How Formula 1 turned pop music’s quickest obsession – Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, Charlie XCX, George Harrison, Robbie Williams

Taylor Swift’s newest album The Life of a Showgirl dropped on the identical weekend because the Singapore Grand Prix, and F1 groups wasted no time weaving its lyrics into their social feeds, with a number of drivers having been already declared Swifties.

Then got here the announcement that Bad Bunny will headline subsequent 12 months’s Super Bowl – an artist who’s already turned the game and drivers into lyrical shorthand to nice acclaim.

However, it seems Formula 1 has been lengthy been making its method into the music sphere lengthy earlier than the present wave of celebrity shoutouts. Here’s how F1 has sped its method into the worldwide music charts.

Bad Bunny: Puerto Rico’s rhythm x Formula 1

His 2024 album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS introduced a mixture of irresistible dancing and nostalgia throughout social media. Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny is a music celebrity – he boasts over 107 billion streams, three Grammy awards, 11 Latin Grammys, and has simply been introduced as the following Super Bowl half-time present performer. The latin music icon has additionally declared his love for Formula 1 inside his work.

“Primero llegó Verstappen, después llegó Checo” (First Verstappen arrived, then Checo) and “Créeme, los carro’ de F1 son má’ rápido’ en persona” (Believe me, F1 automobiles are quicker in individual) are two traces from his well-known monitor MONACO, which describes the posh aptitude of town – house to Charles Leclerc and the enduring Grand Prix. He additionally raps, “La vida va como Verstappen en Fórmula 1…” (Life goes by like Verstappen in Formula 1) in his tune Andrea.

The artist constructed on that success with LOS PITS, instantly alluding to the F1 pit lane. But as a superfan, Bad Bunny went additional this 12 months by forming a historic partnership with Mercedes and Adidas Originals to place his house nation on the map, collaborating within the celebrations the place followers witnessed a Formula 1 automotive being fired up in Puerto Rico for the very first time.

Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl… in Formula 1

Global celebrity Taylor Swift is extra usually related to the NFL, along with her fiancé being Kansas City Chiefs participant Travis Kelce, however among the Swifties who additionally share a ardour for F1 didn’t let sure lyrics from her songs go unnoticed.

Released in 2024, The Tortured Poets Department album contains the monitor imgonnagetyouback, the place she sings: “I’m an Aston Martin that you steered straight into the ditch”. Needless to say, each the staff and drivers seized the chance instantly to function it on social media.

Swift’s extremely anticipated document, The Life of a Showgirl, was launched on 3 October, coinciding with the Singapore Grand Prix. Most groups – particularly McLaren, because the album was papaya-orange colour-coded – couldn’t resist becoming a member of the development and tailored their social posts with a glittery Broadway aesthetic and included her music on their posts.

One particular occasion got here from Williams, who instantly picked up on the “smooth operators” lyric within the monitor Eldest Daughter and linked it to Carlos Sainz, who had already turned Sade’s authentic into his celebratory signature tune.

After wrapping her blockbuster 1989 World Tour on the finish of 2015, the 2016 United States Grand Prix turned the stage for Taylor Swift’s one and solely present of that 12 months – a glitter-drenched, festival-style efficiency to an viewers of 80,000 followers who got here from all corners of the globe for F1 racing and stayed for a 15-song setlist that remodeled the race weekend right into a pop spectacle.

Drivers of their Swiftie period

With a little bit assist from their companions, Swiftie fever has been spreading by way of the paddock over the previous few years.

George Russell leaned into the hype, as he confirmed up at Wembley final summer time for The Eras Tour and was captured on digicam belting out each lyric flawlessly. Charles Leclerc, in the meantime, embraced the ritual of friendship-bracelet swapping in the course of the Milan leg of the present. He was joined by Pierre Gasly, and the pair – each attending with their companions – vibed to pop’s largest phenomenon.

Others took the karaoke route. Lando Norris, in full cowboy apparel, taught Oscar Piastri the lyrics to Love Story throughout McLaren’s “Finish the Lyric” problem, whereas Daniel Ricciardo as soon as proudly sang Our Song throughout an interview, additional stating that it was the primary Taylor Swift monitor he ever heard, and the one which kick-started his love for her music.

And if there’s one driver who leaves little doubt, it’s Ollie Bearman. The Haas rookie admits he loves all of Taylor’s songs, with Love Story on the prime of his checklist – having added it to his race weekend playlist.

From George Harrison to Charli XCX

During his sabbatical from music, ex-Beatles icon George Harrison attended plenty of F1 races and, feeling impressed by the drivers, wrote the 1979 hit Faster as a tribute to the late Swedish racer Ronnie Peterson.

With lyrics very a lot akin to the fast-paced world of motorsport, the songs intro consists of the screaming V8 engines from the beginning of the 1978 British Grand Prix – the right approach to set the temper!

In 2000, Robbie Williams provided one other surprising crossover within the music video for his single Supreme. For this motorsport-inspired video, the singer remodeled into fictional F1 driver Bob Williams, with racing legend Jackie Stewart making a cameo look.

The video cleverly portrayed a reimagined 1971 championship battle between the pair, mixing actual archive footage lower between new scenes with Williams, and have become one among pop’s most memorable nods to the golden age of Formula 1.

On the electronic-pop aspect, will.i.am has lengthy been a pal of the paddock. Over the 2023 season, he launched two devoted tracks – The Formula (that includes Lil Wayne) and Let’s Go (that includes J Balvin) – the latter carried out reside on the opening ceremony of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix.

And earlier than BRAT topped her as pop’s cool-girl disruptor, Charli XCX was already embedding F1 into lyrics. Her monitor Vroom Vroom included a nod to the two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso, “Bubblegum-pink Ferrari, yeah I’m so bossy / Speeding like Alonso just to crash your party” – a line that expertly fused her motorsport information with the distinctive club-ready angle of her music.

F1 The Album: Ed Sheeran, Tate McRae, Rosé & extra

Directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, F1 The Movie did way more than carry the game’s adrenaline to the massive display screen.

With 17 all-original songs, the film’s soundtrack featured artists akin to Tate McRae (Just Keep Watching), Rosé (Messy), and Don Oliver and Doja Cat (Lose My Mind), and long-time F1 fan Ed Sheeran (Drive). The soundtrack has since change into a staple in followers’ on a regular basis playlists even months later.