Tyshawn Jones, the groundbreaking, professional skateboarder sponsored by adidas, and Toto Wolff, team principal and CEO of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula 1 Team, participated in a collaborative stunt Thursday ahead of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.
The event brought together elements of skateboarding and motorsports. Jones performed a skate stunt while Wolff coordinated with him on-site. The moment was part of an activation highlighting the partnership between adidas and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS.
As part of the exchange, Jones gave Wolff a signed pair of his adidas Tyshawn Skate Sneakers, while Wolff presented Jones with a limited-edition Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team jersey exclusive to the Miami Grand Prix.
Stunt merges skateboarding culture with motorsportx
The collaboration served as a visual representation of the two brands’ effort to merge distinct sports communities through style, performance and cultural storytelling. The adidas and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS partnership, announced in January, includes co-branded gear for drivers, engineers and other team members. It reflects adidas’ broader strategy to expand its presence across emerging sports and audiences.
Jones previously reflected on the future of skateboarding
Jones, the first Black professional skateboarder and the youngest to win Thrasher magazine’s Skater of the Year award twice, has gained recognition for expanding access and visibility in skateboarding. In a 2023 interview with The Washington Post, he spoke about the sport’s complexity and its path to mainstream acceptance. “I feel like skateboarding is so complex that you have to skateboard in order to understand it. For the normal person who doesn’t really know skateboard culture, they just see it as ‘he jumped and the board is moving.’ Where something like baseball or basketball is easier to dissect. So, I wonder if it will ever reach that real mainstream level … I’m excited to see where it really goes. I wonder if I’ll see it firsthand while I’m still active or is that 30 years down the line?”
The following day, Formula 2 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli earned pole position and went on to win the F2 Sprint Race during the Miami Grand Prix weekend.
