F1 fans left baffled by Sergio Perez energy drink advert

Formula 1 fans have been left baffled following the release of a new advertisement featuring Cadillac's Sergio Perez.

The promotional clip for H2O Power Sergio Perez Edition recently surfaced on the brand's official Instagram page and quickly became the centre of fan discussion.

At first glance, the commercial appears to be a standard energy drink advertisement, but several fans have suspected that it is AI-generated, although it is worth noting that this cannot be verified.

While some fans picked the video apart and described it as having an "uncanny valley" feel, others acknowledged that, although they did not like it, the advertisement was clearly working for the brand.

"This is already everywhere, just go out and look at local advertising. I know Reddit hates it and yes it’s s***, but reality is the average person couldn’t care less," one fan commented on Reddit, while another added: "Welcome to the future!"

"I hate it too, but if I could make a s***load of money by doing nothing and just letting a company use my name and likeness for a (probably s****y) energy drink and have no real liability, I'd 100,000% do it," someone else posted.

Further comments included: "At 00:30, the biker over his left shoulder slowly turns into a runner whose helmet turns into hair, and then the bicyclist behind the new runner splits into two bikers to replace the old one," and "Do marketing teams really think people are going to find these uncanny valley visuals appealing?"

"People don't need to find it appealing, they just need to see it enough times and like Checo beforehand," another comment read, and someone else wrote: "We’re talking about it, right?"

H2O Power is one of Perez's many official partners. Others include KitKat, Nescafe, Telcel, Claro, Banamex, Jalisco, Mercado Libre, Lunna, Mobil, SP Humania, Red Cola, Farmacias del Ahorro, Maja, Rappi, Pro Dynamics, McDonald's, Tommy Hilfiger, Amply and Xades.