Method 1 goes to look slightly completely different in 2025: Lewis Hamilton shall be carrying crimson, a brand new rookie class is becoming a member of the grid, and French conglomerate LVMH shall be in every single place within the paddock. From bottles of Moët & Chandon on the rostrum to monogrammed Louis Vuitton trophy circumstances, the posh empire’s 75 manufacturers — or maisons as they’re referred to in-house — shall be all-pervasive at races after LVMH proprietor Bernard Arnault inked a 10-year megadeal with Method 1.
The transfer wasn’t totally surprising. For months, hypothesis swirled that LVMH watch model TAG Heuer was in talks to turn into the game’s official timekeeper, changing Rolex, which held the title for greater than a decade. Nonetheless, the sheer scale of LVMH’s eventual F1 sponsorship — price a reported $1 billion — was greater than anybody may have imagined.
Like all the manufacturers owned by the posh supergroup, the Swiss watchmaker has traditionally operated independently, inking its personal sponsorship offers with the likes of Purple Bull and McLaren relationship again to the Nineteen Sixties. However LVMH’s landmark take care of F1 will see its steady of 75 manufacturers packaged collectively in an effort to saturate nearly each facet of the game.
You desire a glass of bubbly within the Paddock Membership? Maybe we may curiosity you in Veuve Clicquot, Dom Pérignon, or Moët & Chandon. You’d choose a cocktail? Does Belvedere, Glenmorangie, or Hennessy tickle your fancy?
The $364 billion firm additionally owns historic luxurious trend manufacturers like Celine, Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, and Loewe, together with Rihanna’s Fenty Magnificence and worldwide cosmetics large Sephora. LVMH may even join with followers as they’re touring to the 21 international locations the place F1 races — because it owns the duty-free retailer, DFS Group.
The announcement — made by Arnault alongside F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei final week — comes a few months after LVMH dominated the Paris Olympics on a the again of an analogous group-wide sponsorship deal. And that second serves as a blueprint for the way the Method 1 relationship will doubtless play out.
Carlos Sainz of Ferrari receives his Third-place trophy on the 2024 Monaco GP, with the Louis Vuitton trophy case within the background
Photograph by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Pictures
A $163 million funding within the 2024 Video games allowed LVMH’s manufacturers to take middle stage through the Olympics’ Opening and Closing ceremonies: Berluti outfitted the French Olympic staff, lodge Cheval Blanc made an look within the broadcast, and Dior dressed a number of A-list performers, together with Celine Dion. In the meantime, Olympians have been introduced with Chaumet-crafted medals carried in Louis Vuitton circumstances whereas thousands and thousands of tourists to Paris browsed LVMH-owned shops, just like the upscale retailer Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche. The aim: tasteful omnipresence.
The Olympics deal proved to be a masterclass in promoting exclusivity on a grand scale, which LVMH is seemingly hoping to copy in F1 come 2025.
The French luxurious group reportedly thought of an analogous take care of F1 a decade in the past, one insider advised the Wall Road Journal. On the time, F1 was thought of a distinct segment sport in America, with just one race on the calendar in Texas and little information penetrating the cultural zeitgeist. Within the years since, F1 has undergone an unprecedented viewers transformation because of Netflix’s “Drive To Survive,” race additions in Miami and Las Vegas (each being cities filled with LVMH model shops), and rising ticket prices mirroring ever extra over-the-top lodging at races. Method 1’s U.S. enlargement specifically appears to have been a vital level of the sponsorship.
Max Verstappen, carrying a TAG Heuer Monaco, has been related with the model since he was 18.
Photograph by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Pictures
“We’re nonetheless originally of the journey within the U.S.,” Bernard’s son, Frédéric Arnault, who leads the corporate’s watch division (which additionally consists of Zenith and Hublot), advised the WSJ. “There’s a really younger viewers. I believe that’s reassuring. And that’s what additionally satisfied us. Ten years in the past, it was an getting older viewers.”
It stays to be seen how LVMH plans to market the complete breadth of its 75 manufacturers in F1 given the limitless listing of potential collaborations and integrations. Already we have seen Lewis Hamilton drop a capsule assortment with LVMH-brand Dior as a part of his private take care of the model, however sky is the restrict. Race-specific variations of TAG’s retro Method 1 watch? (Accumulate ’em all!) Trophies wheeled out in special-edition Rimowa suitcases? A Guerlain fragrance impressed by the odor of burning rubber? LVMH has the manufacturers and assets to attempt usually and determine what resonates most as a post-“Drive to Survive” model of the globetrotting racing sequence turns right into a canvas for alternative.
