The Inside Line on promoters in F1

Collectively the NKrush team has worked in Formula 1 for 100 years with a variety of promoters across North America, Europe and Middle East. Over the years the landscape of the sport has changed, and with that how promoters put on not just an F1 race, but an event.

Prior to NKrush being formed, founder Natalie Neal and various members of the current team worked for promoters of the Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia, India and Korea Grands Prix across various roles. In 2012, NKrush started working with Circuit of the Americas in Austin who were one of the first promoters to bring in music to the F1 race creating a wider entertainment atmosphere. Music has now become part of the fabric of the race week with every promoter looking to get the best acts to entertain the audience that come to the races whether that’s Swedish House Mafia in Saudi Arabia, The Killers in Austin or Foo Fighters in Abu Dhabi.

The Mexico City Grand Prix re-joined the calendar in 2015 and since then NKrush has worked across PR and Communications. Mexico was somewhat of a pioneer when it came to its paddock. It was one of the first promoters to create an environment that was full of entertainment from local food to a Lucha Libre ring with local wrestlers – it put itself on the map as the race that brings the F1ESTA to the calendar and has maintained that reputation right up until today.

Then came Saudi Arabia for NKrush - a place where sport is on the rise. The Kingdom is known for luxury and that fed into the media who were located on their very own island with outdoor space overlooking the water.

Miami joined the calendar in 2022 and NKrush was there from the very beginning supporting promoter South Florida Motorsports (SFM) with industry relations plus communications and media operations. The 2023 event came with a lot of changes based on learnings from the inaugural year including a brand-new Paddock Club - which NKrush was bought on board to support in 2023 - and the team hospitality element of the paddock moving onto the football field making it potentially one of the most expansive paddocks on the calendar. The feedback on the year two changes from media, teams, drivers and fans was incredible and the imagery of the new paddock on the field was something to behold; which other promoter can boast having world class football, tennis, motorsport and even Beyonce in one location across the year?

Most recently Qatar joined NKrush’s F1 roster where the team was bought on board to enhance guest experience for VIPs from His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to sportstars like David Beckham and Sonny Bill Williams. Over the years F1 has grown to attract global megastars and the experience offered by promoters in collaboration with teams is imperative to create a great experience and leave each individual guest feeling special and looked after. This isn’t something NKrush reserves just for VIPs, every member of the F1 community receives this treatment which has meant the team have developed incredible relationships across the industry.

In Las Vegas, earlier this month we saw a throwback to the Bernie Ecclestone era when he promoted some Grands Prix himself as Formula 1, and Liberty Media bucked the trend of working with a local promoter and took on the organisation and promotion of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix themselves. Whether this is a sign of things to come remains to be seen but it is proof that the exploding popularity and commercial potential of F1, particularly in the US could move the goalposts on the traditional F1 promotion model.

With 24 races coming onto the calendar in 2024, each promoter has to evolve to deliver the best possible event for a variety of stakeholders from fans to partners to teams to media, and NKrush is proud to be integral to that process to a number of promoters across a variety of remits from communications to Paddock Club to VIP guest management.