps to 40 percent among Gen Z respondents). For Liquid I.V., the sport’s high-pressure, high-endurance elements also make it the ideal setting to not just tell people their product works, but show it.
“The biggest challenge right now in our space is the competitive environment. I feel like every day, I’m learning about a new powdered hydration brand or a new product line that’s popping up,” Shaw said. “Our challenge is about cutting through that noise … And what makes us stand out against our competition is that our product actually works.”
Proving Liquid I.V.’s Value Beyond the Track
To judge the success of the McLaren partnership, Liquid I.V. will track trial (how many people are sampling the product at race activations), examine sales impact in key markets around those races and look at social engagement. For example, after partnering with tennis player Ayan Broomfield at the Las Vegas Grand Prix In November, Liquid I.V. saw its fourth-quarter engagement rate increase 694 percent on TikTok year-over-year, and 71 percent on Instagram. But the longer-term goal is to affect brand perception, especially around the product’s science and performance claims.
“Our strategy is really about building the brand through utility,” Shaw said. “It’s about showing up in moments where we can genuinely help people perform better, whether it’s the athlete, whether it’s a pit crew member, whether it’s a fan. It’s really about positioning our product as a tool, and this partnership is a really strong expression of that.”
Beyond Formula 1, Liquid I.V. is eyeing other sports for marketing opportunities — Shaw names tennis, golf and soccer as ones on her radar. Music festivals also remain a big marketing priority; the brand will be at both Project Glow and Lollapalooza later this summer.