When F1 was acquired by Liberty Media in 2017, the sport was confronted with a stark need to modernise - for decades it had routinely put the interests of sponsors before fans. The years since have seen F1 begin work on redressing this balance - broadening the appeal of the sport, and engaging a new generation of fans. This younger audience are crucial for the sport to flourish, and increased visibility within wider culture will ultimately help to drive race views and attendance.

For the brand's first ever marketing campaign in 2018, there was a focus on reassuring the existing fanbase that the sport was in safe hands. For the launch of the 2019 F1 season there was a desire to actively engage the wider public. To move the dial and acquire new fans, the sport would need to be visible outside of autosports blogs and the backpages.

NEEEUM: the fastest remix of all time.

F1 partnered with The Chemical Brothers, longtime F1 fans, to create the fastest remix ever.

A track meticulously engineered to sound like a modern F1 car roaring past at maximum tilt - NEEEUM.

Imbued with 70 years of F1 heritage and meaning, even if people don’t follow the sport they’ll know that sound. It’s almost as iconic as the drivers and cars themselves. Making you think of the great rivalries past and present, the daring overtakes, the first-corner pile-ups. It’s the sound of racing. NEEEUM.

The remix was released as the first stage of the 2019 season launch campaign, and then pulled through into all of our season launch activity. The full-length track was released the following day, and announced as the soundtrack to the 2019 season with a blockbuster F1-themed music video.

Formula 1 is a sport with a massive, loyal global following, but lacks a representative share of the cultural conversation.

For years it has struggled to break out of the echo-chamber of its existing fanbase, and make a wider dent on popular culture.

For 2019, we wanted to hype the start of the season more than ever before, by talking to demographics who wouldn’t normally care about F1. Reaching potential fans outside of autosports blogs and the backpages, to build excitement for the sport’s return.

To do this, we approached Grammy-winners The Chemical Brothers - as pioneering sound engineers, with music to match the speed and intensity of F1, the partnership was a perfect fit.

With fans and press eagerly awaiting the release of the upcoming Chemical Brothers album, we spoke to people in new and unexpected places - building excitement for the season amongst current and future fans alike.

To tease the collaboration, The Chemical Brothers launched the fastest remix of all time - an appropriate claim for F1, the pinnacle of motorsport. Entitled ‘WGTT15000BPM F1 NEEEUM MIX’, the single was released across streaming platforms. Produced as a remix of The Chemical Brother's upcoming single, the track was accelerated to 15,000 beats per minute (BPM) to reflect the 15,000 revs per minute (RPM) that today’s hyper-complex F1 cars are capable of reaching.

The following day, the story behind the remix was unveiled as the full track was released. Announced as F1's soundtrack to the 2019 season with a blockbuster music video - featuring a stray dog, space travel, and with Formula 1 baked into the heart of the narrative.

The final stage of the collaboration was unveiled on race week - with F1's 2019 season hype film, trailing the new season of teams, drivers and cars.

This was F1’s most successful season launch campaign by a huge margin - with over 3.5x the level of engagement from the previous year. In campaign week F1 experienced its biggest ever weekly audience growth across Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Over 82,000 people ‘tuned in’ for the YouTube premiere of the music video, and it generated 1.7 million organic views within the first 3 weeks of launch. The Chemical Brothers’ YouTube total plays on video release day hit a 5 year peak.

We achieved our core goal - satisfying existing F1 fans, and also making an impact on wider pop culture. The car from the music video was included in the 2019 F1 Playstation game due to popular demand. Meanwhile our earned PR coverage was viewed by 4.58 million, with F1 appearing in titles that would never normally cover the sport - including Hypebeast, Billboard and Rolling Stone.