One driver carries 82 percent of the Red Bull Racing audience

82 percent of the Red Bull Racing audience names Max Verstappen as its favourite driver. Ferrari records 44.9 percent on its leading name. What audience concentration means for a sponsorship.

BoxBoxd

4 min read 4 August 2026

Max Verstappen, named favourite driver by 82 percent of the Red Bull Racing audience — Eighty two percent of one team audience names one driver.

The audience of a motorsport team is not evenly attached to it. On the 2026 reading, 82 percent of the Red Bull Racing audience names Max Verstappen as its favourite driver, against 44.9 percent for the leading name inside the Ferrari audience.

The number comes from the favourite driver each respondent declares on BoxBoxd, cross referenced with the team they support. It answers a question a sponsorship contract never asks: how much of the audience a brand is buying is attached to the badge and how much to one person wearing it.

Across the platform Max Verstappen is the most named driver at 25.4 percent, ahead of Oscar Piastri on 14 percent and Charles Leclerc on 13 percent. Inside a single team audience the concentration goes much higher.

Share of each team audience naming its leading driver

What a concentrated audience is worth

Red Bull Racing is the extreme case. 82 percent name Max Verstappen and the second name in that audience, Oscar Piastri, takes 5.1 percent. Ferrari spreads across Charles Leclerc on 44.9 percent and Lewis Hamilton on 19.3 percent. McLaren splits 53.9 percent and 27.9 percent across its two drivers.

Williams is the opposite profile. Its leading name takes 22.8 percent, the lowest of the large audiences and the next two names take 19.2 percent and 13.9 percent. No single departure moves that audience.

For a partner the two profiles buy different things. A concentrated audience delivers reach and sentiment that move together, quickly, in one direction. A spread audience delivers durability across a driver market that reshuffles every two seasons.

Carlos Sainz, leading name inside the Williams audience — The Williams audience spreads across three names, none above 23 percent.

The name that appears in every audience

Max Verstappen is the second or third most named driver inside audiences that support a rival team. He takes 12.4 percent of the Ferrari audience, 15.9 percent of the Audi audience and 13.5 percent of the Cadillac audience, a team he has never raced for.

A brand signing any team on the grid inherits an audience where part of the attention points at someone else. That is a cost for ten teams and a premium for one and it is measurable per team rather than assumed.

Share of each rival audience naming Max Verstappen as favourite driver

What the number changes in a negotiation

A team sells an audience. The audience is priced on size and size is the only figure in the room. Concentration is the second figure and it decides what happens to the value of the deal if a contract on the driver market moves.

The reading works in both directions. A team with a concentrated audience can price the driver association it holds today. A team with a spread audience can price the years its partnership will outlive any single seat.

Neither of those arguments exists in a media value report, because a media value report counts exposure and this counts attachment.

Frequently asked questions

How concentrated is the Red Bull Racing fan base?

82 percent of the Red Bull Racing audience names Max Verstappen as its favourite driver on the 2026 BoxBoxd reading. The second name takes 5.1 percent.

Which F1 team has the most spread out audience?

Williams. Its leading name takes 22.8 percent of the audience, with the next two on 19.2 percent and 13.9 percent.

Why does audience concentration change what a sponsorship is worth?

It measures how much of the audience is attached to the team and how much to one driver. A concentrated audience moves quickly with the driver market. A spread audience holds its value across seat changes.

The full report behind this article, with the split by team audience, market composition and movement across the season, is available to teams, brands and agencies.

Get the full report at partnerships@boxboxd.fun

Source: BoxBoxd, the motorsport social network. The Brand Recall Index is measured on the BoxBoxd audience through the 2026 season, where a blurred sponsor logo is shown with no name attached and three questions follow: name the brand, name the team, place the branding on the car. Full data at boxboxd.fun/data. The one number version of this reading, for citation, is at boxboxd.fun/brand-index/most-concentrated-f1-team-audience.