F1's Theme Song, Sports For Nature, and 400 Grand Prixs!!
Hi there! Welcome to Track Limits, a weekly F1 newsletter where we break down the major headlines and dive into the questions, trends, and topics that spark our collective curiosity. Nothing is off-topic and a little fun is always part of the mix!
Good evening!! I don’t know why, but the Mexican Grand Prix always brings a smile to my face. It’s a fun track, and the overall vibe of the weekend is chaotic, colorful, and a total overload to the senses. With six races in eight weeks, I think we needed an exciting weekend like Mexico City to get us through this final stint. Luckily for us, it actually DELIVERED this year!!
Ferrari clinched its first back-to-back victory of the season. Norris and Verstappen continued their fierce wheel-to-wheel battles. Perez was nowhere near the points, making his future at Red Bull look increasingly precarious. Haas wrapped up the weekend with an impressive P7 and P9, multiple drivers picked up penalties and the racing rules are shaping up to be a hot topic that’s here to stay!!
I’m hardly expecting any major shenanigans outside the circuit during this triple-header. Let’s be honest - most drivers, team principals, and teams don’t have the time or headspace for anything besides recovering from one race, traveling to the next, and doing it all over again. And yes, I was hoping a cheeky driver might prove me wrong, but even Sainz and Norris going out to celebrate their podium didn’t qualify as a worthy shenanigan!!
So, we were left with whatever the teams and media could capture amidst the hustle and bustle of race week - which, this year, wasn’t bad at all!!
Even though Alonso missed media day because he was feeling a bit under the weather, that didn’t stop us from celebrating his epic milestone - racing in his 400th Grand Prix!! While this doesn’t make him the oldest driver in Formula One’s history - as in the early days, racing was a thing for middle-aged men! It does, however, make him the most experienced one, having spent more time in a F1 car than any other driver. In fact, he has driven enough kilometers to get him all the way to the moon!!!
The F1 social media team, however, chose violence by highlighting how old each of the other drivers was when the Spaniard made his debut!! Fascinating no doubt, especially since a bunch of them weren’t even born yet! But I’m not so sure he appreciated that little reminder!!!
One thing everyone did enjoy was Leclerc stepping into the paddock in a Mariachi outfit!! Not only did it actually look good on him - way better than some of his previous outfits if you ask me! - but he fully committed to the bit, producing an amazing video for his special helmet reveal with his team dressed up as well. I have to hand it to Leclerc, he doesn’t mind being the butt of the joke, which makes him annoyingly endearing!!
Meanwhile, Sainz spent the weekend singing at various dinners and events - somewhat surprising but also perfectly fits my mental picture of him!! Bottas finally indulged in an authentic Mexican taco, a moment that feels random but isn’t as he has been celebrating Taco Tuesday for months now!! Colapinto shared his mate with reluctant Albon, Gasly kept up his annual tradition of playing a football game with the team and speaking of games, drivers had plenty of playtime this weekend!! We saw giant Jenga, a weird real-life seated foosball, spicy salsa challenges, and lots of sugar skull painting - Oh, and there were even rumors swirling around that drivers picked their Secret Santa!!
Fans at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez probably didn’t see all that but they got to watch someone else play pretend this weekend, as Brad Pitt was spotted driving around and celebrating as if he’d just won the Mexican Grand Prix! So, does that mean hoping to see Alonso win a race in the upcoming seasons isn’t so delusional after all? I mean, Hollywood seems to think a driver in his 60s winning F1 races is believable?! Not trying to be mean, just being hopeful!!
Piastri revealed he wants to learn Spanish so he can understand Colapinto‘s interviews because apparently the Argentine is very funny - which feels like that meme going around where people claim they’re funnier in their native language!! As a non-Spanish speaker myself, I’ve heard the same claims and I have to say I’m definitely feeling left out of all the Francomania content!! So I’m seriously considering joining Piastri and reviving my limited Spanish just to see if he’s really that funny!
Someone who looks like he won’t be invited to join the drivers for any type of fun is Lawson! Somehow, in just two races, he has managed to get into beefs with multiple drivers, the most notable ones being Pérez and Alonso. I understand he wants to prove he deserves a full-time seat, but angering Red Bull and the self-proclaimed “villain of F1” at a pivotal moment in his career wouldn’t be my go-to move!! But what do I know?!!
Finally, and even though he’s not on the grid anymore, I will always make space for Vettel news! This time around, he seems to be traveling through the Amazon with Greenpeace, and I have a sneaking suspicion he’ll be at Interlagos for yet another “There Is Still a Race to Win” project - which his latest video seems to confirm!!
F1’s Theme Song
Ever since Brian Tyler, the renowned composer and conductor known for his film, television, and video game scores, created the 3:27-minute-long theme song for Formula One in 2018, it has become an earworm millions have happily embraced!
Although a masterpiece on its own, the Mariachi-style version of the song took F1 by storm when it debuted at the Mexican Grand Prix in 2022. Since then, it has become a staple every time F1 rolls into Mexico City, much to the delight of fans. This year was no exception, reigniting a two-year-long debate: why does only Mexico have its own version of the theme song?
ZOOMING OUT:
While Formula One sees itself primarily as a sporting and technical competition, for millions of fans, it transcends mere racing and has become an integral part of their pop culture diet. Once considered tangential, elements like fashion, literature, music, and cinema are now crucial gateways for new fans and essential tools for sports leagues to connect with younger and increasingly female audiences.
Fashion and music have emerged as central components in this new way of experiencing sports. As such, it’s no surprise that major leagues like the MLS, NBA, NFL, NHL, and teams in the Premier League have recognized this shift, and created executive roles to bridge the gap between sports and these industries. From creative directors and fashion editors facilitating collaborations with fashion houses and designers to heads of music integrating music into the game experience, these roles have become pivotal in enhancing fan engagement as well as helping sports be culturally relevant.
