How does Adidas contribute to Mercedes' success with unique 'cooling vest'?
George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli have been spotted on multiple occasion this season as they wore a special silver jacket ahead of hot races, which even attracted the attention of rival drivers. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo explains why the Mercedes drivers wear the special cooling jackets.
Ahead of the start of the 2025 season, Mercedes' new partner adidas have unveiled a special cloth which is referred to as CLIMACOOL System. It is comprised of an insulated jacket and specially created cooling vest. The CLIMACOOL System will be used at any races where hot conditions can impact driver performance.
Adidas explained that "the unique design has been created to address an ongoing performance challenge for drivers throughout the season – staying at the optimum temperature before racing in hot conditions."
In hot conditions drivers can experience temperatures in their car reaching 55-60 degrees Celsius leading to up to 4.2kg of sweat loss. The opportunity to help drivers better maintain their optimum temperature exists in a short 20-minute window to cool down after preparation and ahead of the race beginning.
Similar solutions are not totally new in Formula One as many drivers have been spotted over the past year, wearing a cooling or ice vest. However, adidas have created the CLIMACOOL System to maximise the benefit and deliver reductions in skin and core temperature that are unachievable using vests alone.
Adidas explained that its innovative jacket "consists of a cooling agent working in tandem with cooling fans and insulative materials. In lab testing the System, the Jacket in combination with a specially created Cooling Vest alongside industry leaders INUTEQ, created almost double the impact of wearing only a cooling or ice vest on skin and core temperature."
According to existing research*, reductions in core and skin temperature can result in better performance in cognitive tasks as well as improved decision making. Endurance benefit, measured as time to fatigue in time trials, can also see improvement of up to 25%.
The CLIMACOOL System was created in the adidas Innovation Lab and being initially tested with Kimi Antonelli, before both the Italian and his British team-mate George Russell took the opportunity of pre-season testing in Bahrain to take the System into their race day setup.
The drivers will have it available to them throughout the season, when the conditions mean the potential performance benefit can be realized. Both drivers and their race teams will continue to provide feedback to adidas to help find every possible performance edge in the design.
Commenting on the system, Chief Creative Officer of adidas Alasdhair Willis said: “When we returned to motorsport we wanted to see how we could bring true performance benefits to the teams. Our CLIMACOOL System is the first example of how we will bring innovation into the sport.
"We are challenging ourselves to deliver more impact, at greater speed, and products tuned to the specific needs of more sports. We will create the very best for the drivers.”
Speaking of the special vest, Russell noted: “Heat management is a key topic in F1. In hot races it is important to try and maintain a consistent and optimized core body temperature when in the car.
"When I first tried the adidas CLIMACOOL System I knew it would be something I’d want to include in my race day package. The challenging conditions bring an extra element to racing and I’m confident this will help improve my performance.”
Explaining the benefits of the cooling vest, Antonelli stated: “In very hot and humid races mitigating the rise in body temperature is important for performing at our best in the car.
"When I got to test the adidas CLIMACOOL System I was really impressed with the impact I felt. It’s clear there is a benefit for us as drivers and I’m looking forward to experiencing that during the season.”
