We’re now just days away from Audi’s planned January 20 F1 team reveal and fans around the world are eager to learn everything they car. Last week’s “filming day” first run of the Audi R26 generated plenty of interest – grainy video, a few official photos released to social media and more. Of course this website will be covering every aspect of the rollout, and today that focus shifts to merch.
While not much is known of the final offerings, we have gotten some glimpses and hints at what’s to come. Most of the photos, in part not to reveal too much of the R26 itself, focused on the new Audi team uniforms from apparel partner adidas being worn on team personnel at the filming day. Still more early SKUs have bubbled up – early reveals from partners like LEGO and adidas just to name a few.
With so much floating around out there, it seemed a quick summary was in order. Given that, here’s the 411 on what is known.
TEAM GEAR BY ADIDAS
That adidas would be apparel partner was announced in September, though German newspaper BILD gets credit for breaking the story all the way back in June. So, Audi Revolut F1 team members wearing adidas branded gear isn’t exactly groundbreaking. Nevertheless, we can see the official team gear as it appeared in those team photos from the filming day.
Those images do beg a few questions though. First and foremost, is this the finalized team gear? Beyond the R26 that was really just a visual concept, team livery design and team gear has yet to be fully finalized. That this gear was primarily black just like the R26 that ran at Barcelona that first time, does suggest the look could be temporary. It’s safe to assume we’ll know more about that on January 20th.
Next up is whether that team gear will be available to fans. This isn’t the first time adidas has paired with Audi for motorsport needs. Audi Sport’s Le Mans program also utilized uniforms designed and provided by adidas, though no official apparel was ever offered. Even team gear was held at a very tight level thanks no doubt to high security around team activities.
At Le Mans, there used to be a booth in the vendor village where an enterprising business owner sold year-old team official team gear. Likely he purchased it directly from the teams as they cleaned out their closets at the end of the season in order to make way for next year’s gear. And while gear from the likes of Aston Martin and more did appear in his mix, one never saw Audi Sport team gear for sale in such capacity. The best you’ll do nowadays is perhaps finding a former team member selling off parts of his/her own uniform on sites like EBay or Grailed.
ADIDAS NOW A DIFFERENT MODEL
Unlike endurance racing, F1 is on a whole other level of marketing and merchandising. Sure, Le Mans has its vendor village with team goods you’ll likely never see anywhere else, but for the most part those trackside boutiques were all you’d find beyond a couple of SKUs in brand offerings like Audi collection.
F1 gear, in the meantime, is much more widely available. Most teams have apparel partners not just for team uniforms or trackside gift shops, but integrated into apparel partners retail supply chain. The most prolific in that case may be Puma, where fans can buy F1 and associated teams’ gear at your local Puma outlet. Puma’s own mix includes Scuderia Ferrari, Aston Martin ARAMCO F1, Williams Racing and Formula 1 itself, with BMW M Motorsport and Porsche Legacy offering additional car-branded merch available to Puma shoppers.
Over at adidas, Audi Revolut F1 joins Mercedes-AMG Petronas for its apparel needs. In our experience, adidas retail outlets don’t carry motorsport gear as readily though its online store most definitely does.
And given the lead-up in prepping the retail chain including independent stockists, keeping goods under wraps far afield of a launch date like January 20th can prove a challenge. Back on December 24th we published a story about images of an Audi Revolut F1 Adizero Evo SL sneaker that appeared via multiple sneaker-enthusiast press outlets. With multiple angles of a shoe that looks high-resolution, consistent and real, the photos do appear to be legitimate, while this shoe likely represents the first of a long line of Audi goods we can expect to see come from adidas. One need only look at their retail website and the breadth of offerings for Mercedes-AMG Petronas to imagine what we can expect.
WHAT OF AUDI COLLECTION?
Will Audi collection offer its own gear, or perhaps a mix of adidas goods? That’s unclear at this time. We dug around Audi AG’s main Audi collection site and also Audi of America’s own Audi collection online store and found zero references to F1 at this time. No doubt they’re likely holding the line until the January 20th reveal at least, but we did find another hint of what can be expected coming from one U.S. dealership Audi Richmond.
It would appear that Audi Richmond has prepared its own online shop so that they’re prepared for the merch drop. An image of Audi Richmond’s online store was posted by @InsideAudiF1 on X. That link takes you to a section of their site that shows no images of actual gear but does appear to list each of the expected goods by name – Graphic T-Shirt, Fan T-Shirt, Engineers Polo Shirt, Mechanics Set Up T-Shirt, Short Sleeved T-Shirt, Fan Polo Shirt, Authentic Driver’s Jersey, Fan Track Top Jacket, Driver’s Paddock Jacket, Mechanics Padded Vest, French Terry Hoodie, Fan Cap (Hulkenberg), Fan Cap (Bortoleto), F1 Team Baseball Cap, Mechanics Bucket Hat, Mechanics Beanie, Fan Backpack, Roll Top Hybrid Backpack, Waist Bag, Fan Organizer Bag, Towel and Fan Bottle.
Given this is being posted by a dealership, we’re guessing the source for these goods is Audi collection USA, which at times does source its own goods beyond Audi collection Germany. Given the basic knowledge of what I know of intellectual property and brand licensing, even within Audi’s market distribution businesses, I’m guessing anything with a Audi Revolut F1 branding will be strictly managed by the team, and adidas likely has exclusives on apparel that could be sourced from them. So, most of this is likely to be expected as sourced from the team. Other goods, like more generically branded Audi gear with team-adjacent colors (for example, this hat currently offered by Audi collection USA) might also be offered under the banner of team gear but possibly more locally sourced… at least that’s my guess at this time.
This shop from Audi Richmond though suggests that Audi of America, and likely other Audi markets, have already been preparing for the team roll out. It would be natural to expect the market importer business like Audi of America would be involved in some capacity in the distribution of those goods.
BEYOND CLOTHES
While Le Mans was relatively niche, F1 is not. If anything, F1 with deals like home goods from Pottery Barn Kids, might be considered on the opposite side of that spectrum… licensed seemingly everywhere like NASCAR over its history. Owning a team as Audi does, selling licensed goods makes total sense. Clothing and that adidas deal are only part of the story.
No doubt toys will happen, and LEGO has already confirmed its first Audi F1-centered LEGO City-themed brick set. Likely LEGO Speed Champions and maybe even more intricate LEGO Technic kits will follow.
Beyond that, you have to wonder where else the Audi Revolut F1 Team merch rabbit hole will lead. This website will be watching closely and reporting it as it’s found. If you’re a regular reader then you likely already knew of most of this story save the Audi Richmond store.
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