Miami GP Style in Motion
F1’s fashion track record is on the ups
I’m told this post is too long to see in email…don’t worry, it’s because there’s so many pictures!!
Today marks the third annual Formula One Miami Grand Prix. Outside of Monaco, this is slowly becoming the fashion and celebrity tour stop in the racing calendar. It’s got a sort of Art-Basel-meets-South-Beach-meets-sport-meets-millionaires thing, and given its under contract with the sport to host a Grand Prix until 2041, time is on its side to cook up some je nais se quoi. There’s always a 50+ year old A-list actor, an NFL personality, a member of BLACKPINK and forty or so of the most chronically online personalities you follow pulling up to Miami, GRWMs in tow to their respective racing team’s section. Red Bull is the safe bet, Mercedes skews more Hollywood, and you might not touch Ferrari even if you have lucky girl syndrome. Every other team will welcome you with open arms for the extra publicity.
Miami is a big deal for US viewers and sponsors. 1.1 million Americans tune in each weekend, often in the wee hours of the morning, to everything from the Friday sprints and qualifying down to the actual races on Sundays — but the Miami GP alone gets 3.1 million views. It gets its own special treatment as well from the teams themselves, spanning from visits to Make A Wish kids to limited edition team kit and fresh paint on the cars to match. I swear it’s always teal or pink. Formula One understands the essence of the city and seems to be playing the part: Miami is about the GLAM.
The F1 season is one to keep an eye on in the world of sport, generating $2 billion in revenue per year. While that’s not a huge share of the market when you put it against the NFL’s $20 billion, never look past an -illion with a b- prefix… and I’ve been saying that! Unlike the NFL, its high end commercial pull continues to dictate and benefit from affluence, despite reaching viewers in new demographics.
This certainly isn’t a sport I would deem sartorially on par with NBA/WNBA, NWSL, or even the NFL, who have upped their tunnel pregame looks in droves. In contrast, F1 drivers seem to be happy as clams in their logo-overload crew tees and windbreakers for 90% of a race weekend. Similar to tennis, the WAGs pull their weight in this department; I suppose I’m only covering the moments where on occasion the drivers will step out with their paddock fits.
BUT the boys are branding!!! With each year A.N. — After Netflix — the personas and money-making capabilities of individual drivers are expanding past the team sponsors. Personal narratives in the show are supplemented with world-building brand partnerships and commercials. The PR teams have so much more work to do now with their highly lucrative drivers, who look progressively enticing to both luxury clientele (who were already attracted to the motorsport) and their more accessible counterparts. Within the last year I’ve noticed Peroni 0.0, Uber, Rolex, a rose brand and L’Oreal, and those are only from the few drivers I subscribe to on socials.
It follows that fashion would want to swim in these waters. The F1 paddock is now a weekly opportunity for the drivers and their stylists to prove their connection to fashion on the international stage. Team social media accounts and the F1 IG are cross posting left and right with the drivers to increase the parasocial interest; and apart from silly brain teasers and fan Q&As, turning the morning stroll through the gates to the paddock into a runway has become a massive turnkey for fashion and motorsport alike.
Who else could have pioneered this in the sport but Lewis MF Hamilton? None of this attention could have grown at the pace it has without a champion notorious for his fashion experimentation, and the sole black driver in F1 history paving the way. He has also been known to buy out tables at the Met Gala to invite emerging designers, returning this year at the helm as co-chair for the black dandy exhibition. Hamilton is the blueprint of sports and fashion.
Now, the vet is rubbing off on the rookies. Some of the most competitive drivers on the grid are also more attuned to their opportunities for presentation by way of their wardrobe. Let’s dive in.
Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton is the only one of the bunch who could be plopped down next to a famous rapper, a SuperBowl champion, or Anna Wintour and not appear out of place. There isn’t much to do but be wowed by the moments he’s made for fashion in his profession, how he communicates his legacy or that of the designer he’s wearing. In spite (or because of) his journey as the only black driver in Formula One, Hamilton invites bold colors, monochromatic looks, elements of both masculinity and femininity; offering a vision of black strength or beauty or joy. Much like how he speaks, Hamilton dresses with both sharpness and softness.
