Rihanna in Balenciaga, Kylie Minogue in Stella McCartney, Simone Ashley in Pucci, Lupita Nyong’o in Chanel, Irina Shayk in a naked dress: the place to see multiple Vogue cover stars in the same place sporting the latest looks is no longer just at fashion week. Flick over to the sports channels on alternate Sundays from March to December and you’ll see them rubbing shoulders in the world’s most exclusive car park: the Formula 1 grid.
It’s not just fashion royalty, but Hollywood and music A-listers who are increasingly getting papped trackside – hello Brad Pitt, Justin Bieber, Florence Hugh, Priyanka Chopra, Paris Hilton and all the Hemsworth siblings.
If it seems as though the F1 grid is the new place to be seen, then you’d be right(ish). Right because never before in its history has there been such a starry turnout at each race; ‘ish’ because a quick look back through history shows that it’s always provided a playground for the glitterati – from Grace Kelly in the ’60s in Monaco to Kate and Naomi in the ’90s (the latter is still a regular).
And if that begs the question, “Why?” The answer is, “Is it any wonder?” With its high stakes, personal drive, team effort and intensive pressure leading up to a highly performative showcase with millions of eyes watching on, the worlds of F1, fashion and entertainment share plenty of common ground.
“There’s so much to be learned between industries,” says Sky Sports presenter, Natalie Pinkham, who has been covering Formula 1 since 2012 and has her feet on the grid for the majority of the year. “We’ve had a lot of football managers wanting to come down to learn about [the discipline and teamwork] of the F1 world over the years, and I think the same can be said for fashion, film and music. There’s always been a very long enduring relationship between F1 and music and living a fast and glamorous lifestyle, and a lot of musicians are interested in what makes a driver tick, what makes them go that fast, and risk everything?”
Despite its long-time popularity with celebs, F1’s increasing popularity is, however, undeniable and is by design rather than coincidence. Since the sport’s current owners, Liberty Media, took the reins from Bernie Ecclestone and co in 2017, there has been a huge drive to open up the sport to new audiences.
Thanks to its participation in Netflix’s wildly popular Drive to Survive (the fly-on-the-wall documentary that follows the private subplots of each of the 10 teams and their two drivers), and opening up broadcasting rights to 181 countries, the sport is bigger than ever. A call to F1 HQ reveals that it has seen a growth of 70 million fans across its social-media channels in the last six years, due, in part, to hosting famous faces and the respective fanbases they pull in.
“Of course, it’s mainly about the racing, but F1 has always been about the glitz and glamour too,” says an F1 spokesperson. “Today, sport, music and fashion are more closely intertwined than ever and the biggest celebrities transcend all three – that balance helps us get F1 in front of new audiences and brings new fans into our sport. There are few events outside of an F1 race that can bring together the biggest film stars, music artists, athletes, designers, influencers, creatives and even world leaders in one place – it’s a truly unique environment.”
With an increased spotlight has come increased interest from fashion brands looking to capitalise on its popularity, and where brands go, their ambassadors follow. Aside from the watch brands who have always targeted F1’s wealthy fanbase, labels less obviously connected with the sport – including Louis Vuitton, Palm Angels and Hugo Boss – are all active participants in sponsorships and special projects. This year, Chanel produced an F1-inspired T-shirt that went viral and A$AP Rocky’s first collection as creative director of Puma X F1 sold out.
“The fashion world has now realised the potential that the sport has to reach global audiences,” seven-time world champion and global ambassador for the sport, Lewis Hamilton, told the Business of Fashion earlier this year.
When it comes to impressive A-list attendance, few events actually boast the kind of guest list F1 currently does, save perhaps for the Met Ball, Wimbledon and actual fashion week, but even those happen nowhere near the frequency of the 23 annual F1 races (think the scale of the Super Bowl, but make it every other week).
One place we get to clock them is Sky Sports’s grid walk conducted by driver-turned-pundit, Martin Brundle, which sees him chase after drivers and team principles, but mainly the hospitality guests on the grid minutes before lights out.
Not everyone is happy about it. The conversations around F1 becoming more spectacle than sport are becoming more frequent, especially in light of flashy new additions to the calendar in Las Vegas and Miami (something drivers have also aired their concerns about). Meanwhile, over on the F1 Instagram account, when it posts pictures of celebrity attendees, its followers who identify as “legacy” F1 fans aren’t very impressed – assuming (frequently incorrectly) that they’re not “real fans”.
“There are some Formula 1 fans who would be happy if their sport was the best-kept secret on the planet, but I don’t think it should be,” says Sky Sports commentator and long-term voice of the sport, David “Crofty” Croft. “If we can have [celebrity] personalities with broad appeal [attend] so that in five or 10 years time we’re a sport that everyone has heard of, knows about, hopefully, enjoys, potentially loves, I see no downside whatsoever.”
Whether they are fans or not, is irrelevant, he laughs. “You’re telling me everyone that attends the Super Bowl is a massive American football fan? They may be there not just for the sport but the spectacle and awareness and what it brings them, [but] if they raise the profile of the event, that’s a plus. If they go away and tell their circle of friends and contacts how amazing it is, it’s a plus.”
Having celebrity attendance doesn’t just bring in new fans, but help bring fresh perspective to what has historically been seen as an elite and inaccessible sport. The most influential celebrity on any given week on the grid in that regard is also one that has a seat behind the wheel, says Pinkham.
“We really need to thank Lewis Hamilton for trailblazing to this extent,” she says of the Mercedes star driver. “He’s the first driver for a very long time, perhaps ever, who’s commanded the back and the front pages of the press. He’s bold with his fashion, he’s prepared to take risks and he’s prepared to talk to a different audience and not feel straitjacketed by those who have gone before him. He cares so much about things outside racing, and because he cares, he sets the agenda. We should be very grateful to him because he’s opened the doors and literally welcomed everyone in. People feel included now in a way they never have before.”
Hamilton and his follow famous role models have also helped open up the sport “to a whole new generation of young female fans who are absolutely enthralled by it”, says Pinkham. “When I started it didn’t feel as welcoming, particularly to young women and now it does. I’m talking to Vogue about it and when would you ever think that about Formula 1? I crave more women in the sport and if anyone reads this piece and thinks you know what? I might just watch [a race] that’s great.”
Fans – old and new – should expect to be seeing even more of F1 on the fashion and entertainment radar for the foreseeable.
The 2024 season that is gearing up to start in March is bookended by the new Ferrari film starring Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz and the release of the hotly anticipated F1 film starring Pitt, produced by Hamilton and directed by Jerry Bruckheimer, that has been filming at races this year and is currently slated for an early 2025 release.
The attention can only enhance things, says Pinkham. “Formula 1 has always been packaged with glamour and entertainment,” she says. “But once the lights go out, it’s always about the race.”
This article first appeared on vogue.co.uk
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