Mastercard and McLaren Built F1's Most Human Fan Experience in Miami [Exclusive]

Formula 1 weekends in America have become some of the sport's biggest commercial stages. Brands competing for attention, exclusive hospitality spaces, and celebrity appearances litter your feed. Tucked inside the chaos of race week, though, Mastercard and McLaren F1 Team built something different.

Mastercard and McLaren announced Team Priceless at the end of 2025 with one premise: Bring Formula 1 fans closer to their favorite drivers. The outstanding question, though, was 'how would two corporations deliver on that promise?' Would we see the same influencers winning this experience, or would it be new faces introduced to our feeds – watching their dreams come true before our eyes?

Then, Miami Grand Prix's Team Priceless was revealed. Mastercard handed the weekend over to Erica, Madi, Marinette, Zoe, and their 'Captain' Christina for a weekend of surprise moments, emotional reactions, real connection, and behind-the-scenes access in a way that felt intentionally human.

After spending time with the group firsthand throughout the weekend, chatting with McLaren's Oscar Piastri and members of the Mastercard team, it became clear that the most impactful part of the experience wasn’t necessarily the access itself. It was the feeling that, for once, Formula 1 Fandom was being treated as something worth investing in.

Hospitality Through Human Connection

Premium experiences are easy to come by in Formula 1, as long as the financial barrier to entry is amenable to you. Team Priceless approached this idea of 'premium' differently. The weekend was built around exclusivity, yes, but not for the sake of a VIP title or a credential. It was built around emotional connection – to the sport, to the drivers, but most importantly, camaraderie amongst fans.

McLaren Mastercard F1 Team Garage Miami | Courtesy of Mastercard

Team Priceless arrived in Miami with no idea of what their weekend would entail. Mastercard intentionally kept the entire itinerary vague, allowing the experience to unfold through a series of surprises.

One minute, the girls were grabbing coffee, served by Mastercard's Small Business Partner; the next, they were allowed to work on a historic McLaren F1 Car from the 1970s. For many of them, the experience's overwhelming nature was part of what made it memorable. Not because it felt manufactured, but because it felt curated and personal.

"We didn’t even know really that we were coming to this specifically until they dropped us off at the back gate. It’s been surprises all day. It really is priceless. It's very surreal. Very fever dream. Like, what is happening right now?”
Madi, Team Priceless

That emotional reaction is exactly what Mastercard has spent decades trying to build around its Priceless platform, according to Mastercard's EVP, Marketing and Communications for the America’s Rustom Dastoor.

"Priceless has been around for almost 30 years. We came up with this insight in 1997 that there are some things in life money can’t buy, and that’s what we really want to be connected to – the things that people love doing."
Rustom Dastoor, Mastercard

Even more so, the evolution of social media and fandom changed how Mastercard approached the concept.

"For us to evolve Priceless, it was very important that we enabled people to have priceless experiences, not just witness them in someone else’s life. Everything we’re doing with Team Priceless is to say if you’re a part of the Mastercard family, something incredible can happen to you."
Rustom Dastoor, Mastercard

That idea became increasingly clear throughout the weekend. The experience wasn’t simply about watching Formula 1 from closer proximity. It was about participation. It was about human connection.

Formula 1 Fans Finding Community Through Team Priceless

One of the most striking parts of spending time with the Team Priceless group was how quickly complete strangers became friends. The fans came from entirely different places and backgrounds – Vancouver, Arizona, Utah, Missouri – but the shared language of Formula 1 dissolved any awkwardness almost immediately.

Throughout the weekend, conversations bounced between favorite drivers, race predictions, content creation, and disbelief over what they were experiencing together.

“We all submitted a silly little video,” Erica laughed while sharing. “Now we’re experiencing dreams come true together.”

That communal aspect was intentional from Mastercard’s perspective.

Team Priceless with Andrea Stella | Courtesy of Mastercard

"You’ve got to think of it in concentric circles. There are people who win these experiences, then there’s their friends and family that get to enjoy it with them, and then there’s a social community they broadcast it to."
Rustom Dastoor, Mastercard

For Mastercard, the value of Team Priceless extends beyond the handful of fans physically attending the event. It was also incredibly obvious that this wasn't just a 'work assignment' to the team on the ground, who were locked in on every moment of Team Priceless' reactions.

The experience lives through the content they create, the stories they tell afterward, and the communities they bring along with them online. In the social media era of Formula 1, specifically, that matters.

