Lewis Hamilton’s star power and exploits on tracks have attracted many brands to Formula 1—with the likes of Tommy Hilfiger and IWC. That said, the #44 driver became the reason why a legacy sports brand snubbed Mercedes, last year.
In 2023, the Brackley-based team were looking for a new apparel partner with Nike having been the favorites. Needless to say, the seven-time world champion should have been the biggest attraction for Nike to even think about a potential collaboration.
And the Silver Arrows had offered the Briton a 1+1 year deal to the 7-time world champion. But eventually it cascaded into a turn of events that led to Nike calling off their negotiations.
A few years back, Nike was actively trying to sign F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton, who even visited the brand’s Oregon HQ in October 2023. Here’s why the deal never happened.
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Nike wanted to hitch their wagon to Hamilton alone, during their conversations, with the #44 driver even visiting their US-based Oregon premises in 2024. But Mercedes wanted the brand to represent both their drivers.
That is when Hamilton signaled his apprehensions about the collaboration. When Hamilton announced that he was going to sign for Ferrari, early last year, the American sportswear conglomerate decided to pull the plug on that deal.
On the other hand, Puma retained their sponsorship deal with Hamilton via Ferrari. According to SportsBusiness, Puma’s Ferrari-brand replica collection sales have shot up by 8 times since the British star announced his move to the Italian giants.
Although the Silver Arrows went on to lose both Hamilton and Nike, it did not mean that they would give up without any fight. They went on to sign Adidas—an arch-rival to both, Nike and Puma.
While the details about Adidas and Mercedes’ alliance are not known, the deal is estimated to be worth around a whopping $30 million. Now, Hamilton did praise the Silver Arrows’ success in landing Adidas, even though he had differences with them during the Nike negotiations.
Sky Sports’ Craig Slater reported how Hamilton had congratulated his old boss Toto Wolff for their new apparel partner.
For Adidas, this deal was a bit of redemption. The company had lost the rights to sponsor the German National soccer team back in 2024. Naturally, they wanted to sign on a German national brand and Mercedes became the best destination for their image rights and money.
