$187 Billion Worth Giants Nike Win Crucial Battle Against Max Verstappen as F1 Champ’s Name Halt His Long Cherished Dream

Up-and-coming athletes often dream of reaching that stage in their career when they can start a clothing line of their own. The trend is prevalent in most sports and F1 is no stranger to it either. Max Verstappen is surfing on the sea of success for some time now. And unsurprisingly, the Dutchman wanted to take a dive into the athletic apparel line as well. However, he has hit a major roadblock, courtesy of one of the biggest sporting apparel brands in the world, Nike.

Being the youngest driver to race in F1, Max quickly caught the attention of potential sponsors ever since stepping foot in the sport. The first one to join him since 2016, and continuing even now, is the Dutch supermarket chain, Jumbo. As his journey continued, so did his list of financial backers, who he endorses. Starting in 2023, Castore replaced Puma as Red Bull’s apparel sponsor. However, Verstappen dreamed of owning a brand of his own that would go by the name Max 1.

Clearly, the Dutchman wanted to name the brand by his name and the racing number he sports on his car since his maiden F1 championship in 2021. However, Nike filed an objection to the name at BOIP, the trademark office for the Benelux. They argued that the name was too similar to their popular brand, Air Max. While Verstappen’s team argued that the Dutch name ‘Max’ and the ‘Max’ in Air Max were pronounced very differently, BOIP ruled in Nike’s favor, according to a report from the Limburg newspaper De Limburger.

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Lewis Hamilton may be going through a rough time on the racetrack. But this is an area where he’s miles ahead of Verstappen.

When Lewis Hamilton pipped Max Verstappen to start his own clothing line

Last year in August, Hamilton caught his fans by surprise when he followed +44 on Instagram. For the uninitiated, Lewis following anyone on social media is big news because he does not follow anyone apart from the official account of his dog Roscoe, his organization Mission 44, and then, of course, +44.

Lewis also post a picture of himself wearing a white long-sleeved T-shirt with +44 printed vertically on it. In the captions, he simply wrote, “Eye of the storm.” Back then, as per The Sun, the brand was only selling short-sleeved and long-sleeved T-shirts and a fluorescent yellow poncho.

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It will be interesting to see if Verstappen will rethink the name of his brand or will challenge BOIP’s decision on an appropriate forum.