Social Media and Formula 1's Evolution According to Oscar Piastri

Many of the Team Priceless crew shared openly that they discovered Formula 1 online first. TikTok edits, media clips, and fan explainer content drove them to try the sport out for themselves. This is a reality that even reaches the drivers. Oscar Piastri also shared his insights about social media with Grand Prix on SI.

Oscar Piastri McLaren Miami GP — McLaren driver Oscar Piastri | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

"Previously, it was kind of the helmet in the car. Now they see us as the driver away from the track and the person. Before social media, there’s kind of what you saw on TV. Now we’ve got the opportunity to showcase more of our life off the track and more behind the scenes.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren Mastercard F1

For a sport that has experienced explosive growth through digital fandom, that shift matters. It is even more impactful that the drivers acknowledge its importance.

Fans rarely stumble into a Sunday broadcast or catch highlights on traditional television. They are meeting the drivers through TikTok edits, YouTube explainers, and social content that strips away the formality that once defined Formula 1. That accessibility has fundamentally changed the relationship between fans and drivers.

For Piastri, that evolution has been impossible to ignore.

"Even now, it’s still quite hard to realize that I’m kind of a person some people look up to. I consider myself that same kind of kid [prior to F1] in some ways. So it’s really special to try and be that role model. It's kids that stick with you and there's just something cool about being an inspirational person for someone young like that.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren Mastercard F1

That perspective is part of what makes Team Priceless land. Mastercard may create infrastructure around the experience, but the drivers are ultimately the emotional centerpiece of it. For many fans, and for Miami Team Priceless, the connection to F1 starts with the people behind the wheel.

McLaren Mastercard F1 Team Miami, Oscar Piastri | Courtesy of Mastercard

Piastri acknowledged as much when discussing McLaren’s broader approach to fan engagement.

"Something we do really well at McLaren is trying to involve the fans in new ways and bring them closer to us. Obviously, without the fans, I don’t have a job. McLaren doesn’t exist as a race team. It's very cool that they are [Mastercard] always trying to find new ways to bring fans closer into the action, and especially fans that don't necessarily get the chance to go to races."
Oscar Piastri, McLaren Mastercard F1

It is for this exact reason that Team Priceless exists. For a group of fans who largely discovered Formula 1 through the kind of digital access Piastri described, that transition from online fandom to real-world immersion carried extra weight.

Online Fandom Meets Real Life

For Team Priceless, that shift from digital fandom to real-world access happened fast. Throughout the weekend, surprises became the norm. One moment, in particular, cut through it all as I stood behind the cameras watching Team Priceless' dreams come true.

The group was brought into what they assumed was just another activation. A game, like what they had filmed earlier in the day. Blindfolds on, cameras rolling, anticipation building. When the blindfolds came off, Oscar Piastri was standing in front of them.

Then they turned around.

Lando Norris was there, too.

"The drivers are really what made me fall head over heels in love with the sport, so seeing them in person was something I’ll never forget."
Erica, Team Priceless

It’s a reminder of something Formula 1’s commercial ecosystem sometimes forgets: fans may engage through sponsors, content, and activations, but emotional connection often starts with the drivers themselves.

McLaren Mastercard F1 Team Miami Oscar and Lando | Courtesy of Mastercard

Another layer is added when you remember the famous statistic: Only about 1-2% of all F1 fans will ever be able to attend a race in their lifetime. For Zoe, she felt that this statistic may have inevitably applied to her until Team Priceless.

"I grew up, I'm currently still living in the Midwest and in a really rural area. My access to motorsport is limited growing up to NASCAR. Even now, as an adult, looking for Formula One stuff or trying to find it especially in person in stores is successful maybe 2% of the time. Even getting off of the airplane and walking through the airport... I'm seeing Formula One pretty much every 10 feet."
Zoe, Team Priceless

That’s what made the weekend resonate. Not just access, but access that felt human – even visibility made all the difference.

Formula 1’s Best Fan Experiences Should Feel Like This

Formula 1 doesn’t have a shortage of sponsor activations. It would take a book to cover all of the activations that happened in Miami alone.

The difference is whether fans leave feeling like they participated in something meaningful – that they were a part of the action – or simply watched another marketing exercise unfold around them.

Team Priceless avoided the latter and shattered the expectations of the former.

Yes, the access was extraordinary. For Team Priceless, though, the lasting takeaway from the fans wasn't access... it was the humanity. The sense that every surprise, every interaction, and every moment had been built with them in mind, and that they had three other fans to share it with alongside them.

So, through the tears, the smiles, the merch, and the moments, Mastercard's Miami Grand Prix Team Priceless wrote a beautiful story for four McLaren fans that we won't soon forget.

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