Two weeks ago, Franco Colapinto became the first driver to demonstrate a Formula One car on the streets of Buenos Aires.

The landmark event attracted more than 600,000 spectators to the Argentinian capital, where fans gathered to watch Franco drive our E20 from 2012 through the city streets.

Beyond the scale of the live audience, “Mercado Libre presents: Franco Colapinto Road Show Buenos Aires 2026!” also generated substantial global visibility, delivering record levels of engagement across our social media channels. The response underlined both Franco’s growing profile within Argentina and the continued expansion of Formula One’s audience across Latin America.

Significant levels of engagement

In the three days following the road show, we recorded an appreciable increase in social media activity, generating more than 31 million video views and 4.5 million engagements. Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix weekend, more than 4,000 posts from verified accounts featured either ‘Colapinto’ or ‘Alpine F1’, contributing to a combined total of more than 12 million engagements across all platforms.

Broadcast coverage of the event on ESPN and through the streaming platform Disney+ delivered strong audience figures, with the official rating numbers reporting several millions tuning in to watch Franco demonstrate the E20 alongside run in Argentine motorsport legend Juan Manuel Fangio’s ‘Silver Arrows’ W196 from the 1950s.

The large-scale activation featured fan experiences, live music from two-time Latin Grammy winner “La Sole”, and rapper star Lucky Ra; and entertainment for the hundreds of thousands of attendees, while a 2km section of Avenida del Libertador and Avenida Sarmiento was closed to facilitate the event.

The execution highlighted our collaboration with the local operation of Renault in Argentina, Mercado Libre, Dale Play and the city of Buenos Aires in delivering one of the largest F1 demonstrations ever staged in South America.

Growing momentum across Latin America

Since Franco’s arrival in Formula One, fan engagement across Latin America has continued to grow significantly. According to data gathered by F1, there are over 150 million fans in the region, representing a 5% increase compared to 2024. Of that audience, 45% are female and 43% are under the age of 35.

Earlier this year, F1 extended its broadcast partnership with ESPN through to the end of 2028, delivering coverage across 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including through the Fox Sports network in Argentina. Driven in part by Franco’s arrival in Formula One, Argentina now boasts an estimated 17.2 million fans, making it the most popular global sport in the country.

Recently, Argentina has prioritised economic reform and international tourism investment, which aligns with the ongoing $110 million redevelopment of the Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez, where capacity is set to increase to 150,000 ahead of the planned MotoGP event in 2027.

Motorsport’s growing popularity is also strengthening our commercial presence in the region, as we continue to deepen engagement with fans and partners across Latin America. That momentum has already translated into an expanding regional partner portfolio, with Skip announced as our latest partner in Miami, while the Mercado Libre branding, featured prominently on the engine cover and rear wing of the A526 in Miami, will appear again in Montréal.