Disclaimer: Vaucher Analytics has no commercial ties to any of the brands or outlets mentioned in this article. Any brand names are listed solely for educational purposes. Vaucher Analytics also has no knowledge of existing licensing agreements, and any collaboration examples are listed solely for illustrative purposes.Tobacco-related companies are mentioned in this article; Vaucher Analytics does not condone tobacco use and these brand names are also mentioned only to further the educational purpose of this article.

Motorsport, from Formula 1 on down, is unabashedly capitalist, in its operations, its scope, and its sheer spectacle.

At every race, the money is on display in every second of coverage. The scale may vary, but only from “kind of expensive” to “ludicrously expensive.”

Merchandise sits comfortably within that ecosystem. It’s not just a revenue stream, it’s capitalism in pure form: the sublimation of self through consumption.

For fans looking for connection, merch is the perfect outlet: an easy, visible way to say this is who I ride with.

So if the emotional buy-in is this strong, the question becomes obvious:

Why are teams still neglecting that loyalty with lazy, uninspired merch?

The demand is real, the supply embarrassingly behind

The global motorsport audience is growing (especially for the most prominent series), not only in size but also in cultural and stylistic sophistication

If the more forward-thinking series are reaching their demographic goals, then it follows that fans are younger, more fashion-aware, and more identity-driven than ever.

They’re not just watching cars try to beat each other on track, in fact that’s almost incidental to what’s actually building interest.

These new fans are building narratives, aligning with personalities, and curating their fandom the way someone curates a playlist or an Instagram grid.

Yet it appears to me that, with few exceptions, most teams still behave as though they're printing merch for a company softball tournament, and the result is as expected: a crush of “expected” goods mostly featuring either just the team logo and/or copy/pasted sponsor logos.

NASCAR gets a pass, because its merch evolved alongside sponsor-led car liveries; logos there feel authentic. In F1, they feel transactional. In other words, whereas some NASCAR teams and sponsors have historically been “married”, F1 and its backers have a more mercenerial relationship, so logos are placed somewhere because they have to be, and swapped out when needed.

There’s an interesting thought exercise to carry out by placing yourself in an alternate timeline where tobacco companies still own F1 branding and operate in today’s nearly limitless world of merch and tie-ins. In our actual world, I have to assume the historical tobacco-brand liveries are so iconic because tobacco companies wanted to create strong associations with consumers; care was put into them, so can you imagine what, for instance, a John Player Special capsule collection would look like?

Of course (and thankfully), we do not live in a world where tobacco dominates motorsport marketing anymore, and now motorsport merch’s aesthetic is stuck in neutral.

It is far, far behind what artists and athletes have done in other industries.

What’s worse is that from a broader point of view, motorsport merch is totally divorced from the culture it claims to represent.

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In less than 500 words.

Aesthetic indifference = Strategic neglect = lost revenue!

What’s especially frustrating is that motorsport understands performance and design better than almost any other industry because they underpin everything.

Teams obsess over every gram of carbon fiber, every tenth of a second in the wind tunnel. But when it comes to the gear that fans wear, gear that travels into restaurants, subways, gyms, and social feeds?

Suddenly, the standards disappear, quite flagrantly. I was given a McLaren t-shirt for my birthday recently and the collar, so thin and poorly made was it, that it deformed after I tried it on twice. It was made in Bangladesh, a country often criticized for poor labor practices, underscoring that even sourcing decisions reflect the lack of care.

And on the topic of sourcing, the availability for many items is patchy, implying that teams are not only neglecting the subjective areas of design but also the objectively mandatory elements of supply chain management.

Ron Dennis would not be pleased if he were still running the show, but I doubt it is the only example.

There is a fundamental mismatch at play: motorsport positions itself as elite, cutting-edge, and emotionally charged, but the physical products it markets, by and large, boil down to disposable trinkets.

Indeed, the irony of motorsport is that for all its technical innovation, it is still staggeringly conservative when it comes to taste.

In fact, that only started changing relatively recently with the arrival on the grid of Lewis Hamilton, who swiftly received no small amount of pushback and criticism for nothing other than wanting to do the same thing as every young person out there: express themselves through style.

To an extent, things have changed because drivers today are younger than ever and finally have more latitude than ever to express themselves via their clothing, but this does not seem to have worked its way further down the motorsport value chain.

There’s nothing edgy or forward thinking about using low-cost blanks with screen-printed logos.

