What comes to mind when you think “Formula One”? Perhaps it’s the scene in Cars where Luigi and Guido eagerly meet Lightning McQueen, only to lose that energy when they realize that he does not know any Ferraris’. Or, maybe it’s the newest movie of the same name starring Brad Pitt. Either way, Formula One has had an uptick in popularity recently, especially among the American people.

Formula One could be seen as “traditionally” European; the European sibling to Indycar, and the European uncle’s cousin’s dog’s brother you never even knew you had until you found them buried on an ancestry site to Nascar. Formula One is a favored sport, but only to people on the other side of the pond…until recently. This popularity comes down to one thing: TikTok.

TikTok is one of the biggest media tyrants in the world at the moment, with it’s content being able to reach most corners of the globe. Really, if you have a niche, you can find it on TikTok, and Formula One is no exception to this rule. There is a large community of fans fueling the content, and more content leads to more reach, which leads to more fans, and so the cycle continues. Particularly, a niche that has motivated the increase in fans is the edit community. For the uninformed, “edits” are clips of someone or something spliced together with music and effects, oftentimes seen as an art form.

Enthusiasts are also able to get their Formula One news on TikTok, with many vloggers posting short video essays and recaps of races, events, and other matters happening within the racing world. In addition to this, advertisements are also commonly seen on TikTok. One thing that was recently promoted with the help of TikTok was the Formula One movie starring Brad Pitt. To add onto the publicity, the Formula One fan base also began to talk about it as well, bringing up their own predictions for the feature.

Altogether, TikTok has been a powerhouse of interpolating promotional material for the sport into the mainstream. As TikTok continues to influence the major media, and humans continue to get their news faster and faster, we can only wonder how the American racing world will grow from here.