Why Gucci Needs Formula 1 More Than F1 Needs Gucci

The Italian luxury giant has been grappling with declining sales and a severe case of FOMO ever since LVMH jumped into F1 in 2024. Now, it's playing catch up.

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When LVMH first announced its entry into Formula 1 back in 2024 via Louis Vuitton, I knew it was only a matter of time before the French luxury conglomerate’s largest rival, Kering, sought out a bumper deal of its own in the competition.

After months of rumours, that deal finally materialised last week, when Kering-owned Gucci was announced as the title sponsor of the Alpine F1 team, from the 2027 season onwards, which will be rebranded to “Gucci Racing Alpine Formula One” and will race in a new livery inspired by Gucci’s classic colours.

Let’s be clear: conglomerates like Kering and LVMH have very deep pockets, but these are huge sums being invested for their brands to be able to market their connections to Formula 1. Louis Vuitton’s sponsorship of F1 will reportedly cost the brand as much as $1 billion over the ten-year term. Meanwhile, media reports (unverified) have suggested that Gucci will pay around $150 million for its Alpine partnership, though the term of the deal hasn’t been disclosed.

It’s very likely that Kering and Gucci felt compelled in some way to enter Formula 1, given that its rival had made the first move and already benefited greatly from one of the world’s most in-demand sports in the eyes of marketers and casual fans. But a reported $150 million is a lot to pay for a bit of FOMO. So let’s dig into what actually made the brand pull the trigger on this bumper partnership.

• Gucci ultimately came to the conclusion that it couldn’t afford not to be in Formula 1. The brand has long been adjacent to sports, but while its competitors like Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Prada have gone all in with direct partnership deals with athletes and teams, Gucci has opted for more muted collaborations with other brands, such as Adidas and Palace. It meant that as sports became ever more significant as a marketing channel in the luxury fashion ecosystem, Gucci wasn’t really in the conversation.

• Gucci is not the high-flying luxury label it once was. Against the backdrop of an increasingly challenging luxury market, the company has recorded 11 successive quarters of declining sales. It doesn’t look like this downward trajectory will be reversed anytime soon, either. In the first quarter of 2026, the Italian luxury giant reported a quarterly sales decrease of eight percent from the same period the year prior.

• Sport is now luxury, and luxury is sport. To any luxury brand, what sets it apart — beyond questionably overpriced clothing — is its ability to provide access to luxury experiences and aspects of society that others can’t. That access gets the brand invaluable cachet and loyalty from the celebrities, influencers, media and high net worth clients that are essential to its orbit and standing in culture. The Formula 1 paddock has quickly become one of the most sought-after places to be seen and invited to in all of sports, and Louis Vuitton (through its existing deal) has been able to leverage that access for all kinds of hospitality and relationship-building purposes. This is exactly the sort of access and gatekeeper position that Gucci is seeking via its deal with Alpine.

  

The brand’s CEO, Francesca Bellettini, alluded to as much in the press release that accompanied the announcement:

“This reflects our ambition for the brand and the role we want Gucci to play on this stage. Formula 1 represents today a unique convergence of performance, culture, and global reach… Gucci Racing is more than a presence on the grid. It is an expression of who we are and where we want to take the brand,” she said.

It marks a realisation from Gucci that, to be an appealing luxury brand in the current market, you need to have access to the most compelling aspects of the sports industry. And right now, that sits squarely within the world of Formula 1.

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That’s all for today, friends. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

See you next time,

DYM