F1 Academy has confirmed Sephora as its Official Beauty Retail Partner ahead of the 2026 season, bringing elite motorsport into deliberate dialogue with global beauty culture. The collaboration feels less like an experiment and more like an inevitability—two influential platforms converging at precisely the right moment.
Created under the umbrella of Formula 1 to accelerate female talent, F1 Academy continues to expand its cultural and commercial reach. Sephora, with more than 80 million active members across 35 markets, enters the sport with equal confidence. Together, they signal a broader shift in how motorsport is presented, experienced, and understood.
At the center of the collaboration is a reimagining of the race-weekend environment. Sephora will introduce immersive Glam Bars within the paddock, offering curated beauty experiences that extend beyond spectacle into ritual. Inside the F1 Paddock Club—arguably the sport’s most rarefied setting—these installations will appear across 18 Grands Prix during the 2026 calendar.
Mirrors lit in a soft studio glow, precision brushes arranged alongside racing telemetry, the juxtaposition is intentional—and striking.
Beyond the trackside experience, the brand will sponsor a new end-of-season drivers’ celebration, recognizing performance and progression across the grid. It marks the first event of its kind for the series and reinforces a shared emphasis on achievement, visibility, and momentum.
Sephora’s presence will also extend directly onto the grid. Spanish driver Natalia Granada will compete in the 2026 championship in a distinctive “Sephora operated by PREMA” car, its livery defined by the house’s signature black-and-white palette, punctuated with flashes of red. Following a strong showing during last year’s rookie test, Granada enters the season as one of its most closely watched newcomers.
F1 Academy Managing Director Susie Wolff framed the alignment as both natural and necessary. “Sephora is an iconic global brand with a passionate community across markets worldwide, championing individuality and confidence,” she said. “Joining forces with them is incredibly powerful. This partnership goes far beyond beauty; together, we are challenging outdated stereotypes and redefining who and what belongs in motorsport.”
From a commercial perspective, the collaboration underscores the series’ accelerating cultural relevance. Emily Prazer emphasized its ability to reshape the race-weekend experience, noting Sephora’s unique capacity to engage diverse audiences while elevating hospitality at the highest level.
For Sephora, the move reflects a growing intersection between lifestyle, sport, and community. Global Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Yeh described the championship as a compelling global platform—one that allows the brand to engage audiences from Shanghai to Austin while supporting the ambitions of a new generation of drivers.
For Granada, the significance is more immediate. “Beauty and sport might seem like different worlds, but both celebrate confidence and expression,” she said. “Support like this is incredibly important for female drivers, and it’s empowering to have a brand that truly believes in our ambitions.”
What emerges from this alliance is not simply a sponsorship, but a recalibration. Motorsport, long defined by tradition, is opening itself to new forms of expression—without compromising its intensity or precision.
Together, F1 Academy and Sephora suggest a future where the grid is not only faster, but broader—more expressive, more inclusive, and unmistakably modern.
