'A noisy rock 'n' roll': How growing interest in Formula One is felt across the music world

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Beyond the engineering, the athleticism, the speed, the luxury — 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. There’s 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 — the Beatles ’ George Harrison wrote “Faster” about the series, what he called “a noisy rock ‘n’ roll”; the same spirit that inspired a Mario Andretti namecheck in A Tribe Called Quest’s “Award Tour.” But in the last few years, an accelerating interest in F1, particularly among young Americans, has made its influence on the music world — and vice versa — impossible to ignore.

There’s Bad Bunny ’s “Monaco” and Carín León’s “Por La Familia,” both of which feature Red Bull driver Sergio “Checo” Perez in their videos. The up-and-coming indie twang band Wednesday released a track called “Formula One” on their 2023 album. Musicians loving F1 is limited to no genre and no country — its appeal is as global as the sport itself.