Adidas races past DHL in Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix's online battle

Adidas has emerged as the most-mentioned sponsor around the 2026 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, replacing DHL, which led sponsor conversations in 2025. Aramco also took the top spot for engagement, succeeding Salesforce, as the online battle for fan attention continued to evolve. 

Data from Meltwater showed nearly 85,000 F1-related mentions and close to 20 million engagements over the 14 days leading up to 12 October. Max Verstappen’s performance drove a significant share of the conversation over the race weekend, according to the social listening platform.

Adidas recorded 9,439 mentions and 261,455 engagements, retaining its lead in mentions even after the race weekend. By comparison,DHL was the most-mentioned sponsor in 2025, with approximately 5,245 posts and reposts, driven by official announcements around the “Fastest lap” and “Fastest pit stop” metrics.

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The change in leaders points to a different mix of brands capturing attention around the race. While DHL capitalised on its association with race performance in 2025, Adidas' 2026 showing came amid a wider slate of motorsport-related retail and fan experiences.

Adidas' activations included its motorsport pop-ups at Raffles City and Funan, featuring show cars from Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and Audi Revolut F1 Team, as well as exclusive merchandise. Meltwater's figures, however, do not establish how much of the brand's online activity was directly attributable to these activations.

Aramco takes the engagement crown

Aramco led sponsor engagement in 2026 with approximately 301,000 engagements from just 286 mentions. Instagram accounted for 90.5% of its engagement, suggesting that the platform was a key channel for audience interaction.

This marks a change from 2025, when Salesforce was the most-engaged sponsor, generating approximately 258,000 engagement actions through its “Driver of the day” initiative. The initiative invited fans to participate in the race narrative, turning a sponsorship association into an interactive experience.

Aramco also featured prominently in last year's rankings, but for reach rather than engagement. Its “BOSS x Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 team immersive experience” and “Aramco power rankings” helped the brand achieve an estimated reach of 22 million in 2025.

Aramco’s key activation around this year’s Singapore Grand Prix was the "Aramco STEM racing world finals", held at Resorts World Sentosa from 3 to 8 October. The competition brought together more than 500 students aged 13 to 19 from over 35 countries to design, engineer and race miniature Formula 1 cars, while competing across areas including project management, enterprise and presentations.

Beyond its STEM Racing World Finals, Aramco also benefited from the visibility of its Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team driver Fernando Alonso, who took part in several fan and brand meet-ups during race week, including appearances with Honda Singapore and Breitling. These touchpoints extended the team's presence beyond the circuit, connecting its driver with partner brands and their audiences.

Singapore Airlines sees engagement rise

Singapore Airlines remained among the leading sponsors in 2026, ranking third for both mentions and engagements with 1,471 mentions and 145,565 engagements.

In 2025, the airline was the second most-mentioned sponsor, with approximately 2,733 posts and reposts, and ranked fifth for engagement with around 83,589 actions. Its visibility was partly driven by Japanese band BABYMETAL mentioning the airline while thanking fans.

The latest figures show a different pattern: Singapore Airlines recorded fewer mentions but higher engagement.

TikTok accounted for 75% of Singapore Airlines' engagements in 2026, while radio broadcasts contributed 30.4% of its mentions. This contrasts with the 2025 story, which highlighted the role of a cultural endorsement in extending the airline's visibility beyond traditional motorsport audiences.

Meanwhile, luxury group LVMH ranked second for mentions in 2026, with 3,741, but placed sixth for engagement with 34,977 actions. X accounted for 95.7% of its mentions, while Instagram drove 64.7% of its engagements.

Red Bull Racing dominates team conversations

Among teams, Red Bull Racing led both mentions and engagements in 2026, recording 11,282 mentions and approximately 2.47 million engagements. X accounted for 88.2% of its mentions, while Instagram contributed 61.9% of its engagement.

Scuderia Ferrari ranked second for engagement with approximately two million actions from 3,465 mentions, while Mercedes placed second for mentions with 7,864 and third for engagement with approximately 1.8 million. Cadillac ranked third for mentions with 5,788.

In 2025, McLaren's constructors' championship coverage reached approximately 13 million, outperforming conversations around George Russell's individual race win. Lewis Hamilton's personal tribute to his late dog also surpassed one million engagement actions, showing how stories beyond on-track results could capture substantial attention.

Both editions illustrate how F1 conversations extend beyond race results. Driver personalities, team narratives and content designed for social platforms can all play a role in shaping audience attention. Taken together, the 2026 figures suggest that there is no single formula for winning the online sponsorship race.

Beyond the online rankings, brands also took F1 into retail and experiential spaces across Singapore. LEGO brought its “LEGO F1 experience the thrill” activation to Suntec City, featuring a life-sized VCARB F1 car built from LEGO bricks, interactive racing challenges and a minifigure hunt across the precinct.

Meanwhile, Metro partnered with Shell Singapore to sell curated F1 collectibles at eight Shell Select stations, extending race-season merchandise into everyday retail journeys.

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