F1 and Disney Extend Fuel the Magic 2026 with Uniqlo, Gentle Monster

Formula 1 and Disney are turning a one‑off Las Vegas stunt into a full season of retail and storytelling: the multi‑year Fuel the Magic partnership has been extended into a 2026 campaign that kicks into motion at the Australian Grand Prix and debuts a special‑edition Mickey Mouse plush dressed in a Formula 1 uniform exclusively in Australia before a global roll‑out later in 2026. The program names Uniqlo and Gentle Monster among its headline partners and promises product reveals and activations throughout the racing calendar.

Race‑site retail will be front and center. Select Fuel the Magic fanzone pop‑ups will begin at the Chinese Grand Prix on March 13–15, stocked with city‑specific merchandise alongside an expanded Disney × F1 core collection of apparel, accessories, collectibles and plush. Fans will find merchandise at the F1 Hub and Grand Prix Plaza, with online availability planned on F1.com and an Amazon F1 storefront in the U.S., while Disney Store and Disney Style will handle additional product reveals during the season.

Gentle Monster’s 2026 Circuit Collection is the most detailed fashion commitment so far: eight eyewear styles in total, three of which are exclusive designs inspired by Mickey & Friends and Formula 1. Gentle Monster will stage pop‑up experiences in Seoul and Shanghai that pair a monumental Mickey Mouse sculpture with a Formula 1 car, a staging that echoes the franchise’s theatrical Las Vegas activation where Mickey took over the Bellagio fountains in November 2025. The Circuit Collection is explicitly pitched to merge racing performance with everyday wear.

Uniqlo is slated to drop collections as part of the campaign, joining mass‑market partners named by the Ministry of Sport that include Huffy and Culture Kings for broader apparel, toy and accessory rollouts. The expanded Disney × F1 assortment will be sold on race site, via Disney Store and through third‑party retail partners, with sequencing staggered across the season; the Mickey plush is timed to coincide with the Australian Grand Prix and then expand globally later in 2026.

The partnership extends beyond merchandise into digital storytelling: a new WEBTOON comic series will feature Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy coming together to support a racing team in crisis, a creative premise designed to “give fans a reason to stay connected between race weekends,” said Tasia Filippatos, president of Disney Consumer Products. Filippatos added, “This year is about turning that moment into a season‑long story.”

Formula 1 is selling the move as cultural programming as much as commerce. Emily Prazer, chief commercial officer at Formula 1, said, “The continuation of our ‘Fuel the Magic’ campaign with Disney is far greater than just a sports partnership,” and that the effort “leverages both Formula 1 and Disney’s power of immersive cultural storytelling and engaging entertainment,” spanning product launches, fan experiences and digital content. With a reported F1 fanbase of 827 million worldwide, the season‑long rollout aims to extend the Las Vegas spectacle into a calendar of pop‑ups, drops and digital chapters across 2026.