The similarities have caused a stir among fans of the sport.
Koreaboo
Ahead of ALPHA DRIVE ONE’s highly anticipated debut, the group’s first teaser has sparked mixed reactions from Korean netizens following accusations of plagiarism.
The BOYS II PLANET group dropped the pre-launch scheduler for their pre-debut single this week. Titled “Formula,” the song’s teaser features the members’ names and teaser details styled on a racing car steering wheel.
ALPHA DRIVE ONE (알파드라이브원) Pre-Launch Scheduler#ALPHADRIVEONE #ALD1 #알파드라이브원 pic.twitter.com/qEwmOoHHBg
— ALPHA DRIVE ONE (@ALD1_official) November 14, 2025
While many fans were excited to see what appears to be a Formula One concept in K-Pop, the teaser quickly became the subject of a viral post on Korean community site TheQoo — where netizens claim the group is blatantly plagiarizing F1 racing team Scuderia Ferrari.
Several netizens slammed ALPHA DRIVE ONE’s agency, WAKEONE, for what they see as an obvious copy, with many bringing up the company’s track record. In July this year, labelmates ZEROBASEONE faced similar reactions to their single “SLAM DUNK” after many alleged that the concept, fan chant, and music video were plagiarizing the Japanese manga Slam Dunk.
On the flip side, others are defending the teaser as a homage.
Reactions seem to be split between idol fans and F1 fans, with many K-Pop listeners arguing that the design resembles and amalgamation of various Formula One steering wheels rather than copying Ferrari directly.
- “WAKEONE had that Slam Dunk mess before too, seems like they have no business ethics…”
- “F1 fans are saying they straight-up copied a professional design, but people who don’t know anything are like, ‘there are tons of similar ones though?’”
- “Guess they’ll only stop once they get sued.”
- “Even the song title is ‘Formula’ lol. Are they gonna pay licensing fees?”
- “There being many similar ones and taking it as-is are not the same, you know. Are they bragging about having no eye for detail?”
- “So if Ferrari finds out, they might raise an issue then…”
- “Bold move. What are they planning to do if something happens?”
- “They’re desperately insisting “there are lots of similar wheels” lol. If someone made something even slightly similar to theirs, they’d throw a fit, so where’d their conscience go?”
Formula One’s governing bodies, the FIA and FOM, are known for their strict stance on intellectual property and plagiarism, even targeting fans of the sport when necessary. As such, some netizens have suggested that ALPHA DRIVE ONE’s teaser release must have already been cleared with the relevant organizations. However, WAKEONE is yet to release any statement regarding the accusations.