Adele tries McLaren F1 simulator in behind-the-scenes…

Adele tries McLaren F1 simulator in behind-the-scenes visit to headquarters

British singer-songwriter Adele recently paid a surprise visit to the McLaren Technology Centre, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the Woking outfit and putting her driving skills to the test in the team's simulator.

The multi-Grammy Award winner toured the team's headquarters, describing the futuristic building as feeling like "arriving into space". The visit was motivated by Adele's son's obsession with karting.

"He just asked about it a couple of years ago, and I was like, 'All right.' I don't know many teenagers now who have an actual passion. So, I'm really trying to encourage it," she told McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown as she toured his office.

When asked if her son was obsessed with karting, she added: "Obsessed. But I'm also obsessed. But when your kid has an interest, you have to lean into it. More importantly, I think you have to be interested in it.

"And I don't think I ever expected to bond with my soon-to-be 14-year-old son about something so passionately where we argue about drivers, you know? But it's fun to have that interaction with a teenage boy in 2026. I wasn't expecting it."

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The 38-year-old also sat down with 2025 champion Lando Norris, learned about how the team radio works with team principal Andrea Stella and had a go in the simulator with Oscar Piastri.

"When you don't know that an entire universe exists, millions of people are into something, and you don't know about it, F1 kind of feels like a weird secret club," she added to Brown.

"I have my friends who are my age coming over at like 6am to watch races and I make a massive chilli, and we're all sitting there, and I just find it fascinating."

The video, posted to the official McLaren YouTube channel, had already been seen over 30,000 times at the time of writing.