鈥楢 noisy rock 鈥榥鈥� roll': How growing interest in Formula One is felt across the music world
FILE - Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, of Mexico, left, walks with Puerto Rican reggaeton musician Bad Bunny before a Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race at Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Fla., on May 8, 2022. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (APPhoto/Lynne Sladky, File)
FILE - U.S. hip hop music group The Black Eyed Peas members, Fergie, from left, will.i.am and apl.de.ap, perform at the F1 Rocks concert on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, in Singapore. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (APPhoto/Joan Leong, File)
FILE - George Russell drives during a demonstration along the Las Vegas Strip at a launch party for the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix on Nov. 5, 2022. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (APPhoto/John Locher, File)
This cover image released by Atlantic Records shows 鈥淒rive鈥� by lifelong Formula One fan Ti毛sto. In some ways, his album centers on the concept of driving and F1. (Atlantic Records via 麻豆传媒app)
FILE - Colombian singer Maluma, left, and Carlos O帽oro Sainz visit the Ferrari garage before the start of the Formula One Miami Grand Prix at the Miami Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Fla., on May 7, 2023. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via 麻豆传媒app, File)
FILE - Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, of Mexico, left, walks with Puerto Rican reggaeton musician Bad Bunny before a Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race at Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Fla., on May 8, 2022. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (APPhoto/Lynne Sladky, File)
FILE - Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, of Mexico, left, walks with Puerto Rican reggaeton musician Bad Bunny before a Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race at Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Fla., on May 8, 2022. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (APPhoto/Lynne Sladky, File)
FILE - U.S. hip hop music group The Black Eyed Peas members, Fergie, from left, will.i.am and apl.de.ap, perform at the F1 Rocks concert on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, in Singapore. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (APPhoto/Joan Leong, File)
FILE - U.S. hip hop music group The Black Eyed Peas members, Fergie, from left, will.i.am and apl.de.ap, perform at the F1 Rocks concert on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, in Singapore. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (APPhoto/Joan Leong, File)
FILE - George Russell drives during a demonstration along the Las Vegas Strip at a launch party for the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix on Nov. 5, 2022. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (APPhoto/John Locher, File)
FILE - George Russell drives during a demonstration along the Las Vegas Strip at a launch party for the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix on Nov. 5, 2022. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (APPhoto/John Locher, File)
This cover image released by Atlantic Records shows 鈥淒rive鈥� by lifelong Formula One fan Ti毛sto. In some ways, his album centers on the concept of driving and F1. (Atlantic Records via 麻豆传媒app)
This cover image released by Atlantic Records shows 鈥淒rive鈥� by lifelong Formula One fan Ti毛sto. In some ways, his album centers on the concept of driving and F1. (Atlantic Records via 麻豆传媒app)
FILE - Colombian singer Maluma, left, and Carlos O帽oro Sainz visit the Ferrari garage before the start of the Formula One Miami Grand Prix at the Miami Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Fla., on May 7, 2023. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via 麻豆传媒app, File)
FILE - Colombian singer Maluma, left, and Carlos O帽oro Sainz visit the Ferrari garage before the start of the Formula One Miami Grand Prix at the Miami Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Fla., on May 7, 2023. As the sport grows in popularity, race weekends are transforming into mini music festivals with A-list talent performing after the day鈥檚 event. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via 麻豆传媒app, File)
LOS ANGELES (麻豆传媒app) 鈥� Beyond the engineering, the athleticism, the speed, the luxury 鈥� fans love the sound of Formula One.
The fierce rhythms of a V6 turbocharged hybrid engine; the sticky staccato of a rushed downshift; sexy, loud zooms. 罢丑别谤别鈥檚 a real musical appreciation for the elite motorsport. Engines are described using RPMs, the same way vinyl records are.
It is no wonder that F1 has long been an enthusiasm of musicians and music fans for decades 鈥� the Beatles 鈥� George Harrison wrote 鈥淔aster鈥� about the series, what he called 鈥渁 noisy rock 鈥榥鈥� roll鈥�; the same spirit that inspired a Mario Andretti namecheck in A Tribe Called Quest鈥檚 鈥淎ward Tour.鈥� But in the last few years, an accelerating interest in F1, particularly among young Americans, has made its influence on the music world 鈥� and vice versa 鈥� impossible to ignore.
罢丑别谤别鈥檚 Bad Bunny 鈥檚 鈥淢onaco鈥� and Car铆n Le贸n鈥檚 鈥淧or La Familia,鈥� both of which feature Red Bull driver Sergio 鈥淐heco鈥� Perez in their videos. The up-and-coming indie twang band Wednesday released a track called 鈥淔ormula One鈥� on their 2023 album. Musicians loving F1 is limited to no genre and no country 鈥� its appeal is as global as the sport itself.
A prime example is this week鈥檚 inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will see F1 drivers zipping down the strip, bathed in the electric glow of its opulent casinos. Music will mix with the motorsport at countless events beginning Wednesday, including an opening ceremony with will.i.am, J Balvin, Ti毛sto, John Legend, Keith Urban, Kylie Minogue, Thirty Seconds to Mars and more.
