Formula 1, Fashion & the Rise of the Female Super fan

When you think of Formula 1, what comes to mind? Probably the blinding speed of cars slicing through tracks at impossible angles, champagne showers erupting under strobe lights, and those sculptural, almost abstract trophies gleaming under the podium. And of course, celebrities effortlessly gliding through the paddocks, designer shades on, cameras flashing. It’s opulent, it’s exclusive, it looks and feels like money.

And that’s precisely the point. For the longest time, this sport was designed to appeal to a very specific demographic: legacy-driven, old-money, predominantly male. 

But the grid is shifting, and it’s shifting faster than you can even jot it down. As a fellow F1 girly myself, I can confidently say: many of us are more passionate, more invested, and far more obsessed than a lot of our male counterparts. And while the optics are changing, there’s an entire undercurrent, both conscious and subconscious, that’s fueling this shift.

That’s exactly what we’re unpacking here: the rise of the new Formula 1 fandom, the fashion, the luxury, the culture.  Formula 1 fashion and female fan

How Netflix Shifted the Grid for Good

Why “Drive to Survive” Became Fashion’s Favorite Sports Doc

Formula 1 fashion and female fan

It started with a stream. Quite literally. Back in 2019, Netflix’s Drive to Survive handed us unprecedented, almost decadent access to the grid. This wasn’t just about tuning in when the lights went out on Sunday. It was about everything behind it, the investments, the stakes, the politics, the catfights, the snatch-and-scratch moments that unfolded away from the track, all of it laid bare like an expensive game of chess.

Formula 1 was no longer confined to race weekends or casual conversations. It became a year-round obsession, something to watch, rewatch, and eagerly anticipate as each season built toward the next. The build-up itself was addictive.

And the numbers confirm it. In the United States alone, female viewership of Formula 1 saw a nearly 30 percent surge between 2020 and 2023, with Gen Z and Millennial audiences driving this cultural shift. But giving all the credit to Netflix would be too simplistic. TikTok and Instagram played their parts masterfully, turning every highlight, meme, and controversy into viral currency that made Formula 1 impossible to ignore.

It’s important to understand where this shift began. Back in 2014, Formula 1 was

dangerously close to cultural irrelevance. Jordan Schwarz broke it down brilliantly on Instagram. Under Bernie Ecclestone’s leadership, the sport had become intentionally exclusive, bordering on untouchable. Social media was banned. Younger  fans were dismissed. His now infamous line summed it up: “They can't afford our sponsors’ products anyway.”

Everything changed in 2016. Liberty Media stepped in with a $4.4 billion gamble and a vision that understood the urgency of tearing down those walls. By 2017, the social media ban was lifted. Teams began to realize that fans wanted more than just final lap times. They craved the personal stories, the humanity beneath the helmets, the joy, the heartbreak, and the vulnerability.

Then came YouTube. The behind-the-scenes footage, the interviews, challenges, lie detector tests, all of it felt intimate, playful, and completely addictive. And let’s not pretend we didn’t get hooked when the drivers themselves started creating effortlessly cool content. I’ve spent more hours than I’d like to admit on Charles Leclerc’s channel and his fighter jet episode is forever bookmarked, and Carlos Sainz with his training sessions, golf swings, and campaign cameos. What’s not to love?

The #GirlsWhoLoveF1: More Than a Hashtag

And then came the moment when access to the paddock wasn’t as dispersed, or frankly, as democratized. That’s when the girls took it into their own hands. From jaw-dropping fan art to obsessively curated YouTube deep-dives and the TikTok content revolution, women began shaping their own space within the F1 world. Hashtags like #F1tiktok, #GirlsWhoLoveF1, and #PaddockStyle carved out digital ecosystems where fashion, fandom, and Formula 1 collided in perfect aesthetic harmony. Women weren’t sitting along the sidelines anymore. They were now part of the narrative — curating it, amplifying it, and becoming essential to the sport's cultural momentum.

Recent studies in the luxury and sports marketing sectors have indicated that female fans engaging with lifestyle-driven, personality-led sports content like Formula 1 demonstrate significantly higher cross-channel purchase behavior. There goes Mr. Bernie’s infamous claim straight to the dogs. A very big oops moment. 

From Zendaya to WAGs: The Celeb Trackside Takeover

And of course, we cannot ignore the rise of the new paddock aesthetic. The trackside has

never looked more chic. Celebrities like Rihanna, Priyanka Chopra, Gigi Hadid, and Cara Delevingne have made bold trackside appearances, where their outfits are dissected across Pinterest boards and Instagram carousels. Naturally, luxury brands followed and will continue following, securing these names as ambassadors, weaving cross-campaign collaborations with F1 teams. 

There’s something irresistibly captivating about that almost antagonistic pairing of retro racing leathers with soft-luxe linens. Remember Elsa Hosk’s polka-dot Moncler moment at the GP? 

And of course, there are the highly followed F1 WAGs, who arrive as stars in their own right, CEOs, models, influencers, entering the paddock looking like walking editorials. One cannot leave out Alexandra Saint Mleux, an absolute moment in herself, who carries quiet elegance like a personal brand. Their presence often sets the tone for what trickles down to the broader fashion community, as content creators globally attempt to recreate their looks, adding creative twists and personal interpretations that keep feeding the cycle.