But unlike these leagues, Formula One’s relationship with the fashion and music industry has largely been defined by isolated partnerships. Examples of this are Amazon Music’s sponsorship of Alpine, Camila Cabello hosting an F1Academy event in Miami, McLaren’s partnership with Abercombie & Fitch, or Mercedes’ collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger. Fandom has also played a significant role, with well-known recording artists fans of the sport creating songs inspired by F1 and fangirls reviving classic tracks by tying them to iconic on-track moments in fan edits. Promoters such as COTA, Silverstone, and Singapore were among the first in F1 to recognise the many benefits of integrating music into the weekend experience for ticket holders.
However, this absence of a cohesive championship-wide strategy highlights a missed opportunity, especially when it comes to the music industry. Let’s not forget that Liberty Media, F1’s commercial rights owner, also owns music assets like Insomniac Events, Sirius XM, and Live Nation.
That said, the overwhelming positive reception to something as simple as a rendition of the F1 theme song exemplifies the unique potential that Formula One's global scope offers to leverage pop culture as a storytelling tool and a means of differentiation. With over 20 distinctive locations on the calendar, each Grand Prix has the potential to become a true cultural touchpoint by introducing rich layers of local expression and cultural context, be it through fashion, music, or other art forms. This not only enhances the weekend experience for millions of fans both at home and at the circuit, but it also creates a more compelling investment proposition for countries looking to enter the billion-dollar sports tourism industry.
So, why isn't Formula One tapping into pop culture? Why isn't it looking at other leagues and benchmarking itself? Why doesn’t it have dedicated executive roles for partnerships with these crucial industries?
As consumer habits continue to evolve, so does the way sport is consumed and marketed. And while Formula One prides itself on a culture of innovation, excellence, and risk-taking when it comes to technical development, its apparent hesitation to embrace a similar approach in marketing is both surprising and potentially problematic as competition within the sports and entertainment landscape intensifies.
Sports For Nature Framework
Last week the FIA announced its participation in the Sport For Nature Framework, a global joint initiative involving the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the International Olympic Committee, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy.
According to the FIA, the signing of the Sports For Nature Declaration is part of its ongoing commitment to promoting practices that support sustainable development within both its operations and championships.
THE CONTEXT:
Motorsport, like all sports, is deeply tied to nature and heavily reliant on natural resources. Yet, this relationship has often been one-sided, with motorsport benefiting from clean air, healthy ecosystems, and vast natural spaces while making limited contributions to their preservation. This dynamic has fostered a tendency to take these resources for granted, leading to complex dependencies in supply chains, schedules, and systems that assume the natural environment will remain unchanged.
However, this assumption is far from accurate. Formula One, for instance, has experienced firsthand the disruptive impact of extreme weather and deteriorating environmental conditions on competition. In 2023 alone, a race was canceled due to heavy flooding, and others were nearly postponed due to knee-deep rainfall and hazardous air quality caused by widespread wildfires in nearby regions.
Although most sports organizations have started to engage in sustainability initiatives - focusing primarily on climate change and goals like emissions reduction or net-zero - awareness of the severity of biodiversity loss and nature degradation has been limited. In response to this knowledge gap, the Sports for Nature (S4N) framework was created, providing a structured pathway for sports organizations to champion nature and contribute to its protection and restoration.
Build on four core principles - protect natural habitats, restore and regenerate ecosystems, assess and mitigate risks to nature in their operations and supply chains, and inspire positive nature action across their networks - the framework encourage organizations to go beyond surface-level actions, urging them to embed nature and biodiversity considerations into the fabric of their operations.
To do so, signatories have to develop and implement action plans that support these principles and report annually on their progress, which a panel of independent experts reviews as an accountability measure. They also gain access to resources, training, and expert guidance, plus opportunities to join working groups on shared challenges, fostering peer learning and best-practice sharing.
One element of particular importance to Formula One is how global sports entering the S4N framework are given a critical role in raising awareness. With its unparalleled reach and ability to engage diverse stakeholders - from fans and athletes to organizations and governments - F1 holds a uniquely influential position it will now need to use to advocate for nature preservation. Which will be an interesting challenge, considering the sport’s public image and some of its partners.
Nevertheless, all of this seems to suggest that by becoming a S4N signatory, the FIA has initiated a coordinated effort to tackle nature and biodiversity challenges, leveraging motorsports unique resources and capabilities to foster industry-wide synergies and drive cultural change. Gradually moving away from important but isolated initiatives like Vettel’s “Buzzin’ Corner” or the Circuit of the Americas’ tree-planting efforts, while building systems and infrastructure that promotes industry resilience.
Hopefully ensuring that fans and athletes can continue to enjoy racing for generations to come.
This week’s recommended content!!
🗞 READ
What are F1’s racing rules? A look at race stewards and drivers’ battle for clarity | Sebastian Vettel criticises ‘culture of shame’ in speaking out on sustainability | How Alpine F1’s Oliver Oakes went from karting glory to the sport’s youngest team boss | Fernando Alonso: an F1 genius too often in wrong place at wrong time | Ladies First: The Travel Startup Bringing Together Female F1 Fans | Why Ferrari’s Suddenly a Surprise F1 Title Contender
🎧 LISTEN
Lifting the lid: Inside the Tech Fueling Formula One Success | The Cooldown Room: Cheerleaders, Dogs of F1, and Football Fails | F1 Explains: Overtaking, Braking, and Qualifying - Stoffel Vandoorne Anwsers Your Questions | Red Flags Podcast: Liam Lawson on Racing Yuki, Playing Guitar and F1 Drivers’ Group Chat
Photo Credit: F1 Paddock Club