Red Bull brings the Golden Arches to F1 with eight-week McDonald’s deal debuting at Interlagos
Red Bull’s never been shy about a stunt, and this one’s both simple and clever: the Golden Arches are coming to the Halo. The team has signed an eight-week partnership with McDonald’s, with the fast-food giant making its first-ever on-car appearance in Formula 1 at the São Paulo Grand Prix.
The collaboration, announced ahead of Mexico City and rolling into Brazil, is pitched by Red Bull as “historic and unprecedented.” You’ll spot the McDonald’s logo on the Halo of the RB21 at Interlagos, backed up by garage branding and a flurry of off-track activations that lean hard into the team’s showman streak.
Top of that list: a São Paulo McDonald’s drive-thru turned into a Red Bull pit stop, where fans will effectively “box” for their orders. It’s a neat local hook, and it goes both ways — selected McDonald’s branches in Brazil will also start serving Red Bull, bringing the energy drink into the stores during the partnership window.
While the tie-up lands now, the roots go back to 2024. Sergio Pérez’s personal deal with McDonald’s opened the door between the two sides, and the relationship has grown into a team-level programme. Red Bull’s calling this the “first stage” of the collaboration, which sounds very much like a trial balloon with the option to expand if both sides like what they see.
For McDonald’s, it’s a high-visibility on-ramp into F1 without the long-term risk – a prominent, photogenic brand hit in one of the sport’s most passionate markets. For Red Bull, it’s fresh commercial firepower and a chance to activate in Brazil with the kind of experiential marketing they tend to nail. Expect plenty of social clips of fans “pitting” for Big Macs.
“It’s two brands everyone loves coming together to offer products the public loves – now in the same place,” said Gabriel D’Angelo Braz, marketing director of Red Bull Brazil. “Our mission is to give people wings, and the São Paulo Grand Prix is proof of that. The public will be able to experience it in a whole new way, with exclusive experiences at major McDonald’s stores.”
The on-car placement matters, too. The Halo has become prime billboard real estate in the TV era of tight onboard shots and head-on braking zones. It’s a bold, central location for a brand making its first on-track F1 appearance, especially at Interlagos, where the place will be heaving and every camera angle is saturated with atmosphere.
The timing is no accident. Brazil remains one of F1’s most valuable markets, Interlagos is a cauldron, and a short, punchy eight-week window lets both parties measure impact without tying up inventory for a full season. If the numbers and the buzz look good, don’t be shocked if this grows beyond a Brazilian fling.
There’s also a useful symmetry to the product crossover. Red Bull in McDonald’s stores feels like low-friction incremental sales, while McDonald’s on the RB21 gives the fast-food chain a sleek, elite performance halo of its own. That’s modern F1 sponsorship in a nutshell: less about slapping logos on sidepods and more about building activations that travel well on social and feel native to the market.
What to watch this weekend? The Halo branding will be the headline visual, but the off-track scenes could be the real story — lines of fans queuing to “pit,” content rolling in from the drive-thru activation, and a bigger-than-usual Red Bull footprint around the paddock. If this comes off, it won’t be the last time you see a quick-service heavyweight testing the F1 waters. For now, though, the arches go racing, and São Paulo gets another show.
