HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BE AN F1 SUPPORTER WEARING OFFICIAL MERCH?

For many out there, supporting a favourite team is a big deal. Wearing team merchandise is the ultimate way to show your allegiance to a team or an individual who’s part of a team, and this is something that Formula One fans do probably more than most, well besides football. Official merchandise is always made from great quality materials and the design and construction are of such a high quality that the stuff can last for many seasons. When a favourite athlete changes teams, the merch becomes sort of obsolete and so it needs to be updated, and that can be quite an outlay. While some people will happily eat 2-minute noodles for a few months to be able to own the latest merch, many can’t or won’t do that. After getting back into watching Formula One, this here scribe wanted to add an officially licenced cap to his extensive cap collection, but I wanted to wait for the 2024 line of mech to come out so that I have the latest cap. I’m an Oracle Red Bull Racing fan and decided on a Max Verstappen cap. It’s not that I really support Verstappen, more the actual team. I like the team for how they run things and because of all the cool things they do with the drivers between races and the brilliant content created. Then I saw the pricing, and I changed my mind. I have over 50 caps, and the most expensive one in the collection was R550, and it’s a commemorative, limited-edition cap that I don’t wear. The official Verstappen cap is listed on the Red Bull Shop at €47.95, which at today’s exchange rate (19 Feb 2024) translates to R977.12, and that excludes delivery. That’s a pretty penny. I decided to check how much it would cost to buy an array of the official merch as if I were a Red Bull Racing fanatic. There are a few options for suitcases and backpacks, so I chose one suitcase that would work for the travelling I do on new car launches with a matching backpack for when I head to events that don’t require me to have my camera backpack with me. To add to the wearable merch, I chose some things that also have a few options and are also divided between the drivers (one for Verstappen and one for Perez). For headwear, I added in a bucket hat because they’re extremely popular in SA along with a beanie for winter braais. There are also a few options for jerseys and jackets, so I chose a few that would work for me, a light summer rain jacket that would keep me dry in summer rains, a gilet, a halfzip sweatshirt and a beanie for the cooler days, a hoodie for winter and a team shirt for when the weather is typically South African. These ten items make me happy, but the price tag, not so much. Of course, most fans won’t buy a full complement of merch, but some may. Here’s what it will cost…

So yeah, for a decent helping of supporter merch for Oracle Red Bull Racing fans will set you back a cool R24,198.56 - minus shipping. Daaaaamn son!

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