Doritos Races Into Formula 1 With High-Speed Snacking Ads

Doritos wants your couch to feel like pole position.

The snack brand has launched "The Crunch Prix," a global campaign built on its official partnership with Formula 1.

The work ties the crunch and flavor of Doritos to the speed and drama of the sport.

It aims to close the gap between fans watching from home and the intensity of race day.

The campaign also serves as a continuation of Doritos' "Taste the Thrill" platform.

Kyle Gore, Doritos' VP of Global Marketing, sees the latest effort as a way of matching the sport's emotional register:

"Formula 1 is built on excitement, anticipation and intensity, and at Doritos, our role is to help fans experience those same emotions in new and unexpected ways."

"The Crunch Prix" was created by Goodby Silverstein &x Partners and directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet, with visual effects handled by Untold Studios.

Living Rooms as Racetracks

The film's language borrows straight from F1's own vocabulary, complete with lights out, overtakes, pit stops, gravel traps, and photo finishes.

Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft voices the spot, lending it his recognizable "lights out" call.

Fernando Tornello takes over for Spanish-language LATAM markets.

The campaign debuted ahead of the British Grand Prix and rolls out across social and out-of-home placements.

This includes a series of stills that reimagine ordinary furniture as race machinery, a beanbag barreling down a straightaway, and a floral couch pulling into the pits.

The physical centerpiece sits at Silverstone, where Doritos is opening the "Doritos Thrill Zone" inside the Fan Zone.

Fans can play a virtual racing game for prizes, including a Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS hot lap and a signed racing jacket.

Additionally, they can catch a live interview with Croft and F1 creators MattP1Tommy.

Two Doritos Loaded trucks will also serve a menu based on a Gordon Ramsay recipe.

Ramsay is the brand's newly announced global partner for the Loaded line, and the trucks come with more prize giveaways.

The partnership also extends to Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, giving the brand a presence tied to a real F1 team. 

Ultimately, the initiative establishes Doritos' brand identity as a snack that lives inside the emotional peaks of the sport.

Snacking Sets the Pace

Doritos' F1 push rests on knowing the overwhelming majority of fans will never set foot in a race.

Formula 1's global fanbase reached an estimated 831 million in 2026.

Only about 1% ever attend a Grand Prix, so broadcast and streaming audiences dwarf the crowd at any single race weekend.

This gap between watching and attending is where Doritos is planting its flag, treating the couch as the primary fan experience worth designing for.

The Doritos approach points to three moves worth stealing for any sport with a huge at-home audience:

• Design for the audience that isn't there. Most sports fans experience an event through a screen, so brands should build the at-home moment first.
• Borrow the sport's own language. Doritos gave "lights out" and "pit stop" a new meaning, making the ad legible to fans instantly.
• Let food do double duty as merchandise. Doritos' chef collab and prize-linked experiences create incentive for fans of both the brand and the sports franchise. 

Overall, Formula 1's growing fanbase gives snack brands a rare opening, a sport whose biggest audience is already sitting on a couch.

Our Take: Can Doritos Own the Home-Viewing F1 Experience?

Most sports marketing still treats the couch as the consolation prize, the thing you settle for when you can't afford a ticket.

Doritos flips that and calls it "your race seat." 

It's a small argument that watching from your beanbag is its own legitimate way to be a fan.

We think that this is a gutsier bet than it looks, because it means the brand wants you to know that a Tuesday night watching your favorite program counts.