Susie Wolff reveals how Charlotte Tilbury partnership transformed F1 Academy

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F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff has detailed how signing makeup giant Charlotte Tilbury as a partner created momentum for huge sponsors in the series.

After gaining the backing of all 10 Formula 1 teams, with that number increasing to 11 with Cadillac in 2027, Wolff had the task of finding six primary sponsors for the remaining cars.

During an interview with Talks at Google, Wolff recalled waking up on the first of January to the daunting task of filling those six vacant spots by March.

"Obviously, with the F1 teams on board, I had 10 cars covered, but I still had six liveries, so I needed to find six commercial partners. And I remember I woke up on 1 January and thought, 'How am I going to get six sponsors on board by March?'

"And I said to Toto [Wolff], 'This is going to be really difficult'. And I'll never forget. He said, 'You'll figure it out.' And I hate it when people say that because they have this belief that I will somehow figure it out. In that moment, I didn't think I knew how I was going to figure it out.

"But I very famously got through a contact, a friend of a friend, to Charlotte Tilbury, the makeup brand. Within four minutes of the first conversation, I knew we were going to do something, and it became the biggest sports partnership announcement of that year."

With Charlotte Tilbury announced as the first non-F1 team to back an F1 Academy car and driver, more partnerships quickly came along.

Charlotte Tilbury on the grid

Charlotte Tilbury on the grid

"Suddenly, the momentum came," Wolff continued. "Everyone talked about that partnership. Tommy Hilfiger, someone who had been in the sport a long time. I called him, and he said, 'I'm with you'. Then suddenly, American Express and then we had Puma, and it was just a momentum.