If you want younger fans? If you want recurring revenue? If you want to be part of the conversation outside of race weekends?

Then your merch can’t just reflect your colors. It needs to reflect your point of view.

The merch today says nothing, and by not addressing this head-on, teams are leaving revenue and brand equity on the table that could help them become more financially sustainable motorsport operations. For smaller teams, this is also a visibility hack: producing high-quality, well-designed merch is one of the cheapest ways to stand out in a sport where even the wealthiest outfits consistently get it wrong.

The takeaway is that when merch is well done, it’s never just about the t-shirt or hoodie taken at face value as objects; merch done well isn’t just apparel, it’s narrative.

It tells the world what your team stands for, even when the cars aren’t running.

Merch that is simply “good” can make money for your team, to a point
Merch that is “great” (and today, that bar is low) means that not only can you insert your team into fans’ lifestyle to an even further degree, but also you set it up to attract people who might have otherwise not cared about motorsport at all. Cool-looking merch can just stand on its own to drive interest!

There’s a better way to do motorsport merch (and others are already doing it)

Motorsport may be its own world, but it’s still a blend of sport and entertainment, which means selling better merch starts with studying the entities that already do it well in those very areas: artists, fashion labels, and “stick-and-ball” sports teams.

But before studying and adapting tactics, teams must ask the foundational question:

What message and emotion are we trying to convey?

Once that’s made clear ( and doing so is a complex exercise), you can break down merch into two distinct categories:

1. Broad fanbase merch ("Teamwear")

This is the classic gear: team polos, branded caps, recognizable color schemes. It’s inherently inclusive and doesn’t require much marketing, because it sells on goodwill and visibility alone.

That doesn’t mean it should be cheap or lazy. The cut, quality, and fabric still matter. But the creative bar here is lower because the goal is simple: represent the team, visibly.

2. Targeted, experimental merch ("Fanwear" or "Lifestyle" categories)

This is where almost every team drops the ball, and also where the biggest upside lies.

Targeted merch means thinking like a fashion brand:

Who is this for?
What do they wear?
Where else do they spend money?
What aesthetics already resonate?

For example, I browsed several “F1 merch haul” videos on YouTube, and interestingly the only ones displaying legitimate, licensed items were created by young women; the smaller number of videos made by men were all around the theme of unlicensed, TEMU-type items.

That doesn’t definitively mean women buy more merch and do so with more care about its origins, but it does signal a potential energy source (and not just in fandom, because their money is not going to TEMU but rather the teams themselves!).

Ignoring that energy would be a strategic error.

Music gets this.

Taylor Swift sells merch that speaks directly to her fans' aesthetics and identities.
John Mayer collaborates with indie creators to release pieces that look like high-end streetwear while just happening to include his name.

Football (soccer) has done this for decades. Despite prominent sponsor logos, football kits have evolved into streetwear icons. Walk around any major European city and you’ll see them worn because they signal allegiance, sure, but they also simply look good.

F1 teams as football kits — A design exercise imagining F1 uniforms if the teams were actually football clubs (Credit: @shauryanayar.design on Instagram)

The bootleggers are beating you…And that’s a clue

Once you start browsing official team shops, the algorithm begins suggesting unofficial merch: unlicensed tees, hoodies, and caps that, frankly, often look better than the real thing.

They’re better designed, more aligned with youth fashion, and often cheaper than official merchandise.

As a 40-something I’m not the target for all of it, but I follow streetwear markets closely enough to say that this is in-line with what the next generation wants.

So what might teams do when they see this?

The first instinct is to threaten takedowns.

But that’s a mistake.

Yes, the legal rationale is sound, but shutting these sellers down is like playing whack-a-mole: two more pop up for every one that gets banned.

Worse: you’re cutting yourself off from free, organic market research.

These sellers, via their followers for instance, are showing you:

Who’s buying merch.
What styles resonate.
What price points work.
What geographies are underserved.

Instead of just litigating them, study them.

Learn from them. Or better yet…

Hire them!

It’s not just bootlegs. There’s a growing ecosystem of licensed merch partners doing this right.

There are companies out there that pay royalties and still manage to create merchandise, for a competitive price, that looks and feels premium.

These partners understand storytelling and style, and they’re already doing much more appealing work than the motorsport teams themselves.

