F1 Grid Gigs at Monza: A Divided Crowd Reaction

Laura Pausini walked onto the stage at Monza to a wall of red grandstands and a live band behind her. Engines silent, cars covered, the famed start-finish straight briefly turned into a concert venue rather than a Formula 1 grid.

F1’s Grid Gigs concept returned at the Italian Grand Prix with the Grammy-winning Italian star delivering a two-song set, sung in Italian and Spanish, in front of the tifosi. At the circuit, it felt like a showpiece moment. At home, it felt very different.

Because this time, the music didn’t just belong to the crowd at Monza. Sky Sports F1 cut away from its usual pre-race build-up to show Pausini’s performance in full, both songs broadcast live before the presenters and pundits reappeared to resume their analysis.

That decision lit up social media.

Some viewers loved it. One fan called for the idea to become part of the sport’s fabric, writing: “Make F1 grid gigs a permanent fixture please – that was absolutely brilliant and I thoroughly enjoyed it.” Another admitted they had been unconvinced by previous versions of the concept, but said Pausini’s set “can persuade me”.

The atmosphere in the stands backed that up. Packed grandstands, home hero on stage, a global sport leaning into entertainment on one of its most iconic pieces of tarmac. From Liberty Media’s perspective, this is exactly the crossover they have been chasing.

But the timing jarred with plenty of regular viewers.

Instead of final interviews, last-minute strategy talk and the usual slow tightening of tension before the formation lap, fans at home were locked into the concert feed. Some felt the show had muscled into the wrong part of the day.

“If ‘Grid Gigs’ are going to be a thing in the future, I might have to rethink when I start watching this coverage,” one fan wrote, frustrated at losing part of the traditional build-up.

“Was Sky F1 forced to show this?”

They were not alone in that suspicion. “Have FOM forced Sky F1 to show this Grid Gigs thing, I wonder? I’m pretty sure they’ve never bothered with it in the past,” another viewer asked, pointing to the novelty of the broadcast cutaway.

The reaction to the performance itself was just as polarised. Some fans branded it “embarrassing” and “drivel”, unimpressed by the intrusion of a music set into what they see as sacred pre-race territory. Others fired back with praise, calling the show “amazing” and “emotional”, seeing it as a celebration befitting F1’s visit to Italy and Pausini’s status as one of the country’s biggest musical exports.

For Pausini, this was hardly a first brush with a global sporting audience. Earlier in the summer she took to the stage at the World Cup final in New Jersey, performing alongside Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger as part of the ‘FIFA Anthem’, Desire. Sunday at Monza simply extended a year in which her music has been woven into some of sport’s grandest stages.

For Formula 1, Grid Gigs is still a relatively new experiment, but it is growing. The concept debuted in Austin last season, when country singer Drake Milligan performed before the United States Grand Prix. It reappeared in Las Vegas, where former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson took the microphone on the Strip. In May, Colombian singer-songwriter Manuel Turizo fronted the Miami edition.

Monza, though, was billed by F1 as its “biggest ever” Grid Gigs show, anchored by Pausini, the only Italian artist to have won a Grammy. The sport trumpeted the performance in advance, confirming it would be live-streamed across F1’s social media platforms. Notably, that announcement said nothing about TV rights holders being expected to carry the show live.

That gap is where the tension now sits.

On one side, a championship fight, packed calendars and a sport determined to present itself as a full-scale entertainment product, not just a two-hour race. On the other, a loyal TV audience that tunes in for tyre talk, grid walks and the slow-burn drama of pre-race coverage, not necessarily a concert.

At Monza, the music took centre stage for a few minutes. The question now is whether F1 and its broadcasters keep turning the volume up on Grid Gigs – or decide that, for many fans, the only show they want before the lights go out is the one involving cars.