Pop icon Adele surprised everyone with a visit to McLaren’s headquarters in Woking—the British singer even tested the team’s Formula 1 simulator
British singer-songwriter Adele recently paid a surprise visit to the McLaren Technology Center. There, she got a behind-the-scenes look at the Woking-based racing team and demonstrated her driving skills in the team’s simulator.
The multiple Grammy winner toured the team’s headquarters and described the futuristic building, saying it felt like “arriving in space.” The visit was prompted by Adele’s son’s great passion for karting.
“He just asked for it a few years ago, and I thought to myself, ‘All right.’ I don’t know many teenagers these days who have a real passion. That’s why I really try to encourage it,” she told McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown during a tour of his office.
Child Hooked on Karting
When asked if her son was obsessed with karting, she added: “Obsessed. But so am I. When your child has an interest, you have to get involved. More than that, I think you have to take an interest in it yourself.”
“And I probably never would have expected to build such a passionate connection with my soon-to-be 14-year-old son over something where we argue about drivers, you know? But it’s fun to have that interaction with a teenager in 2026. I didn’t expect that.”
The 38-year-old also sat down with the 2025 champion, Lando Norris, had team principal Andrea Stella explain how pit-to-car radio works, and did a few laps in the simulator with Oscar Piastri.
Formula 1 “fascinating”
“If you don’t know that there’s a whole universe out there that millions of people are passionate about, and you yourself have no idea about it, then Formula 1 kind of feels like a strange, secret club,” she added in her conversation with Brown.
“My friends who are my age come over at six in the morning to watch the races. I cook a huge pot of chili, we all sit there together, and I just find it fascinating.”