He’s also one of few on the grid who know how to accessorize — and no, just because some of them have deals with Casio or IWC or Rolex, does not mean they accessorize well. Watch and take notes!
Charles Leclerc
If he pushes it a little further, we’ll see a lot more Leclerc in the future of fashion. I’ve noticed Jacquemus liking and commenting on his feed — is something already in the works, or about to be? He has a sort of boyishness and soft playfulness that would totally be in Jacquemus’ wheelhouse.
Either way, he’s no. 2 on the call sheet behind Hamilton for the big pants and sneakers look, is dating some sort of fashion influencer, and grew up in Monaco. He is also, unsurprisingly, Ferrari’s prodigal son. To the Italians, French and Monegasques alike, those blue eyes are a cash cow.
Carlos Sainz
My patron saint of F1 doesn’t give the vibe of a menswear god, but his face and enviable head of hair have garnered enough focus of their own that I imagine Sainz’s team is telling him they may as well try.
While Sainz perhaps looks most comfortable zipping around in his cycling quarter zip and shorts, he hasn’t appeared out of place in these new style elements. Some of it is a bit safe… I mean, the L’Oreal Paris advert may have been a lob, but it wasn’t any less stunning.
Since leaving Ferrari to join Williams Racing his style has taken a noticeable shift towards a sort of uppity countryside feel. I think it’s one of the most interesting movements among the drivers listed here; while Hamilton is bringing his larger than life image into Ferrari, Sainz is taking on a chameleon effect, from his shoot with Hacketts London down to a round table for Stanley Tucci’s new web series. From what I’ve seen when his Scottish girlfriend joins him in the paddock, Sainz is playing a very English part for Williams.
Dare I say his efforts as a team player on the grid (as a driver and engineer of sorts) are carried into his brand deals. It’s like he’s written PROPERTY OF WILLIAMS on his forehead. Sainz may have been heartbreakingly booted from Ferrari, but now he’s collected enough press and tailoring to invite his fans to turn the page with him.
George Russell
Russell is as English as it gets. Sainz can try to blend, but Russell is to a T someone you’d run into with his parents at a Sunday roast in Richmond. While he sticks to what he knows — and very often, that’s a skinny pant — I think he’s really getting somewhere lately, Tommy Hilfiger be damned.
He was pretty young when he first started driving at Mercedes with Hamilton, but I would imagine three years with the master of style on the grid opened up a whole world of expression that was pretty untapped. He’s quirky and relatively unfussy, but wears button ups and sport coats as honest as it gets. Russell found a lane, and while I doubt he’ll venture too far out of it, he’ll do just fine.
Lando Norris
The new guard of racing & world champion hopeful is enamored by unbothered drivers like Max Verstappen (who couldn’t care less about everything I’m writing here), yet as a Gen Z athlete there are notes to his dressing that align with your pick of white boy baby girls of the month. By that I mean he loves a big pant and knitted jumper/printed fleece/graphic tee, the latter of which he apparently sells alongside sweatsuits and disco ball driver’s helmets on his merch site LN4? One day, perhaps he’ll pull a Jacob Elordi and replace the backpack with a Louis Vuitton Speedy or a Bottega purse.
When he has the time to shine, he likes to live it loud. We’ll have to wait and see what he attracts on the brand side this year if he finds himself a couple more race wins and the championship.
Yuki Tsunoda
Tsunoda is not one to be overlooked, and I’m not using that line just because I thought he deserved the Red Bull seat long before team principal Christian Horner came to his senses. The man from Japan is set to earn $2 million with Red Bull for a one year contract (he also received a $22 million signing bonus), and while he’s light years away from his teammate Verstappen’s salary — or better yet, the other drivers on this list — Tsunoda brings the hype of East Asian style to play in the paddock.
Going from driving in the middle of the pack to becoming a contender on the grid is a huge jump. What, or better yet who, will try to step out with Tsunoda now that he runs with the big dogs? He’s already got a clear vision in his wardrobe; soon enough, brands will start to dress him. I think he’s on track to be F1’s next style star behind Hamilton.
HAPPY RACE WEEKEND!!! Here’s Leo Leclerc on the F1 IG as a treat.
