Formula 1 2020 race suit manufacturers battle

[theriusDR3]

The infographics of F1 2020 race suit manufacturers battle.

So far Alpinestars supplying five F1 teams in 2020 season. Puma just three top teams while Sparco only two teams.

[Manoah2u]

To be fair, i don't REALLY understand why there are different ones anyway. It's not really like it's an area where you can 'gain' popularity or big benefits, as the rules are pretty hefty. Yes, there is room for 'live physical monitoring technology' but that's another story alltogether. I don't really get why F1 (FIA) doesn't simply mandate a standard suit, is made by one and the same company, and simply ALLOWS for sponsoring of manufacturers. This goes head to toes tbh. Shoes just the same. They're pushing pedals, it's not like they're finding development for runner athletes to shave off time or improve traction which is the difference between win or lose.
then again, i might be greatly underestimating potential.

[Just_a_fan]

To be fair, i don't REALLY understand why there are different ones anyway. It's not really like it's an area where you can 'gain' popularity or big benefits, as the rules are pretty hefty.

I guess it's simply a halo product for the companies involved. Don't forget that there is a lot of motorsport around the world and they all use racing overalls of some form. That's a decent market and being able to link to F1 means marketing opportunities.

A quick look in the UK at Demon Tweaks shows racing overalls at prices up to £1250 +VAT (£1500 total). That's an outlier, of course, but many of the overalls over are £4-500. Add to that the nomex underwear, the balaclava, the boots and the gloves, plus the same companies make karting gear, and you're looking at a lot of money each year being spent on driver protection wear.

Then remember the same companies make leisure wear - t-shirts, hoodies, caps and other stuff.

It's all marketing and the companies providing the F1 teams will take the cost on the chin knowing that they can use that association to sell lots more stuff to the public.

[Jolle]

To be fair, i don't REALLY understand why there are different ones anyway. It's not really like it's an area where you can 'gain' popularity or big benefits, as the rules are pretty hefty. Yes, there is room for 'live physical monitoring technology' but that's another story alltogether. I don't really get why F1 (FIA) doesn't simply mandate a standard suit, is made by one and the same company, and simply ALLOWS for sponsoring of manufacturers. This goes head to toes tbh. Shoes just the same. They're pushing pedals, it's not like they're finding development for runner athletes to shave off time or improve traction which is the difference between win or lose.
then again, i might be greatly underestimating potential.

There are no real direct performance gains for stuff trivial like: suits, paint, trucks, pans in the kitchen, etc etc but... because most of those items are sponsored, it does reduce costs for the teams, and with suits, its those small things that also matter. Just imagine to have to buy around 200 suits a year, with all the custom prints, racking up to half a million a year.

[basti313]

To be fair, i don't REALLY understand why there are different ones anyway. It's not really like it's an area where you can 'gain' popularity or big benefits, as the rules are pretty hefty. Yes, there is room for 'live physical monitoring technology' but that's another story alltogether. I don't really get why F1 (FIA) doesn't simply mandate a standard suit, is made by one and the same company, and simply ALLOWS for sponsoring of manufacturers. This goes head to toes tbh. Shoes just the same. They're pushing pedals, it's not like they're finding development for runner athletes to shave off time or improve traction which is the difference between win or lose.
then again, i might be greatly underestimating potential.

Well, there is a homologation. You can run in any FIA series with a FIA approved suit.So there are rules...but giving the right to one supplier is beyond the law. They could do this for one series, but where is the point? In fact you would need at least a tender per series and even then the lower series where amateurs compete would be legally very difficult.

I do not really see a manufacturer battle. There is Merc who only gets the suits from Puma and has a separate deal for merchandise with Tommy. On the other hand Puma supplies all team gear to RedBull or Ferrari, not only suits. These are vastly different deals and surely different numbers behind. The merchandising with the team gear is multimillions, while for the racing suits you would expect low numbers. I do not know the number for F1, but in soccer you usually calculate well above 10Mio Euro just for the shirt sales of a top player. Looking how much a simple RedBull shirt costs...and at the race everyone is in team wear...this is massive money.

The surprising thing is that the top teams rather have the "cheap" Puma suits. If you look at pricing they are constantly well below FIA approved stuff from Alpinestars or Sparco....ok Sparco is always expensive, but I did not expect Alpinestars to be more expensive than Puma.

[El Scorchio]

Puma probably offer great kickbacks to the teams and it’s probably important to them to have their logo over all the top teams stuff. Great brand positioning. Not overly surprised they sponsor Merc as a German company.

[ichiban22]

Just imagine to have to buy around 200 suits a year, with all the custom prints, racking up to half a million a year.

There's a video on YouTube about Puma making the suits. Apparently it's all done by hand in Italy, tailored to the driver. So the suits available to the public may be cheap off the rack in standard sizes, but the actual suits the F1 drivers wear are a lot more expensive.

And this is of course all about marketing. There is no sporting advantage between them, apart from maybe comfort.
Puma is of course the 3rd biggest sports brand.
Sparco makes everything from race gear to bucket seats, and even baby seats.
Alpinestars is a big brand in motorbike gear.

I see no reason why the fIA would need to regulate these brands. These are treated like any other supplier/sponsor of the teams. They all have different sponsors who's products they use which bring no (with the exception of a few) performance advantage; laptops, petrol, sunglasses, watches,... list is endless.