Hedera becomes the official partner of McLaren F1 and Arrow McLaren IndyCar in a multi-year agreement.
McLaren will release free-to-claim F1 weekend digital collectibles on Hedera and bring back IndyCar collectibles in 2026.

McLaren Racing has signed a multi-year partnership with the Hedera Foundation, naming Hedera as an Official Partner of the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team and the Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team. The agreement centers on using Hedera’s public network to support officially licensed digital activations designed for motorsport fans.

Under the partnership, McLaren Racing plans to link on-track moments with Web3-based experiences built on Hedera. The companies said the focus is on delivering digital engagement products that can be accessed by both established Web3 users and fans who are new to blockchain-enabled experiences.

On track on-chain. Proud to announce a multi-year partnership with McLaren Racing — Hedera is now an Official Partner of the @McLarenF1 Team and @ArrowMcLaren IndyCar Team.

What’s coming: free-to-claim digital collectibles + new fan experiences built on Hedera’s trusted… pic.twitter.com/yHldm8sElS

— Hedera (@hedera) January 22, 2026

Hedera branding will appear across multiple assets in both series. For Formula 1, branding is set to feature on the McLaren Mastercard F1 Team car and on driver race suits. For IndyCar, Hedera branding will be displayed on the No. 6 and No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolets, as well as on the Arrow McLaren team kit.

Hedera’s Digital Collectibles and Fan Activations

McLaren Racing’s initial use case on Hedera will be a digital collectibles program. The team said it intends to release free-to-claim collectibles during Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends, giving fans recurring opportunities to collect officially licensed items tied to the race calendar.

The partnership also includes the return of Arrow McLaren IndyCar digital collectibles for the 2026 season. McLaren Racing and Hedera stated that these collectibles will be motorsport-themed and will incorporate additional elements such as prizes and incentives that connect to the fan program.

McLaren Racing and Hedera said the digital collectibles will serve as a foundation for continued development. The approach is intended to connect physical race environments with digital engagement tools.

Information and community access for the program will be available through McLaren Racing’s Discord server. McLaren said the channel is intended to support participation for fans regardless of prior experience with Web3 products.

CEO of HBAR, Charles Adkins, said, 

Working with one of the world’s most recognized sports brands is a big step for the Hedera ecosystem. It gives us a chance to show what Web3 can look like when it’s built on a network people can trust.

Additionally, CNF previously outlined that Hedera is being adopted in sports-related Web3 programs aimed at improving how fans access verified digital experiences. The MINGO Tickets rollout follows that trend, using Hedera-backed verification to support ticketing across multiple African markets.

At the time of writing, HBAR price was trading at $0.1081, with a market cap of $4.64 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $115.17 million.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ January 23, 2026 8:10 pm