The song was inspired by Harrison's year away from music-making in 1977, during which he travelled with the Formula 1 World Championship, and by his friendship with racing drivers such as Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Niki Lauda.

In Britain, "Faster" was issued as the third single from George Harrison, and was available on a picture disc depicting the faces of several past world champion drivers.

[2][3] He especially recalled the 1955 British Grand Prix, held at Aintree,[4] and the dominance of Mercedes teammates Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss.

[10][11] He first went to Long Beach, California in April, hoping to get good tickets for the upcoming United States Grand Prix West; there, he met motorbike world champion Barry Sheene, who was considering a career move into car racing.

[12] Over the course of the 1977 season, Harrison befriended racing drivers such as Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jody Scheckter and Mario Andretti,[12] and became close to Stewart,[13] who continued to be associated with the sport in a media role.

[14][nb 1] After the United States Grand Prix in October, a conversation with Lauda encouraged Harrison to resume songwriting;[15][16] he wrote "Blow Away" as a song "that Niki-Jody-Emerson and the gang could enjoy".

[17] In addition to attracting further media attention to Formula 1,[18] Harrison's presence at the grands prix led to constant questions about whether he intended to write a song about the sport.

[25] The verses employ syncopated phrasing[26] and use the chords D, Asus4, B minor and G.[25][nb 2] Harrison wrote the majority of the lyrics in such a way that the message is not limited solely to motor racing.

[39] The recording has a symphonic pop sound similar to Harrison's 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass and his 1987 collaboration with Jeff Lynne "When We Was Fab".

[48] In the album credits, Harrison dedicated "Faster" to "the Entire Formula One Circus" and to the memory of Ronnie Peterson,[49] who had died in September 1978 following his opening-lap crash in the Italian Grand Prix.

[20][58] The A-side of the disc depicted the faces of former drivers Fangio, Moss, Stewart, Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt, and contemporary competitors Lauda, Fittipaldi and Scheckter.

[21] In his album review for the NME, Harry George recognised "Faster" as a song that "breaks new ground for Harrison, focussing on the twin pressures of motor racing: danger and public acclaim".

[72] Bob Spitz of The Washington Post said that Harrison's self-titled album re-established him as a "first-rate composer" and paired the song with "Blow Away" as two "bright and imaginative tunes which should find wide appeal among top 40 audiences".

[73] Less impressed with George Harrison, Village Voice critic Robert Christgau singled out "Faster" as the record's only good song and one "about a kind of stardom", adding: "He remembers!

"[74] NME critic Bob Woffinden welcomed the changes evident in Harrison after his year off pursuing extracurricular interests, and said that with "Faster" he had "succeeded admirably" in writing an effective tribute to F1.

[83][nb 8] Stewart believes he identified with the heightened senses required for driving on the absolute limit of human and mechanical endurance, as this sensory quality also informs a top musician's artistry.

[6][85] Discussing the appeal for Harrison, car designer Gordon Murray draws parallels between the best drivers' ability to process and slow down incoming sensory information and the discipline used in meditation.