Charlotte Tilbury made history on Feb. 15, 2024, with their announcement of their sponsorship of F1 ACADEMY 2024, an all-female series on the path to F1. The makeup brand is the first female-founded brand and the first beauty company to sponsor F1 ACADEMY. This partnership is the company’s first global sports sponsorship.
“Empowering everyone, everywhere to unlock the magic of confidence has always been my passion,” Charlotte Tilbury said in their announcement. “This partnership celebrates the strength, determination and the undeniable power of female excellence.”
Charlotte Tilbury products are sold in popular stores like Nordstrom and Sephora. Additionally, the cosmetic brand has garnered attention through influencers posting TikToks with reviews and product hauls.
F1 racing is a typically male-dominated sport with only five female drivers having attempted to compete in a Grand Prix, with the last attempt coming in 1992. Lella Lombardi was the last to qualify for a race in 1976 and is the only woman to score points in F1. With that in mind, the series launched the F1 ACADEMY in 2023 with the hope of gaining participation among women and helping girls get involved earlier.
“We want young women and girls to feel confident to chase their dreams, no matter the odds,” managing director of F1 ACADEMY Susie Wolff MBE said in a press release. “We are on a mission to transform access to our sport, celebrate trailblazing female pioneers in our industry and inspire a new generation of young women to pursue a career in motorsport.”
Following the release of “Drive to Survive,” a documentary chronicling the F1 World Championship, the sport saw a dramatic increase in female fans. Women now make up 50% of the clients for Grand Prix Grand Tours, an F1 travel company. USC sophomore Advik Unni and F1 fan believes the spike in female viewers will also be furthered by the sponsorship.
“It’s like a domino effect. If one starts rolling, the other ones will fall eventually,” Unni said. “[The] uptick in the number of women participating in karting events will definitely cascade [...] and more people will look at F1 ACADEMY as something they can look up to.”
“I think it’ll definitely bring in a larger, more diverse fan base. I think this is gonna bring a really new crowd,” San Diego State mechanical engineering major and F1 fan David Klunder said.
Charlotte Tilbury, a brand geared towards women, has now set a precedent for other women-associated companies to partner with industries targeting a mostly male audience, according to freshman business administration major Riya Daga.
“It’s pretty tactical in the PR realm,” Daga said. “I think we’re going to see brands like energy drinks that were female-founded, not just stereotypically feminine products, entering the market and sponsoring.”
Despite the large role sports play in current culture according to Statista, 44% of the men surveyed were avid sports fans while only 15% of women were, as of 2023.
The combination of F1 — a male-associated sport with 32% of men considering themselves a casual fan in contrast with only 14% of women saying the same — and Charlotte Tilbury — a women-associated brand — is promising. It hints at an even greater progression, beyond women’s sports, in the sports industry. Now, a larger, diversified audience is paying attention.
The #3 car will be raced by Lola Lovinfosse, 18, of Rouen, France. She has been racing since 2018 and finished tenth in the inaugural F1 ACADEMY season. This season, Lovinfosse will be racing for Rodin Motorsport.
The partnership between the two is an essential step toward introducing and encouraging women’s participation in predominantly male-dominated industries, whether in sports or engineering. It’s an encouraging step towards a more inclusive future where both women and men are emboldened and where there, perhaps, is no distinctive occupational and worldly divide between the genders.
“Our message to [young women] is simple: dare to dream,” Wolff said.