Gatorade enters the sport and places third on the question most partners fail
In its first season as a motorsport partner Gatorade records 92.5% recognition, 83.1% attribution and 72.9% placement on the audience.
Gatorade arrived on the grid this season through PepsiCo, on Mercedes and as the official hydration partner of the Sprint weekends. Its first reading is strongest on the question established partners struggle with.
The reading comes from the BoxBoxd Brand Recall Index, a test the motorsport audience takes on the platform through the 2026 season.
A sponsor logo appears blurred with no name attached and the audience answers three questions in order: name the brand, name the team it belongs to, then say where the branding appears on the car. Gatorade was tested 332 times. 92.5% named the brand, 83.1% attributed it to the right team and 72.9% said where it appears.
A first season measured
PepsiCo signed Mercedes for 2026 in a multi brand deal covering Gatorade, Sting and Doritos, the first time three of its brands have joined one team at once. Gatorade is also the official partner of the Sprint. There is no title livery and no permanent panel of its own on the car.
Recognition of 92.5% is below the grid average of 94.3%, which for a first season entry is the expected place to start. Attribution of 83.1% is already above the grid average of 82.2%.
What the placement score says about format branding
Placement of 72.9% is the third highest in the 2026 set, behind KitKat and ahead of every car panel partner tested. Branding attached to a format, the Sprint weekend, is remembered in position better than branding attached to a surface.
The reason is that a format partnership is described rather than displayed. The audience learns the association through the way the weekend is presented, so when the placement question comes it has an answer that carries meaning rather than a location on a car.
The two entry routes are visible side by side in this data. A consumer brand on a car has to compete with a dozen other panels. A consumer brand on a format owns the thing it is attached to.
Does the answer change with allegiance?
Sorted by the team each respondent supports, Gatorade attribution runs from 85.3% among Mercedes fans to 82.4% among McLaren fans, a spread of 2.9 points. Mercedes fans lead marginally, which follows the team deal, though the spread across audiences is small for a partnership in its first season.
Mercedes
Ferrari
Red Bull Racing
McLarenWhat to watch across the season
The gap to close is recognition and it is the one that climbs fastest with exposure. Attribution and placement, the two questions that usually take seasons, are already above average.
The comparison to run this against is KitKat, one season further into the same model, at 95.7% recognition and 84.6% placement.
Frequently asked questions
Is Gatorade an F1 sponsor?
Gatorade is part of the PepsiCo global partnership with Mercedes from 2026, alongside Sting and Doritos. Gatorade is also the official partner of the Sprint.
How is the Gatorade partnership performing on recall?
92.5% of the motorsport audience named the brand, 83.1% attributed it correctly and 72.9% answered the placement question correctly in its first season.
Does a Sprint format partnership get remembered?
On this reading yes. Gatorade records 72.9% on placement, the third highest of the eleven brands tested and ahead of every car panel partner in the set.
Where does the Gatorade branding appear and do fans know?
72.9% of the motorsport audience answered the placement question correctly for Gatorade on the BoxBoxd Brand Recall Index in 2026, against a grid average of 46.1% across the eleven brands tested.
Is Gatorade recall above or below the motorsport average?
Gatorade records 92.5% recognition against a grid average of 94.3% and 83.1% attribution against a grid average of 82.2%, measured across 332 tests in the 2026 season.
Which fans attribute Gatorade correctly most often?
Mercedes fans, at 85.3% attribution for Gatorade on the BoxBoxd Brand Recall Index in the 2026 season.
Want this reading on your own brand?
The full report behind this article, with the split by team audience, market composition and the change across the season, is available to teams, brands and agencies.
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. The one number version of this reading, for citation, is at boxboxd.fun/brand-index/gatorade-sponsor-attribution.