How F1 and Allwyn flip sponsorship into social worth with group award

When Components 1 returned to Zandvoort final weekend, the ambiance was as electrical as ever. 

However amid the ocean of orange, the trackside events and the on-track drama, a media briefing within the press convention room signaled one thing new for the championship. On the Dutch Grand Prix, Components 1 and its international accomplice Allwyn offered the primary F1 Allwyn World Group Award.

This new initiative goals to recognise and have fun community-focused initiatives in host nations, providing native organisations a worldwide stage to showcase their impression.

For Allwyn, a multinational lottery-led leisure firm, and for F1 itself, the award is greater than a symbolic gesture. It's a strategic car to hyperlink industrial partnerships with genuine group legacy, whereas reflecting a broader social duty agenda.

Origins of the award

The thought for the F1 Allwyn World Group Award emerged throughout early discussions between F1 and Allwyn executives. As Robert Chvatal, Allwyn Group CEO, recalled: “It was a joint, very spontaneously, mutually accepted thought. Lotteries are usually identified to fund good causes and assist communities. So once we spoke with F1 colleagues, it felt very pure to translate that objective into the F1 context. That's how the award was born.”

The initiative was formally introduced on the Austrian Grand Prix in June, with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali sharing the stage. However as Chvatal harassed, asserting was solely the start.

“We needed to ensure the method was honest, clear and well-structured,” he stated. “In lotteries, belief is every thing. So after the announcement, it took us just a few months to finalise the rules, standards and jury course of earlier than we have been able to current the primary award at Zandvoort.”

Giving again to group

For Allwyn, group assist is woven into its DNA. The very objective of lotteries is to channel revenues again into good causes, from cultural initiatives to social programmes. 

“Group is on the coronary heart of Allwyn's values,” Chvatal defined. “At any time when we enter right into a partnership, we ask: what's the group impression? This award is a pure extension of that.”

F1, too, has been sharpening its social impression technique. Joel Seymour-Hyde, F1's Head of Partnership Administration, frames the award inside the championship's wider ESG commitments: “Wherever we go, it's essential to depart a legacy. We're extremely welcomed by the communities the place we race, so discovering methods to present again is a precedence. The award provides us a tangible platform to shine a highlight on initiatives that actually make a distinction.”

Standards and judging

The award's standards was designed collectively by Allwyn and F1, with enter from native race promoters. Eligible organisations should be non-profits delivering measurable impression in areas akin to inclusion, innovation, training, well being and well-being, or sustainability. Crucially, initiatives should additionally hook up with the communities round F1 occasions.

A 3-member jury evaluations a longlist and shortlist of candidates, assessing purposes in opposition to strict standards. Solely the winner is introduced publicly.

“The main target must be on celebrating the winner, not on who missed out,” stated Chvatal. ”So we won't announce the opposite contestants, however we really feel superb about how the jury debated it and selected the winner.”

The primary winner

The inaugural award went to Stichting HandicapNL, a Dutch charity devoted to creating festivals and main occasions accessible for individuals with disabilities.

In Zandvoort, its work was on full show: a particular viewing platform for wheelchair customers, low-stimulus areas for guests with sensory sensitivities, and tailored bathrooms and altering services.

For Jan Willem Koopman of Stichting HandicapNL, the popularity was overwhelming: “Everyone needs to go to a pageant or occasion occasionally. However for the 2 million individuals with a incapacity within the Netherlands, it's not frequent. Our programme helps organisers make their venues accessible. To have that recognised right here on the grand prix, in entrance of a worldwide viewers, is sort of a dream.”

Alongside the bespoke trophy, Stichting HandicapNL acquired a €100,000 donation from Allwyn. The funds will enable the charity to make not less than 4 extra occasions absolutely accessible and to advise six different organisers on inclusive design. “We need to create a motion,” Koopman stated. “So it should be frequent for all festivals and occasions that they're accessible.”

Monitoring impression

Past the €100,000 prize cash, Allwyn additionally tracks how winners use the funds and what impression is delivered. Allwyn's CSR workforce units milestones and follows up with organisations.

“It's not consultancy,” Chvatal stated. “We don't inform charities how you can do their job. However we do monitor progress, as a result of the entire level is to make issues higher for the longer term. And we wish to have the ability to present the distinction it makes, each regionally and globally.”

There's additionally dialogue about involving followers extra immediately in future editions, maybe by voting on shortlisted initiatives. “We're open to it,” stated Chvatal. “But it surely should be honest and clear. Followers should really feel it's actual, not a gimmick.”

Strategic worth

The award is greater than philanthropy – it's also a strategic play. For Allwyn, coming into F1 was by no means about emblem publicity alone. “Merely placing your title on a wall is simple,” Chvatal stated. “However translating visibility into that means is the actual problem. This award helps us clarify what Allwyn stands for: making play higher for all.”

For F1, in the meantime, the award strengthens its ESG narrative and helps show social worth to governments, promoters and followers. “Our fan base is 826 million robust,” Seymour-Hyde famous. “That offers us an unbelievable platform to raise group initiatives that in any other case would possibly by no means be seen exterior their residence nation.”

Alongside its partnership with F1, Allwyn additionally joined McLaren as an official workforce accomplice this yr. “We spoke to many groups and ultimately selected McLaren,“ stated Chvatal. Then, with a smile: “And in the event you observe the season, you would possibly say: hey, these guys have been very good to decide on McLaren. And even joke that Allwyn gave McLaren some racing consultancy, they listened, and now they're successful! That's a joke, after all!“

Trying forward

The Dutch GP was solely the place to begin. In 2025, three additional awards can be offered in Austin, Mexico Metropolis and Las Vegas – areas chosen for each Allwyn's model presence and the power of local people programmes.

Seymour-Hyde defined the method: “We work collaboratively in choosing the races the place this award is offered, and a key accomplice in that course of is the promoters themselves. We communicate with them to grasp what group initiatives are already in place, how they've embraced these initiatives, and what alternatives exist of their markets to actually make a distinction.”

For 2026, the ambition is to not less than double the variety of awards. “It's not essentially our intention to stage it at each race,” Chvatal stated. “I don't suppose it will likely be doable in all places, however our aim is to increase it step-by-step every year.”

The following ceremonies in North America will check how the idea interprets throughout cultures and contexts. Long run, each Allwyn and F1 see alternatives to deepen fan engagement, strengthen native partnerships, and construct a portfolio of case research that show F1's worth past the racetrack. By giving native initiatives a worldwide stage, F1 and Allwyn are betting that group impression can turn out to be as a lot part of the game's story because the racing itself.