The jacket that will revolutionize Formula One

The 2025 Formula One season started this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix: while it was a debut race to forget for Ferrari, the same cannot be said for Mercedes, thanks to the excellent debut of the very young Kimi Antonelli and a solid third place for George Russell. However, a big novelty had already accompanied Mercedes in recent days: the credit? All goes to adidas, the automotive partner that introduced the CLIMACOOL system – consisting of an insulating jacket and a specially designed cooling vest. The CLIMACOOL system could be a revolution in Formula One, particularly for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, during races where high temperatures can affect driver performance.

The design of the jacket was created to allow drivers to face the challenges of the season more effectively, helping to maintain an optimal temperature before racing in hot conditions. In extreme heat conditions, in fact, drivers can reach temperatures of up to 60 degrees inside the car, with a fluid loss of up to 4.2 kg. The opportunity to help drivers maintain an optimal temperature is provided by a short 20-minute window to cool down after preparation and before the race begins. Usually, in motorsport, the best solution is to wear a cooling vest, and adidas introduces the CLIMACOOL system to maximize the benefits and provide a reduction in skin temperature that would not be achievable with cooling vests alone.

How does the adidas CLIMACOOL jacket work?

The adidas CLIMACOOL jacket consists of a cooling agent that works with cooling fans and insulating materials. In laboratory tests, the jacket, combined with a cooling vest specially created by INUTEQ, an industry leader, had almost double the impact on skin and core temperature compared to wearing just a cooling or ice vest. According to existing research, reducing internal and skin temperature can lead to improvements in cognitive performance and decision-making. Even endurance, measured as time to fatigue in timed tests, can improve by up to 25%.

The CLIMACOOL system was created in the adidas Innovation Lab and was initially tested on Kimi Antonelli, before both he and George Russell took the opportunity during the pre-season tests in Bahrain to adopt the system in their race configuration. The drivers will have the system available throughout the season, whenever conditions allow them to take advantage of the potential performance benefits. Both drivers and their racing teams will continue to provide feedback to adidas to help find every possible advantage in the project.