A$AP Rocky is having a great time with Formula 1

As usual, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit was the venue for the Saudi leg of Formula 1, the second of the new world championship: Verstappen, Perez and Leclerc finished on the podium, while 18-year-old Bearman, the Ferrarista rookie who promptly replaced Sainz, ended the race in a historic seventh place. But apart from the on-track results, the race was much talked about for other reasons. The event surrounding the Grand Prix was indeed remarkable, to such an extent that the experience on offer has perhaps marked a new level in the paddock. Led by ASAP Rocky, the new creative director of the partnership between F1 and PUMA, Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, Fisher, Martin Garrix and many others, the evening of March 8 was kicked off with a high-energy post-race concert.

Fans from all over the world traveled to Saudi Arabia to experience the multimedia experience; videos of the concert flooded TikTok, and those who weren't interested in sports probably thought while watching clips of Rocky that Coachella or Rolling Loud had suddenly organized a stop in the Middle East in the middle of a Grand Prix. It must have been precisely this offer that convinced so many young people to travel to Jeddah. The concert was also open to those who had bought tickets for the race, and it is very likely that many opted for it because the chance to hear Rocky, Pharrell and colleagues all at once was objectively unrepeatable. The rapper had already set the stage alight at the 2021 Grand Prix: but it was a different Formula 1.

The circus was at an early stage in terms of combining motorsport and fashion, lifestyle and art, and there was not yet such a high percentage of casual fans at Formula 1 races. In short, the sport was at the beginning of a transitional phase in which it was becoming increasingly interesting, especially in the eyes of non-amateurs. On March 8, A$AP took to the concert stage and showed that much of the credit for this transition process (which is now complete) belongs to him. If the concert was more interesting to a circle of people than the competition itself, when Rocky took the stage, the artist will have stunned a good portion of those in attendance more by the headgear he wore than the performance of Sundress and Praise The Lord. Rocky wore a hat in the shape of a racing helmet with PUMA and Awge branding, inaugurating the most glamorous twist Formula One has pulled off in its recent history. The Formula One Group's American approach, from the appearance of rapper A$AP Rocky to racing on the Las Vegas Strip, made Formula One cool by appealing to Americans and continuing the lineage of Lewis Hamilton.

Formula 1, also thanks to the mediation of A$AP Rocky's image and his appointment as creative director of the partnership with PUMA, has set a relevant precedent in the sports sector that is in no way comparable to what has happened in the world of soccer. While athletes in soccer have managed to gradually project the image of a fashion-interested athlete who is used to attending fashion weeks, Formula 1 has achieved the feat of changing both the image of the athletes and that of an entire sport, actually opening up to a new audience. To drive this change, it was necessary to use fashion, music and the introduction of a real celebrity culture. The need to renew the perception of Formula 1 by opening it up to dialog with new spheres and new audiences has been met. An ever brighter future is on the horizon for Formula 1, and with Leclerc and Sainz wearing garments by designer Joshua Vides and the Palace Skateboards and Kappa collaboration debuting for the Alpine team, as well as the expansion of a more intense fusion with clothing, we can only see the hype for the upcoming Jeddah appearance growing by leaps and bounds.