Concerts have become an expected addition to the F1 experience, and the trend has made its way stateside over the last decade.
Since 2012, Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, had been home to the sole U.S. F1 race 鈥� until the inclusion of Miami last year and Vegas in 2023. Glynn Wedgewood, COTA鈥檚 senior vice president of music and entertainment, says the track first introduced live music performances with Elton John in 2015. Since then, Taylor Swift, Imagine Dragons and Pink have performed. By 2019, COTA was boasting three days of performances. 2023鈥檚 lineup alone included The Killers, Queen with Adam Lambert and Ti毛sto.
That lineup 鈥� which leans more rock-oriented for the COTA audience, compared to the Latin lineups of Miami, is 鈥渁 testament to what we鈥檝e seen over the past several years,鈥� Wedgewood says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a young rock audience.鈥�
Wedgewood references the effects of Netflix鈥檚 鈥淒rive to Survive鈥�, the popular docuseries that successfully altered the demographics traditionally associated with the world鈥檚 most luxurious motorsport (older, wealthy, male) and opened it up to a younger generation 鈥� particularly Americans. In 2018, 265,000 people attended the COTA race. In 2023, that number jumped to 432,000. That translates to television viewership as well. According to ESPN, F1 viewership in 2022 jumped significantly among teenagers, women and the key 18-34-year-old demographic.
The connection between music and Formula One, for Wedgewood, is innate.
鈥淭he majority of people listen to music in their car,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost subconsciously ingrained in our DNA 鈥� that racing goes hand-in-hand with music.鈥�
This year, will.i.am became Formula One鈥檚 first Global Artist in Residence, which he pitched to Formula One Group CEO Stefano Domenicali as a series of musical collaborations celebrating the sport as well as an opportunity to bring the concert aspect of F1 to a global audience 鈥� not just the ticket holders lucky enough to see it live. The role led the Black Eyed Peas鈥� member to release his first solo single in over a decade: 鈥淭he Formula,鈥� featuring Lil Wayne. That was followed by 鈥淟et鈥檚 Go,鈥� another F1-inspired track, which features J Balvin.
will.i.am has been a huge F1 fan since the Peas performed at the first Singapore Grand Prix held at the Marina Bay Circuit in 2008. Since then, he鈥檚 noticed a disconnect between the live music and entertainment experiences at F1 races and what鈥檚 broadcast on TV 鈥� as well as missed opportunity for artists.
鈥淲hy aren鈥檛 people releasing music around the time they鈥檙e playing their F1 event?鈥� he asks, comparing it to the Super Bowl 鈥� for which artists frequently release new music in advance of their (televised) halftime performances. 鈥淎rtists in Residency can really help bridge that gap.鈥�
Ti毛sto, a lifelong F1 fan, released the album 鈥淒rive鈥� in April, featuring an F1 racing helmet on the cover.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the car and racing, it鈥檚 about the environment around it, the excitement around it,鈥� he says of a race weekend. 鈥湴粘蟊鸢疴�檚 an organic connection there.鈥�
He believes the evolving experience of going to a Grand Prix mirrors growing interest in the sport, particularly in the U.S. and with young people.
鈥淭hey want to see the race, you know, but they want to party. They want to have a drink. It is the perfect moment to create a festival,鈥� he says.
Formula One drivers, too, have been getting into music. Ferrari F1 driver Charles LeClerc signed with music management company Verdigris earlier this year and has been releasing instrumental compositions; Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, is no stranger to music making, having been featured on Christina Aguilera鈥檚 2018 track 鈥淧ipe鈥� under the pseudonym XNDA. Chloe Stroll, the sister of Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll, has built a nascent singer-songwriter career celebrated by the sport鈥檚 fans.
鈥淲hat made me like the sport was music. I went to the sport playing music,鈥� says will.i.am. 鈥淚鈥檝e always loved cars, but why do I like F1 and not (IndyCar)? What is it about F1 that makes me like the sport? That is their tiptoe into this cultural hug,鈥� he says, referencing F1鈥檚 embrace of fashion, music, and art.
鈥淭hey see the value of different disciplines coming in, celebrating their sport,鈥� he added.
The modern marriage of F1 and music hasn鈥檛 been without bumps. Despite the influx of new fans, watching races live remains an elite experience. The Vegas race is the most expensive event on this year鈥檚 calendar 鈥� and it hasn鈥檛 yet sold out. Last year鈥檚 performance-laden pre-race show in Miami was met with distaste from the F1 drivers themselves who criticized the pomp and circumstance of the driver introductions 鈥� namely that they stood too long in the Florida sun in their uniforms during prep time.
In Vegas, the opening ceremony is being held on Wednesday. Driver introductions will take place on Saturday in advance of the race.
On Thursday night, producer Mark Ronson will perform at the T-Mobile Zone at the Sphere between two racing practice sessions. The mastermind behind the 鈥淏arbie鈥� soundtrack already knows there鈥檚 a big crossover between music fans and F1 fans.
Now 鈥渨e鈥檒l find out the cross-section of F1 and 鈥楤arbie鈥� fans,鈥� he jokes.
