McLaren is reportedly set to drop Castore as the team’s apparel partner a year in advance, with Puma being lined up to supply kit for the reigning Constructors’ Champions from the F1 2026 season.

Castore became McLaren’s kit supplier at the start of the 2022 season in a deal worth a reported £30million ($39m/€35m at current exchange rates) per year.

McLaren set to replace Castore with Puma for F1 2026 season as deal cut short

The Manchester-based manufacturer has since added the Red Bull Racing and Alpine teams to its Formula 1 portfolio, with Castore’s reach also extending to other major sports including football and cricket.

Castore’s five-year deal with McLaren had been expected to expire at the end of next season.

However, a report by the respected business website SportBusiness has claimed that McLaren are set to drop the supplier at the end of 2025 in favour of a deal with Puma.

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McLaren are poised to become the fifth team on the current grid to have an arrangement with Puma, joining Ferrari, Aston Martin, Williams and Audi F1 (Sauber).

It is said that Castore will instead become Haas’s apparel partner from the start of F1 2026 with a deal on the horizon.

If true, the end of its McLaren deal will mark a further blow to Castore following the end of its partnership with Aston Villa, the English football club, last year.

Castore was announced as Aston Villa’s kit supplier in 2022 on a multi-year deal reported at the time to be worth around £3million per year.

However, Aston Villa cut the deal short at the end of the 2023/24 season after player complaints that the shirts retained sweat during matches, resulting in an unappealing ‘wet look’ and affecting performance.

Castore reportedly took three months to rectify the issue after the first concerns about the shirts were raised in September 2023, with Aston Villa announcing a switch to Adidas in January 2024.

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The F1 2025 season has seen Adidas enter the top tier of motor racing for the first time with the German giant striking a deal with eight-time Constructors’ Champions Mercedes.

Speaking at the launch of Mercedes’ first Adidas-branded kit in February, team boss Toto Wolff revealed that Lewis Hamilton was disappointed to learn that he would miss out on fronting the partnership having moved to Ferrari for F1 2025.

Wolff said: “Lewis said that it’s probably the sports brand with the most cultural relevance.

“He had a crying and laughing [reaction], I think, knowing that we were going to Adidas.”

Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has already proven a commercial hit, with Puma recently claiming to have seen an eightfold increase in sales of its Ferrari range since the seven-time World Champion’s arrival at the start of this year.

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