Submitted by EdelmanAgency IPI Score 94/100

Getting F1 Fans Closer To The Action

Influencer Marketing

Edelman staged F1 Live London, a full-day Trafalgar Square takeover that became a global event template for Formula 1 under Liberty Media.

455Media mentions
12.5MInfluencer reach
17MOwned channel impressions

About the campaign

When Liberty Media acquired Formula 1 in 2017, it inherited a profitable sport with a global following of 500 million but an ageing fan base, a small business organisation, and limited traction with younger, family-centric and casual audiences.

Edelman's answer was to take the sport out from behind the paywall and the paddock and put it physically in front of the public: F1 Live London, a full-day 2017 takeover of Trafalgar Square and Whitehall featuring demonstrations of more than 15 F1 cars, live music from Little Mix and The Kaiser Chiefs, and a schools STEM programme run with the Mayor of London. The operational feat matched the creative one, with Edelman brokering approvals from the Metropolitan Police, TfL, the Mayor's Office, Westminster City Council and central government inside a three-month window, while a team of more than 30 hosted 28 lifestyle, gaming and motoring influencers with a combined audience of 12.5 million on the day.

Edelman reports more than 100,000 fans attended, with 455 global media mentions and 17 million impressions on F1's own channels, and the format was adopted as a template for fan festivals in Shanghai, Marseille and Milan. Across the broader profile programme the agency reports 981 pieces of coverage and 787 million total reach.

Case in 60 seconds

After Liberty Media acquired Formula 1 in 2017, the new owners inherited a profitable sport with a global following of 500 million but a small business organisation, an ageing fan base, and limited engagement with younger, family-centric or casual audiences.

F1's appeal was largely mediated through television and circuit attendance; bringing the cars and spectacle physically into an everyday public space could make the sport feel accessible to people who would never buy a race ticket, while generating earned media beyond motorsport outlets.

Edelman created F1 Live London, staging a full-day takeover of Trafalgar Square and Whitehall to put more than 15 Formula 1 cars in front of a general public audience, paired with live music and a schools STEM programme to signal that F1 was now a broader entertainment and education brand.

The event featured demonstrations of more than 15 F1 cars, live music from Little Mix and The Kaiser Chiefs, and engagement with local schools and the Mayor of London as part of F1's STEM initiative. Edelman managed relationships with the Metropolitan Police, TfL, the Mayor's Office, Westminster City Council and central government within a three-month window, and a team of more than 30 hosted 28 lifestyle, gaming and motoring influencers on the day. The event sat within a wider programme that included global fan festivals in London, Shanghai, Marseille and Milan, a new logo launch, F1's first marketing campaign, and the F1 Esports Series.

Edelman reports 100,000+ fans attended Trafalgar Square, 455 global media mentions and 12.5 million people reached via 28 influencers for the event alone. Across the broader profile programme, Edelman reports 981 pieces of coverage, 47.4 million unique views, and 787 million total reach. The format was subsequently adopted by F1 for rollout to other cities globally. All figures are agency-stated and not independently audited.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

The primary target was new, more family-centric audiences beyond Formula 1's existing motorsport fan base.
Formula 1's existing following skewed toward established motorsport enthusiasts, and Liberty Media wanted the event to build new levels of engagement among new, more family-centric audiences not already engaged with the sport.
Delivering F1 Live London meant securing approvals from multiple stakeholders, including the Metropolitan Police, TfL, the Mayor's Office, Westminster City Council and central government, within a three-month window.
Edelman supported Formula 1's owners, Liberty Media, in bringing fans closer to the action and driving new levels of engagement with the sport through F1 Live London.
A city-centre event removes some of the access barriers of circuit attendance. Pairing F1 cars with mainstream music acts and a school STEM programme gives different audience segments a reason to attend and share, and the resulting footage and coverage can extend reach far beyond the physical event.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Live F1 car demonstrations — more than 15 cars on Trafalgar Square and Whitehall (source)
  • Live music — Little Mix and The Kaiser Chiefs (source)
  • STEM schools engagement with local schools and the Mayor of London (source)
  • Influencer programme — 28 lifestyle, gaming and motoring influencers hosted on the day (source)
  • F1-owned social and digital channels — 17 million impressions (source)
  • Earned media across global print, online and broadcast — 455 mentions (source)
  • Business and feature media placements — British Airways Business Life, Reuters, The Times, CNBC, CNN, BBC CLICK, WIRED, Sunday Times magazine (source)
  • Global fan festivals in London, Shanghai, Marseille and Milan (source)
  • F1 Esports Series launch (source)
  • New F1 logo launch and F1's first marketing campaign (source)

Partners

  • Metropolitan Police (source)
  • Transport for London (TfL) (source)
  • Mayor of London's Office (source)
  • Westminster City Council (source)
  • Central government (source)

Participation mechanic

  • Free public attendance at Trafalgar Square and Whitehall (source)
  • STEM programme engagement for local schools (source)
  • Influencer social amplification on the day (source)

Creator role

  • 28 lifestyle, gaming and motoring influencers attended and amplified content to their combined audience of 12.5 million people globally (source); hosted by a team of more than 30 Edelman staff on the day

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult typeConfidence
Global media mentions (F1 Live London)455Earned MediaAgency reported
Influencer reach (F1 Live London)12.5 million people globallyReachAgency reported
Impressions via F1-owned channels (F1 Live London)17 millionOwned Media ImpressionsAgency reported

Why Edelman's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Translating an abstract brand ambition into a free, large-scale physical event in a high-footfall public space generated both genuine attendance and substantial earned media, making the same budget work across multiple channels simultaneously. (source)

  2. 2

    Pairing F1 cars with mainstream music acts and a STEM schools programme gave distinct audience segments — families, youth, education — separate entry points into the event, broadening reach beyond the existing motorsport fan base. (source)

  3. 3

    Stakeholder management across police, transport and multiple tiers of government was a primary creative and operational constraint, not an administrative afterthought; resolving it within three months made the event possible and is a transferable capability for regulated city-centre activations. (source)

  4. 4

    Influencer selection across lifestyle, gaming and motoring categories extended reach into audiences that motorsport media alone would not have reached, with 28 creators delivering a reported combined reach of 12.5 million. (source)

  5. 5

    Repeatability was built into the format from the outset: a single successful activation became a scalable template that F1 subsequently took to other cities globally. (source) (source)

  6. 6

    Placing F1 stories in business, documentary and lifestyle media — Reuters, CNBC, WIRED, BBC CLICK — rather than relying on sports pages alone supported the broader repositioning of F1 as a media and entertainment property. (source)

Related Case studies