Why the women of F1 are the fashion It Girls of the moment | Canada Voices

When Kim Kardashian started dating Formula One superstar Lewis Hamilton earlier this year, she joined a stylish set of women surrounding the sport.

Influencer Alexandra Leclerc is married to Hamilton’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc. Kelly Piquet is dating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Francisca Cerqueira Gomes is Alpine racer Pierre Gasly’s girlfriend.

They and a roster of other fashionable figures and models are drawing new audiences to auto racing. And while their partners may be the stars of the sport, the wives and girlfriends – or F1 WAGs, as they’re sometimes called – have become a cultural phenomenon unto themselves.

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The women’s paddock walks (an outdoor equivalent to the NBA’s tunnel walk) are heavily photographed. Instagram accounts dedicated to their style have popped up by the dozens. Their sporty yet elegant outfits – such as Leclerc’s Ferrari motorcycle jacket and mini skirt at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Piquet’s short trench jumpsuit at last year’s Monza Grand Prix and Gomes’s mixing of merch with ultra-feminine accessories – attract significant online attention.

Several of the women are also directly involved in the fashion industry. Leclerc’s influence is particularly outsized: She has more than five million Instagram followers and swaths of young women emulating her style. She collaborated with Meshki on a resort collection last year, and recently unveiled a 21-piece capsule collection with Frame.

Piquet is a brand ambassador for Tiffany & Co and Louis Vuitton, and Gomes has partnered with luxury brands such as Pucci, Givenchy, Burberry and Bulgari and is often photographed wearing their looks.

“What’s interesting about F1 WAG fashion is that it operates under a very specific set of constraints,” said Nina Kharey, founder of Canadian brands NONIE, Folds Wear and Argéniq. “You’re outdoors on the paddock, you’re being photographed constantly and you’re in an environment that’s equal parts athletic and social.”

The women are often snapped outside or in designated garage areas, so functionality is key. “The women who get it right understand that restraint is the right move,” said Kharey. “It’s not red-carpet dressing, it’s not streetwear. It’s clean tailoring and something that reads effortless but is clearly considered.”

Despite those constraints, Kharey said the women’s individual styles still shine through. “Kelly Piquet does that better than almost anyone,” she said. “There’s intention behind every choice without it ever feeling try-hard. Alexandra Leclerc is fascinating to me because she’s so young and already has such a clear point of view. She mixes accessible pieces with luxury in a way that feels genuinely modern rather than calculated. And [Francesca] Gomes has this quiet luxury sensibility that I find really compelling.”

The sport’s rise – it has seen a 12-per-cent increase in year-over-year viewership and a 63-per-cent increase since 2018 – is echoed by the proliferation of luxury brand sponsors. Gucci recently became a title sponsor, and LVMH signed on for a 10-year partnership reportedly worth US$1.5-billion, the title partner for the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Grand Prix de Monaco 2026, Leclerc’s home race.

Fashion houses aren’t the only luxury brands cementing their presence at the events. Audi and Dom Pérignon logos now appear alongside ads for Celsius energy drinks and American Express. The drivers also have their own high-end brand collaborations: Charles Leclerc partnered with Chivas Regal and Hamilton with Dior. But it hasn’t always been this way.

When Canadian F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve dyed his hair platinum blond during the 1997 season, it sent shockwaves through the racing world. This was in an era when drivers had one look, one uniform, with almost no emphasis on personal style. He quickly became the “bad boy” of F1, a fashion counterculture icon.

He has said in previous interviews that his ever-rotating hair colours, which included blue and bright red, led to the authorities drug testing him every race weekend.

“When I got into F1, everybody was very cookie cutter,” said Villeneuve. “It was the same, and I got in not really caring.”

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Since he retired in 2006, he has seen a shift in the sport’s culture. At the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal this past May, where Villeneuve spoke at the Audi Innovation Series, luxury fashion brands were everywhere. Races have become the place for high society to see and be seen, like the modern-day equivalent of the horse tracks. And drivers today have more autonomy over their cars and their style.

“The drivers are groomed from a much younger age, and they’re always in the social networks. It’s different,” said Villeneuve, adding that their off-track lives – including their partners – are in the spotlight more than ever. “They work their image. It’s part of what F1 is now.”

Perhaps no one has displayed more savvy in this area than the women, who have turned the paddocks into their own personal runways. And brands have taken notice.