Alfa Romeo’s Formula 1 pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu took part and featured in a Punjabi music video called “Try Me” by Indian artist Karan Aujla.
The pair aren’t the first F1 drivers to feature in a music video, with Lewis Hamilton featuring in a Stormzy video and Sebastien Vettel seen driving as part of a Melanie Fiona production. However, the unusual nature of both drivers from a team getting involved with a foreign artist sounds almost too good to be true.
The reasoning behind the cameo is a result of the Alfa Romeo team’s title sponsor, Stake, with whom Punjab artist Aujla has an extensive partnership. The historic Italian outfit announced back in January that the team would be renamed to Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake, as part of a multi-year sponsorship deal.
In the music video, the two drivers had the opportunity to showcase their skills in the Alfa Romeo Giulia road car. There is also footage included of the current Alfa Romeo C43 F1 car shared from the team’s filming day earlier this season at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. Lastly, both Bottas and Guanyu are seen strutting their stuff alongside Aujla in full Alfa Romeo racing suits.
Indian artist Aujla had already experienced success in the charts earlier this year by reaching number one in both the UK Punjab and UK Asian charts with the song, "52 Bars". His newest album, “Making Memories”, is what features this Alfa Romeo collaboration on the song, “Try Me”.
The duo of Bottas and Guanyu first became team-mates in 2022, when the Chinese driver graduated from Formula 2 to partner the Finn at Alfa Romeo. In their first year together, the team achieved a solid sixth place in the constructors’ championship. This season Alfa Romeo have struggled more with car development and currently sit down in ninth.
Despite this, the two have continued complimenting each other well. Throughout 2023, Guanyu has made clear improvements compared to his more experienced race-winning team-mate, closing the gap in the inter-team battle.