Here are some examples:

The licensed apparel produced by “mall brands” such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister and Pacsun. I own one of the Hollister Alpine Grand Prix shirts, and it’s shockingly good: soft, thick fabric with a wide, sturdy collar. It nails the streetwear aesthetic often seen in bootleg circles, but this time the team gets a cut. Incidentally, it’s also far better quality than the official McLaren shirt I received, which started deteriorating after two test-fittings (and it’s worth mentioning that Hollister has the McLaren license as well…)
Homefield Apparel blends collegiate-style nostalgia with motorsport heritage, and they absolutely nail the visual tone. Their IndyCar collection is full of vintage-inspired graphics that actually feel designed, not just printed. I haven’t worn one yet, but every piece looks wearable, collectible, and culturally fluent. This is something I can’t say for most official F1 merch, which misses far more than it hits. It’s no surprise IndyCar merch has this design strength; the series leans into its mid-century heritage and its more senior fanbase. That’s a lesson F1 and WEC teams should take to heart: nostalgia sells when it’s well executed.
Homage is another apparel brand that specializes in licensed clothing. The company produces racing-themed shirts that blend retro visuals with mass appeal, pieces that could resonate with any age group. Meanwhile, Ralph Lauren’s recent motorsport collection leans heavily into "Golden Age" aesthetics, with cuts, colors, and typography that echo the mid-century era. These collections don’t use an official license, yet they still show what’s possible when you treat motorsport heritage as fashion inspiration, not just branding. It’s easy to imagine what a team like Ferrari, Alpine, or Williams could do with this level of artistic direction. The market is clearly there, where is the initiative?

Arrow McLaren T-Shirt Homefield Apparel — Photo credit: Homefield Apparel

Ralph Lauren Motorsport Sweatshirt — Image credit: Farfetch

Motorsport’s best merch moments should encourage teams to double down

Beyond third-party brands and despite the mostly lackluster first-party offerings, there are still examples of successful, team- or driver-led merch collaborations.

These are efforts that combine motorsport identity with real design sensibility.

These aren’t hypotheticals.

They exist.

And they prove there’s both creative talent and consumer appetite, teams just haven’t scaled them.

Examples of such collaborations are as follows:

Lewis Hamilton didn’t just bring fashion into the paddock, he made it part of the F1 narrative. His partnership with Tommy Hilfiger helped redefine what a driver-brand collaboration could look like: stylish, personal, and commercially viable. It wasn’t about teamwear, it was about identity.
To promote the recently released F1 film, Tommy Hilfiger launched a full capsule collection for the movie’s fictional team, APXGP. It’s bold, stylish, and smarter than what most real teams are doing. The fact that a fashion brand created better team merch for a movie than most teams do for themselves should be a wake-up call. And with Tommy Hilfiger now backing Cadillac for 2026, this might just be the start of a new era in motorsport fashion.
The Porsche x Aimé Leon Dore partnership whose flagship item, a custom Porsche, serves as the banner picture for this article.This wasn’t a subtle collab, logos were everywhere. But it worked because the execution matched the audience: clean visuals, elevated materials, and a deep understanding of lifestyle branding. If a motorsport team wants to follow the NASCAR school of design, this is the way to go. The campaign made sure the product felt like something you'd want regardless of the brand tie-in. Motorsport teams could learn from this: it’s not necessarily always about avoiding logos, but it is about making them part of a cohesive, aspirational look.
Ferrari understands fashion better than any other team on the grid, no surprise given their Italian heritage. Their capsule collection with Charles Leclerc shows how powerful merch can be when it’s tailored to the personality of the driver. The pieces weren’t overtly branded, rather they reflected Leclerc’s clean-cut image and Ferrari’s design DNA. More importantly, they proved that driver-specific merch doesn’t have to be a graphic tee with their number, and can expand appeal beyond just diehard fans. It’s identity-driven fashion, not just fandom signaling.
One of the few truly successful examples of “mainline” F1 merch in recent years came from Valtteri Bottas and Kick Sauber. Bottas leaned into his offbeat, self-aware persona with a merch line that embraced humor and individuality. The “Keep Things Weird” slogan aligned perfectly with his public image and stood out visually without relying on heavy-handed branding. It looked like something you might find in Austin or Berlin, and that’s exactly the point. It was cool first, motorsport second. More teams should be giving drivers the runway to build their own fashion voice like this.
AlphaTauri is no longer the name of Red Bull’s junior team, yet it still exists as an independent clothing line with little overt reference to motorsport. Its elevated basics and techwear leanings make it one of the most intriguing experiments in motorsport lifestyle branding. It’s proof that a racing brand can stretch far beyond the paddock if the product has consistency and a clear aesthetic. You could imagine a similar line (subtle, high-quality, and logo-light) for McLaren or Alpine.

