Red Bull Racing and Crocs have teamed up, because apparently no corner of consumer culture is safe from Formula 1’s merchandising machine. The collaboration drops May 21, just ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, with two models and a set of clip-on charms called Jibbitz.
The Milton Keynes squad announced the deal with a social media video showing a team member sliding into an oversized Croc styled to look like a race car, then zooming off. “Activating sport mode from the Croc-pit,” the caption read. Subtle it was not.
Two models hit the Crocs website: the Red Bull Racing Classic Runner at $85 and the Crocband Clog at $95. The Runner is the restrained option, a standard Croc dressed in team livery colors with optional branded charms. The Clog is the one that turns heads, drawing immediate comparisons to the Lightning McQueen Crocs that sold out in minutes a few years back. For those who just want the Red Bull Jibbitz charms to stick on existing Crocs, those run $20.
This is what Formula 1 looks like in 2026. The sport that once relied on tobacco money and Gulf Oil liveries now generates revenue through foam-rubber footwear collabs aimed squarely at a younger demographic that may or may not ever attend a race. Liberty Media’s decade-long push to turn F1 into a lifestyle brand has landed here, at the intersection of motorsport and mall fashion.
Red Bull Racing, to its credit, understands this game better than most. The team has long operated as much as a marketing empire as a racing operation, and bolting its logo onto one of the most polarizing shoe brands on the planet is perfectly on-brand. Crocs moved 250 million pairs globally in recent years by leaning into collaborations with everyone from Bad Bunny to KFC.
If history is any guide, both models will sell out almost immediately. Limited-edition Crocs have become a sneakerhead-adjacent commodity, with resale prices routinely doubling or tripling within days. Red Bull’s massive fanbase, fueled by Max Verstappen’s dominance and the team’s social media savvy, all but guarantees demand will outstrip supply.
Whether any of this has anything to do with racing is beside the point. F1 teams now pull significant revenue from licensing deals and merchandise partnerships that would have been unthinkable a generation ago. When Ferrari partnered with luxury fashion houses, it at least tracked with the marque’s heritage. Red Bull slapping its name on foam clogs is a different energy entirely, but it’s honest about what it is: pure commerce, zero pretense.
The real question nobody at Red Bull or Crocs will answer is whether Verstappen himself would be caught dead wearing these. A single photo of the four-time world champion padding around the Monaco paddock in branded Crocs would be worth more than any paid campaign. Until then, the target audience remains fans young enough to think car-shaped shoes are cool and old enough to have $95 to spend on them.
Sales open May 21 on the Crocs website. Set your alarms accordingly, or don’t. The resale market will be waiting either way.
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