How F1 became pop music’s fastest obsession

Taylor Swift’s latest album The Life of a Showgirl dropped on the same weekend as the Singapore Grand Prix, and F1 teams wasted no time weaving its lyrics into their social feeds, with several drivers having been already declared Swifties.

Then came the announcement that Bad Bunny will headline next year’s Super Bowl – an artist who’s already turned the sport and drivers into lyrical shorthand to great acclaim.

However, it turns out Formula 1 has been long been making its way into the music sphere long before the current wave of superstar shoutouts. Here’s how F1 has sped its way into the global music charts.

Bad Bunny: Puerto Rico’s rhythm x Formula 1

His 2024 album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS brought a mix of irresistible dancing and nostalgia across social media. Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny is a music superstar – he boasts over 107 billion streams, three Grammy awards, 11 Latin Grammys, and has just been announced as the next Super Bowl half-time show performer. The latin music icon has also declared his love for Formula 1 within 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 cars are faster in person) are two lines from his famous track MONACO, which describes the luxury flair of the city – home to Charles Leclerc and the iconic Grand Prix. He also raps, “La vida va como Verstappen en Fórmula 1…” (Life goes by like Verstappen in Formula 1) in his song Andrea.

The artist built on that success with LOS PITS, directly alluding to the F1 pit lane. But as a superfan, Bad Bunny went further this year by forming a historic partnership with Mercedes and Adidas Originals to put his home nation on the map, taking part in the celebrations where fans witnessed a Formula 1 car being fired up in Puerto Rico for the very first time.

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

Global superstar Taylor Swift is more often associated with the NFL, with her fiancé being Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, but some of the Swifties who also share a passion for F1 did not let certain lyrics from her songs go unnoticed.

Released in 2024, The Tortured Poets Department album includes the track imgonnagetyouback, where she sings: “I’m an Aston Martin that you steered straight into the ditch”. Needless to say, both the team and drivers seized the opportunity immediately to feature it on social media.

Swift’s highly anticipated record, The Life of a Showgirl, was released on 3 October, coinciding with the Singapore Grand Prix. Most teams – especially McLaren, since the album was papaya-orange colour-coded – could not resist joining the trend and adapted their social posts with a glittery Broadway aesthetic and included her music on their posts.

One specific instance came from Williams, who immediately picked up on the “smooth operators” lyric in the track Eldest Daughter and linked it to Carlos Sainz, who had already turned Sade’s original into his celebratory signature song.

After wrapping her blockbuster 1989 World Tour at the end of 2015, the 2016 United States Grand Prix became the stage for Taylor Swift’s one and only show of that year – a glitter-drenched, festival-style performance to an audience of 80,000 fans who came from all corners of the globe for F1 racing and stayed for a 15-song setlist that transformed the race weekend into a pop spectacle.

Drivers in their Swiftie era

With a little help from their partners, Swiftie fever has been spreading through the paddock over the past few years.

George Russell leaned into the hype, as he showed up at Wembley last summer for The Eras Tour and was captured on camera belting out every lyric flawlessly. Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, embraced the ritual of friendship-bracelet swapping during the Milan leg of the show. He was joined by Pierre Gasly, and the pair – both attending with their partners – vibed to pop’s biggest phenomenon.

Others took the karaoke route. Lando Norris, in full cowboy attire, taught Oscar Piastri the lyrics to Love Story during McLaren’s “Finish the Lyric” challenge, while Daniel Ricciardo once proudly sang Our Song during an interview, further stating that it was the first Taylor Swift track he ever heard, and the one that kick-started his love for her music.

And if there’s one driver who leaves no doubt, it’s Ollie Bearman. The Haas rookie admits he loves all of Taylor’s songs, with Love Story at the top of his list – 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 a number of F1 races and, feeling inspired by the drivers, wrote the 1979 hit Faster as a tribute to the late Swedish racer Ronnie Peterson.

With lyrics very much akin to the fast-paced world of motorsport, the songs intro consists of the screaming V8 engines from the start of the 1978 British Grand Prix – the perfect way to set the mood!

In 2000, Robbie Williams offered another unexpected crossover in the music video for his single Supreme. For this motorsport-inspired video, the singer transformed into fictional F1 driver Bob Williams, with racing legend Jackie Stewart making a cameo appearance.

The video cleverly portrayed a reimagined 1971 championship battle between the pair, blending real archive footage cut between new scenes with Williams, and became one of pop’s most memorable nods to the golden age of Formula 1.

On the electronic-pop side, will.i.am has long been a friend of the paddock. Over the 2023 season, he launched two dedicated tracks – The Formula (featuring Lil Wayne) and Let’s Go (featuring J Balvin) – the latter performed live at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix.

And before BRAT crowned her as pop’s cool-girl disruptor, Charli XCX was already embedding F1 into lyrics. Her track 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 knowledge with the unique club-ready attitude of her music.

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

Directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, F1 The Movie did much more than bring the sport’s adrenaline to the big screen.

With 17 all-original songs, the movie's soundtrack featured artists such as 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 become a staple in fans’ everyday playlists even months later.