Lewis, Charles, Carlos — The New Faces of Motorsport Menswear

And then, of course, there are the boys.

Lewis Hamilton, the original grid disruptor, has evolved into a bona fide fashion ambassador. A Met Gala regular, a Valentino front-row fixture, and a creative collaborator with designers like Tommy Hilfiger, Hamilton has completely redefined what masculinity in motorsport can look like. From custom Rick Owens to pearl-draped Louis Vuitton suits, his wardrobe reads like a masterclass in boundary-pushing menswear. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari’s princely Monégasque, is quietly rising as fashion’s soft-spoken heartthrob. And then there’s Carlos Sainz, starring in a L’Oréal campaign, simply a masterstroke. The kind of cultural cross-pollination that was long overdue.

This is exactly the stereotype shift women have waited to see. Men embracing fashion not as an afterthought, but as an extension of their personality, their image, and their brand. These drivers have become living moodboards, and in doing so, they’ve created an entirely new, more intimate point of connection for fans. 

F1 Academy: The Cultural Accelerator We Needed

And now, let’s talk pure business. Where there is female attention, the luxury market

follows. Formula 1 couldn’t afford to miss that bandwagon and fortunately, it didn’t.

Tommy, Tilbury, and LV: Brands That Bet on Women in F1

First up is TAG Heuer, boldly re-upping its motorsport image with women-led campaigns.

The Swiss watchmaker has secured a standout partnership with Aiva Anagnostiadis, a 17-year-old Australian driver whose story reads like pure inspiration.  Next in line is Tommy Hilfiger, long a fixture in Formula 1 collaborations, now deepening its commitment as the sport undergoes its cultural revolution. In February 2024, Tommy Hilfiger took things further by becoming an official partner of F1 Academy, a groundbreaking program specifically designed to build opportunities for women within motorsport. Spanish driver Nerea Martí, returning for her second season with Campos Racing, now represents Tommy Hilfiger on track, racing in a suit and car wrapped in the brand’s signature red, white, and blue. Beyond the grid, Tommy Hilfiger has also taken on the responsibility of designing the full uniforms for F1 Academy’s staff — merging fashion design with Formula 1 operations at every level.

As Susie Wolff, MBE, F1 Academy Managing Director, summed it up: "Tommy Hilfiger is fully invested in our mission to improve female representation in motorsport. Their global brand platform will appeal to audiences far beyond the traditional motorsport world, helping us reach entirely new demographics."

The crossover doesn’t stop there. Charlotte Tilbury, one of the world’s most influential beauty empires, became the first female-founded beauty brand to partner with F1 Academy. Marking its first-ever global sports sponsorship. Puma, with its deep motorsport roots, continues to push boundaries. From fireproof racing suits to high-performance gear to streetwear drops, Puma remains one of F1 Academy’s most visible sponsors while capturing the energy of this entire new generation of fans.

And then comes one of the most cinematic fashion moments so far: Louis Vuitton’s

takeover at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. The Maison created a custom LV trophy trunk for the winner’s podium, wrapped in its signature monogram canvas. The trophy case wasn’t just an accessory; it was a visual statement of how seamlessly fashion and motorsport have now merged. The DNA isn’t simply crossing over anymore, it’s fully shared. And that’s exactly what we’re witnessing unfold at full throttle.

But none of this could have scaled without F1 Academy itself redefining the entry points. Female participation, which once stood at barely 3–5% in standard races, has surged to 25% for the 2024 season thanks to the Academy's pipeline programs. In the UK, initiatives like Discover Your Drive Karting have delivered a 265% increase in cadet-aged female drivers qualifying for the British Indoor Karting Championships between 2022 and 2023 alone. The Academy now operates globally, spanning seven countries across three continents in its 2024 calendar, solidifying its role as Formula 1’s most important cultural accelerator.

And with Netflix still at the center of F1’s global content machine, the storytelling power behind this movement only intensifies. The platform that originally cracked the grid open for millions is now poised to amplify the F1 Academy’s mission on a global stage. 

The Media Now Owns the Grid:

And Women Are Holding the Mic

The entire F1 conversation often circles around engines, regulations, lap times, and meeting the impossible expectations of stakeholders. But what we often forget is this: who really owns Formula 1? It’s not the FIA. It’s not a government body. It's the media. And the media, along with its global audience of watchers, loves athletes for what they truly are — real people with real stories, intensely human behind the machines, extraordinarily inspiring on the track, and yet surprisingly relatable in life.

It’s the blend of human ambition wrapped in carbon fibre. An ecosystem that weaves itself like an aspirational, luxurious silk scarf around the sport.

For women in particular, yes, it’s about cars. Yes, it’s about the engineering, the grit, the strategy. But it’s also about the people inside the cockpit how they gamble everything on every turn, how they raise the stakes with every lap, how the adrenaline surges both for those who drive and those who watch.

The drama, the narrative arcs, the vulnerability, the ambition all of it resonates. And now, as the gates finally swing open, women are no longer confined to being passive spectators. They are entering this world with full agency: as fans, as content creators, as CEOs, founders, investors, and yes, proudly, as drivers. It’s the convergence of fashion weeks and race weekends. The calculated risks and the unapologetic glamour playing out in real time.

While opinions may vary on how F1 Academy’s narrative unfolds, one truth stands unshaken: this era is empowering. It’s thrilling. And may this roar only grow louder.