With the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship now in full throttle, Formula 1 has signed off a multi-year extension of its partnership with the licensed sports merchandise specialist, Fanatics.

The extension has been agreed following what the firm billed ‘an outstanding 2020 performance’, and will see Fanatics retain global e-commerce and manufacturing rights fort he F1 brand. The news arrives amid celebrations in the F1 camp, following a year that has sales on the official online F1 Store grow by more than 40 per cent globally.

Official Formula One merchandise is now delivered to fans in 143 different countries across the world. The strong performance has accelerated in the first six months of 2021, with sales on the official online F1 Store growing by triple digits compared to the same period in 2020.

The sport has also enjoyed an increased presence in the US, with the region becoming the most significant market with the most sales for the F1 site.

Fanatics, which partners with more than 300 of the biggest sports clubs and organisations in the world, has worked with Formula 1 to grow sales by almost 200 per cent since 2017 and has changed the way F1 fans purchase their merchandise online through a tech-infused approach to making and selling fan gear in today’s on-demand, mobile-first culture.

The official F1 online store utilizes Fanatics’ vertical commerce model, which combines on-demand manufacturing with an agile supply chain to produce the timeliest assortments of merchandise for Formula 1 fans. A key driver of sales on the official F1 online store in 2020 was the store’s move to Fanatics’ Cloud Commerce technology, which provides rapid navigation for fans across online and mobile sites.

Fanatics partners with many of the largest sporting organisations in the world including Manchester United, Chelsea FC, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, NFL, NBA, MLB and the NHL.

Ben Pincus, director of commercial partnerships at Formula 1, said: “We are pleased to extend our ecommerce and licensing partnership with Fanatics on the back of an exceptional 2020 performance, which follows the remarkable growth we have seen over the last few years.

“Our ambition is to serve all our fans no matter where in the world they are located, and our focus in the years to come will be to access new markets and grow strategic territories like China.”

Zohar Ravid, general manager for Fanatics’ International Business, said: “We have worked in partnership with Formula 1 for a number of years now and grown its global merchandise business significantly in that time. The recent transfer of the site onto our innovative cloud commerce platform has delivered some incredible results in recent months; we are committed to building on that growth in the coming years and I am delighted that we will now be able to continue to deliver results and an incredible service to its global fanbase.”