Ultimate 2008 F1 gifts guide: Clothes

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Buy a McLaren team victory shirt and you can look really cool like these guys

Kit yourself out in F1 team colours. Here’s a selection of some of the more eye-catching items from the teams’ merchandise lines.

McLaren

McLaren F1 team victory shirt - are you brave enough to put one on?

McLaren’s bright orange ‘victory’ shirt is not for the faint-hearted but if you reckon you’ve got the fashion sense to make it work – and you’re a McLaren fan – then go for it.

The rest of McLaren’s range is a bit more low-key with its muted silver/grey tones.

Ferrari

Massa, Raikkonen and 'Scudetto' Ferrari T shirts

Ferrari’s red gear is loud, proud stuff and de rigeur if you’re planning a trip to Monza. I particularly like the classic Scudetto T-shirt design – no sponsors, just the Cavallino Rampante. Alternatively, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa’s T shirts carry bright splashes of their national colours.

Renault

At Silverstone last year I met a group of Renault fans proudly kitted out in their team’s challenging colour combination of yellow, blue, orange and white. It’s not easy on the eye, and Fernando Alonso’s fans must miss the days of Renault being light blue and yellow, which conveniently matched the flag of Alonso’s home province of Asturias.

With Renault title sponsor ING now being propped up by the Dutch government, this might not be the most future-proof choice of apparel either?óÔé¼?ª

BMW

Smart, simple blue-and-white (or white-and-blue) gear from BMW.

Red Bull & Toro Rosso

Red Bull T shirt and cap

Uber-trendy Red Bull have predictably stylish kit. The logo cap and stencilled T-shirt are my favourite.

I’m not a fan of Toro Rosso’s bull motif though. And at this point it’s impossible to tell which drivers you’ll be supporting next year if you go to a race in Toro Rosso’s gear.

Williams

I especially like the clean design of Nico Rosberg’s logo and the unfussy Williams team T-shirt.

Toyota

I can’t pretend to like Toyota’s colour scheme on its team gear any more than I do on its car. I do, however, like the bold red cap – though if you wear it from a distance people will think you’re a Ferrari fan.

Force India F1 team

I like Force India’s bold ‘FI’ logo as on the back of their zipped sweater. Adrian Sutil’s fans can walk around with ‘Capri-Sun’ on their foreheads: in a sport populated with many grey corporate sponsors, there’s something appealing about an F1 cap with a children’s fruit juice manufacturer on the front…

Other F1 clothing

I got one of these Ayrton Senna ‘Double S’ logo T-shirts myself last year:

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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5 comments on “Ultimate 2008 F1 gifts guide: Clothes”

  1. Very good topic- I must admit that I own one of those McLaren “victory” t-shirts, as well as one of the more conventional white team t-shirts. Both are very good to wear in hot weather or for a workout, as the material is lightweight and soaks up moisture. I also own the team cap in grey, but what I would really like is the red cap without any driver’s numbers on the sides. For as good as the Hamilton design looks, I don’t like to endorse a particular driver with my gear.

    On the cold-weather side, I have the McLaren team sweater, which is the same base design as the t-shirts and is often worn by the team on the grid. Looks very good, but it has zero insulation and dosen’t do much to keep out the freezing Pennsylvania winters. I also ordered the beanie to go along with it- warm and a nice design, although it fits so snugly that I have some trouble keeping it covering my ears!

    All in all, McLaren’s gear is a good deal. However, just be aware that your gear will not contain the Hugo Boss logos that you see on the team at the Grands Prix, as I discovered when my first order came in the mail!!!

  2. TommyBellingham
    7th December 2008, 12:37

    Mclaren fans – You’ve just missed a 50% sale on all last years merchandise. Everything was going for dirt cheap!!

  3. You fail to mention any comments on team clothes for the discerning F1 lady….

    Of all the teams BMW are always sporting a variety of interesting and different articles… why the other teams don’t follow suit is beyond me…

    Ferrari have a few “Ferrari” ladies tops … but none showing support for the individual drivers….

    Or have I missed something when scouting around the stands at the various Grand Prix?…

    The Macca “porange” (a poisonous mix of pink and orange) favours very few complexions…

  4. Having just taken advantage of the McLaren sale to get hold of my very own Rocket Red shirt, I have to argue with Keith’s assertion that the thing is orange.

    It’s not – it’s definitely red, albeit a shade of red that is not commonly seen through artifice or nature. It really is quite an alarming colour but that colour is, nonetheless, definitely red.

    Any McLaren staff who read this – how on earth do you cope at Woking when everybody wears them? My biggest problem with it is actually walking around with a giant Vodafone advert on my back. That and the fact it makes you look so pale and peaky by contrast that people keep asking you if you are coming down with something.

    Or maybe that’s just me…

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