Lewis Hamilton George Russell Tommy Hilfiger — Photo credit: nss-sports.com

Tommy Hilfiger AXPGP — Photo credit: Tommy Hilfiger

Aime Leon Dore x Porsche — Photo credit: Aime Leon Dore

Valtteri Bottas Keep Things Weird — Photo credit: FuelForFans

How do motorsports teams build on these examples?

Motorsport teams don’t need to start from scratch.

The creative energy, fan appetite and design case studies are already out there. The missing elements to a sustained upswing are a repeatable process, and a willingness to invest beyond the basics.

Here’s the basic blueprint for building better merch:

Define success metrics: Revenue targets, profit margin, market penetration.
Clarify qualitative goals: Reach a new demographic? Build a lifestyle brand? Test a new design philosophy?
Reverse engineer from there.

With that in mind, let’s end with a few creative concepts, each tailored to a specific objective; some are designed to broaden reach, others to deepen existing loyalty.

To keep things clear, I’ve divided them into two categories:

Strategic outreach, aimed at attracting new fans, and
Fanbase strengthening, focused on building richer connections with those already on board.

Strategic outreach: Reaching new audiences

These initiatives are designed to attract people who aren’t yet motorsport fans, or who don’t see themselves reflected in the current culture.

WRC x Outdoor brands: The World Rally Championship needs a complete brand refresh. One smart angle? Reposition rally as a festival of performance in the wild. A capsule collection with brands like Patagonia, Salomon, or Arc'teryx would signal that this isn’t just a motorsport series, it’s a lifestyle. It could bring in adventure-sport fans who don’t yet realize rally is for them.
Tommy Hilfiger adaptive motorsports apparel: Tommy Hilfiger already produces adaptive clothing, designed to be easier to put on and wear for people with physical disabilities. But where is the adaptive motorsport merch? A sport that claims to be for everyone should show that in tangible ways. This would be a deeply meaningful, high-visibility step toward true accessibility.

Fanbase strengthening: Deepen loyalty with precision

These ideas are about turning casual fans into lifelong ones. By tapping into their other interests (golf, tailoring, streetwear) teams can create merch that lives far beyond race day.

Teams already have the data to know what their fans care about beyond racing. That insight should be used to create capsule collections aligned with those adjacent passions.

Start small, test demand, and scale what works.

These early drops can evolve into full product lines, and even serve as on-ramps for future commercial partnerships or sponsorships.

For instance:

Red Bull × TaylorMade exists, but what about Haas × Bogey Boys?
Red Bull’s existing golf line proves there’s interest, but Haas is better positioned to tap into the cultural side of American golf. A collab with Macklemore’s Bogey Boys could blend irreverent style with motorsport swagger, targeting younger U.S. fans who care more about the vibes on the green than their handicap.
Ferrari golf gear
A Ferrari-branded leather golf bag already exists. Why stop there? With minimal design tweaks, a full Ferrari F1/WEC × golf capsule consisting of shoes, polos and visors, could become both a premium revenue stream and a subtle lifestyle signal for fans who want performance gear off-track.
McLaren or Aston Martin × Savile Row (perhaps Drake’s):
British heritage. Automotive precision. Fashion history. It’s all there. A capsule built around knit ties, tailored bombers, and structured layering pieces, using subtle Papaya Orange or British Racing Green accents, would immediately stand apart. Done right, this isn’t just merch. It’s menswear with motorsport DNA.

Better merch = Bigger margins, stronger brands, longer fan lifecycles

Great merch travels further than the paddock.

It reaches street corners, golf courses, concert halls, and social feeds.

It builds brand equity.

It makes teams culturally relevant and, crucially, financially resilient.

The blueprint is sitting right in front of motorsport.

All that’s left is the will to execute.

Want to take your motorsport merchandising strategy to the next level?

At Vaucher Analytics, we help race teams and manufacturers turn their on-track talents into brand capital.

Book your 30-minute discovery call by contacting us today:

Through our website’s contact form, or
Via email at contact@vaucheranalytics.com

Main image credit: www.porsche.com

Motorsport Merch Is Lazy, And It's Costing Teams Millions