Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari in 2025 could lead to a massive shake-up in the fashion and luxury sponsorship space. GETTY IMAGES
The seven-time Formula 1 champion’s shocking move could have major implications for the fashion industry and speaks to the sport’s widespread growth in luxury sponsorships.
In Formula 1, there’s no bigger name than Lewis Hamilton. In many ways, Hamilton transcends the sport itself as a massive public figure in his own right. Hamilton is the sport’s first and only Black driver — currently tied with Michael Schumacher for seven-time world driver championships (WDC) — and boasts the record for the most wins and podium finishes (among countless others).
Off the track, Hamilton is a regular front-row fixture at fashion week, host for a Met Gala table to spotlight Black fashion leaders, owner of the clothing line +44 (Hamilton’s favored racing number) and nonalcoholic beverage company Almave, opened charitable STEM foundation Mission 44, serves as executive producer of the upcoming Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris and much more.
Unsurprisingly, the sporting world at large was shocked when Hamilton announced (coincidentally, on the first day of Black History Month) that he would be leaving Mercedes-AMG Petronas, his beloved team after a decade, to join Scuderia Ferrari, a team equivalent to religion in Italy for the 2025 season and beyond.
The move sent Hamilton fans and industry insiders alike into a tizzy; Ferrari’s social media account gained hundreds of thousands of followers and Ferrari’s share prices soared more than 10 percent and the company’s value rose to $10 billion on the stock market (in tangent with a strong earnings reports of 17 percent increased revenue for 2023 by Ferrari, released on the same day).
Representatives for Ferrari declined to comment on Lewis Hamilton until the end of the 2024 season, “out of respect for all parties, teams and drivers involved.”
Several motorsport insiders told WWD that they were simultaneously shocked and intrigued by the move; Hamilton made a similar move (seen as a gamble at the time) when he left McLaren in 2013 for Mercedes — where Hamilton was expected to end his career. Hamilton is seeking his eighth WDC and to indisputably become the best in Formula 1.
Luke Smith, senior writer at The Athletic, said this move doesn’t compare to any other in his decade-long motorsport reporting career. “There’s no bigger driver in Formula 1 than Hamilton, and no bigger team in Formula 1 than Ferrari. Ferrari has always been the most famous team in Formula 1 with a degree of prestige, history and exclusivity no other team gets close to matching. This will only escalate once Hamilton joins the team.”
Lily Herman, creator of the popular Formula 1 culture newsletter Engine Failure, noted that in the wake of two years of largely average excitement in the race for the WDC title and the overarching dominance of Max Verstappen and Red Bull, this move could be the shakeup the sport needs. Especially as the sport has looked to expand its reach — specifically in the U.S. — and has evolved to “engaging fans in every other part of Formula 1 — including aspects of the sport’s broader culture, like fashion, social impact, popular media and more.”
Meanwhile, Abby Rakshit, strategy consultant for Fortune 500 tech and auto firms and founder of Racing Forces Media, a thought leadership creative platform for and by women in sports, akins the move to historical sports deals such as Michael Jordan and Nike or David Beckham moving to LA Galaxy.
One big question that remains on countless minds: What does this move to Ferrari mean? As someone deeply intertwined with the fashion industry, Hamilton’s sartorial choices, styled by industry darling Eric McNeal (and previously, image architect Law Roach), are the talk of the paddock — with Instagram accounts such as Rashi Gaur’s @hamazinglew dedicated to decoding high fashion choices from Valentino to Louis Vuitton.
“Lewis has one of the strongest personal brands of any public figure worldwide — across any industry, not just sports,” explains Herman. “Several drivers [such as Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu, Alex Albon and future teammate, Charles Leclerc] have already pointed to Lewis Hamilton raising the bar as far as how drivers can become societal tastemakers and cultural icons.”
With more than half of the grid including Fernando Alonso’s and Daniel Ricciardo’s contracts up after the 2024 season and Audi recently confirmed retain 100 percent ownership of Sauber’s team in 2026, this change spells a massive shakeup in Formula 1 fashion and sponsorship space.
India Roby, freelance fashion and Formula 1 writer, said Hamilton’s move greatly impacts other drivers’ success — and who have all started leaning toward becoming celebrities, through brand ambassadorships or starting their own merchandise line — and with the pressure to become more of a public figure in their own right, as Lewis at Ferrari will remain center stage for the foreseeable future.
“Similar to Lewis, teams will be thinking about what these individual drivers offer to the overall racing brand versus solely results on the track,” Roby noted. “At the end of the day, drivers need to provide teams with value and attract money and sponsors, and that means having a ‘face.’”
Sponsorships are critical for racing teams to fund their operations across research, personnel, logistics, marketing and facilities — with at least 100 people in addition to the two main drivers and reserve drivers traveling to more than 20 races in all four corners of the globe with company and factory numbers ranging upward of 300 to 1,200 people. Estimates put bigger name teams such as Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari spending about $400 million per year.
James Vowels, team principal at Williams Racing, explained during their car launch at the Fifth Avenue Puma store in early February the importance of these partnerships to his team. “The first phone call I made when I joined the team was to Puma. I really like what they stand for as a brand and I wore their trainers for many years. The sponsors we are working with have meaning to us and to the world as well.”
When Formula 1 drivers move teams, it’s not always set in stone that sponsors will follow suit — especially as Ferrari carries its heavy weight of luxury brand sponsors: Giorgio Armani, Ray-Ban, Richard Mille and Ferrari Style.
“Naturally, Hamilton brings interest from brands in the U.K.,” explains Rakshit. “Ferrari hasn’t had a title sponsor in a while, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a big tech or finance company aligns with Ferrari moving forward. Title sponsors historically costs $50 million to $100 million a year. It will be much easier for Ferrari to get sponsorship conversations within that range with Hamilton now.”
Chris Medland, Formula 1 journalist and broadcaster, concurs that budget constraints have often left brands deciding which of the two names synonymous with the sport to choose from: Hamilton or Ferrari. And now, brands don’t have to weigh their options; Medland observes that brand reputation and history in sport mean everything — especially as the allure of Ferrari is powerful enough to attract the sport’s most successful driver, despite not the team not winning a champion title since 2008.
Notably, during Hamilton’s championship-winning streak, Tommy Hilfiger reentered the space in 2018 as a sponsor of Mercedes. The eponymous brand previously worked with Hamilton’s future team, Ferrari, in a four-year apparel partnership from 1998-2002.
