Charles Leclerc and L’Oréal Paris have made it official. The 28-year-old has been named a global ambassador for the world’s largest beauty brand and will be the face of the Men Expert line as well as its hair care and styling ranges. The announcement, which broke on Sunday, confirms what many in the beauty and lifestyle industries had been anticipating. Formula 1’s growing cultural footprint now extends well into the beauty aisle.
For Leclerc, this is personal. “I will always associate L’Oréal Paris with my mother,” he said in a statement. “She is a hairdresser, so I grew up seeing L’Oréal Paris products all around the house and watching the commercials on TV.” This kind of connection is rare in a brand partnership, and it shows. His words feel less like a press release and more like a genuine admission from someone with a real history with the brand.
He added, “I am so grateful to have such strong women in my life, and I am incredibly proud to be joining a brand that stands for female empowerment. I truly believe that men’s strength comes through supporting and partnering with this mission.“
Those aren’t throwaway lines. They reflect something that L’Oréal Paris has been quietly building toward for years: the idea that male ambassadors can genuinely support its female empowerment platform, rather than merely being the faces of a bottle of face wash.
Olivier Monteil, L’Oréal Paris’s senior vice president of global image, explained the scope of the partnership: “Not only for Men Expert, our skin care and hygiene line, but also for hair care and men as an audience and customer base. It is within this context that we continue to build and accelerate our efforts to connect with men.”
Men Expert is already the top-ranking men’s beauty brand worldwide, so Leclerc isn’t entering an uncertain experiment. He’s joining a category that L’Oréal Paris has dominated for years, and his role is to extend that lead while drawing in a broader, younger, and more diverse audience.
The brand’s interest in Formula 1 has been growing for some time. About a year ago, L’Oréal Paris signed Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz. Before that, the brand chose seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton as an ambassador, which shows that its relationship with the sport goes deeper than a one-off campaign.
According to a recent Nielsen report, Formula 1 now has an estimated 826.5 million fans worldwide, which is a 12 percent increase in fandom across major markets, including China, Canada, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. For a beauty brand with a global reach, these numbers are impossible to ignore.
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Monteil put it plainly: “The sense of innovation, excellence, and individual performance in Formula 1 aligns perfectly with L’Oréal Paris’s pioneering spirit and commitment to excellence. It’s true that Formula 1 is the new global cultural capital. Not only is it the most-watched motorsport in the world, but it’s also the sport that has grown the most in terms of fan base.” Its fanbase has grown 63 percent since 2018. Perhaps more notably for a beauty brand, Formula 1 also boasts the largest female audience of any major motorsport.
Monteil described Leclerc as someone who “fully owns his relationship with self-care, appearance, and emotion,” a quality he underscored as central to selecting ambassadors. “We are very keen to feature men as ambassadors who are allies of women,” he said.
You might know Leclerc as the Monegasque driver who has raced for Scuderia Ferrari since 2019. He became the second-youngest pole-sitter in the sport’s history at the Bahrain Grand Prix and has accumulated eight Grand Prix victories and 52 podium finishes. You might also know that he has already collected two podiums in his first three races this season.
But the fuller picture is more interesting. Leclerc married his partner, Alexandra Saint-Mleux, in a private civil ceremony in Monaco on February 28, 2026, after announcing their engagement in late 2025. He is also a pianist and composer who collaborated with French pianist Sofiane Pamart on a track blending classical and modern sounds. He has also spoken openly about using music to unwind after intense race weekends. Additionally, he invests in young businesses and has developed his own ice cream brand, LEC — a project he describes as requiring the same methodical approach as perfecting a lap time.
“Composing the perfect song, where every note is important, is just like making the perfect blend,” Leclerc said in a previous interview. “It’s all about taking small steps in the right direction, changing a few things, and then readjusting and trying to improve.” This patient, precise, and self-aware mindset is precisely what makes him a credible fit for a beauty brand’s message.
L’Oréal Paris global president Laetitia Toupet was direct in her welcome: “We are thrilled to welcome Charles to L’Oréal Paris. His permanent quest for excellence, his determination and resilience coupled with his sensitivity, curiosity, groundedness, and empathy are a great example and inspiration,” she said. “Charles is a hugely aspirational figure who embodies our belief that women’s empowerment is not a women-only fight. It becomes real when men and women stand strong together.”
Leclerc joins a roster of ambassadors that includes Simone Ashley, Alia Bhatt, Gillian Anderson, Jane Fonda, Elle Fanning, Kendall Jenner, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu and Eva Longoria. It is a lineup built around women who are outspoken, multidimensional, and globally recognized. Leclerc does not feel like an outlier; he embodies someone who has cultivated a well-rounded identity.
He will make his first campaign appearance in June when he fronts L’Oréal Men Expert Hydra Energetic. However, the partnership’s ambitions are clearly long-term. For L’Oréal Paris, collaborating with high-performance athletes who embody discipline, precision, and global appeal reflects a strategy that connects naturally with the brand’s identity.
At this point, the question of whether male beauty is having a cultural moment is almost rhetorical. Men’s skincare has been one of the fastest-growing segments in the global beauty market for years. However, the visibility of high-profile men publicly owning their interest in grooming and self-care has been slower to shift. Leclerc’s appointment signals that the needle is moving and that brands are ready to support this shift.