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 percent recognition, 83.1 percent attribution and 72.9 percent 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 percent named the brand, 83.1 percent attributed it to the right team and 72.9 percent 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 percent is below the grid average of 94 percent, which for a first season entry is the expected place to start. Attribution of 83.1 percent is already above the grid average of 81.8 percent.
What the placement score says about format branding
Placement of 72.9 percent 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 percent among Mercedes fans to 83 percent among Red Bull Racing fans, a spread of 2.3 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
McLaren
Red Bull RacingWhat to watch across the season
The gap to close is recognition and it is the one that moves 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 97.2 percent recognition and 81.8 percent 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 percent of the motorsport audience named the brand, 83.1 percent attributed it correctly and 72.9 percent answered the placement question correctly in its first season.
Does a Sprint format partnership get remembered?
On this reading yes. Gatorade records 72.9 percent 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 percent of the motorsport audience answered the placement question correctly for Gatorade on the BoxBoxd Brand Recall Index in 2026, against a grid average of 42.7 percent across the eleven brands tested.
Is Gatorade recall above or below the motorsport average?
Gatorade records 92.5 percent recognition against a grid average of 94 percent and 83.1 percent attribution against a grid average of 81.8 percent, measured across 332 tests in the 2026 season.
Which fans attribute Gatorade correctly most often?
Mercedes fans, at 85.3 percent attribution for Gatorade on the BoxBoxd Brand Recall Index in the 2026 season.
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/gatorade-sponsor-attribution-2026.