Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ended the final morning of Formula 1 2025 pre-season testing in Bahrain with the fastest time, just 0.077s clear of rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The Monegasque diced with the Mercedes driver in the early phases of the session at the top of the timing boards, with the two trading blows in the opening half-hour.
Antonelli led for a short while, before Leclerc punched in a 1m30.861s lap. And, although the Italian had got close with a 1m30.888s effort, Leclerc later raised the bar with a 1m30.811s on C3s – which remained untouched throughout a relatively serene morning session.
The only sticking point was a brief red flag within the final hour as a pane of glass broke free from the race directors’ box and broke in the pitlane. This shattered hopes of uninterrupted running, although the enforced hiatus was only 15 minutes.
After the flurry of lap-time gathering in the early stages, the wind picked up through the session and caused a handful of drivers grief. In particular, Lando Norris struggled to keep his McLaren on the road through the corners with crosswinds, going off at Turn 4 and reaching the service road, then aborted a lap with a wide moment at Turn 13.
The Briton nonetheless rallied and set the third fastest time, 0.132s down on Leclerc’s benchmark.
Max Verstappen had the Red Bull RB21 to himself, and shook down a new nose cone design en route to fourth overall in the timings. The reigning champion was four tenths away from the fastest time.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Isack Hadjar, RB F1 Team
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Jack Doohan was fifth, just three hundredths away from Verstappen, having also come a cropper on a handful of occasions as his Alpine failed to mesh with the blustery conditions in Bahrain.
Alex Albon was the only driver to set their fastest time on C2s to go sixth, while rookie Isack Hadjar was seventh with the highest number of laps logged – 73 – in the session.
As Lance Stroll was deemed “not 100%” ahead of the morning’s running, he and Fernando Alonso switched sessions – and the Spaniard ended his final pre-season preparations eighth in the order.
This put him a smidgen ahead of his protege Gabriel Bortoleto, who spent much of the morning in the garage as a technical issue precluded him from doing too much running. The Sauber rookie completed just 35 laps.
Oliver Bearman was at the bottom of the order, again seemingly backing off from showing Haas’ true hand on his longer runs, although his session was interrupted with shedding bodywork.
The rookie’s left-hand engine cover suffered a delamination and the cooling louvres snapped away from the overall assembly – which also featured a crack in the sidepod and flapping bodywork behind the rollhoop.
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Jake Boxall-Legge
Formula 1
Charles Leclerc
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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ended the final morning of Formula 1 2025 pre-season testing in Bahrain with the fastest time, just 0.077s clear of rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The Monegasque diced with the Mercedes driver in the early phases of the session at the top of the timing boards, with the two trading blows in the opening half-hour.
Antonelli led for a short while, before Leclerc punched in a 1m30.861s lap. And, although the Italian had got close with a 1m30.888s effort, Leclerc later raised the bar with a 1m30.811s on C3s – which remained untouched throughout a relatively serene morning session.
The only sticking point was a brief red flag within the final hour as a pane of glass broke free from the race directors’ box and broke in the pitlane. This shattered hopes of uninterrupted running, although the enforced hiatus was only 15 minutes.
After the flurry of lap-time gathering in the early stages, the wind picked up through the session and caused a handful of drivers grief. In particular, Lando Norris struggled to keep his McLaren on the road through the corners with crosswinds, going off at Turn 4 and reaching the service road, then aborted a lap with a wide moment at Turn 13.
The Briton nonetheless rallied and set the third-fastest time, 0.132s down on Leclerc’s benchmark.
Max Verstappen had the Red Bull RB21 to himself, and shook down a new nose-cone design en route to fourth overall in the timings. The reigning champion was four tenths away from the fastest time.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Isack Hadjar, RB F1 Team
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Jack Doohan was fifth, just three hundredths away from Verstappen, having also come a cropper on a handful of occasions as his Alpine failed to mesh with the blustery conditions in Bahrain.
Alex Albon was the only driver to set their fastest time on C2s to go sixth, while rookie Isack Hadjar was seventh with the highest number of laps logged – 73 – in the session.
As Lance Stroll was deemed “not 100%” ahead of the morning’s running, he and Fernando Alonso switched sessions – and the Spaniard ended his final pre-season preparations eighth in the order.
This put him a smidgen ahead of his protege Gabriel Bortoleto, who spent much of the morning in the garage as a technical issue precluded him from doing too much running. The Sauber rookie completed just 35 laps.
Oliver Bearman was at the bottom of the order, again seemingly backing off from showing Haas’ true hand on his longer runs, although his session was interrupted with shedding bodywork.
The rookie’s left-hand engine cover suffered a delamination and the cooling louvres snapped away from the overall assembly – which also featured a crack in the sidepod and flapping bodywork behind the rollhoop.
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Jake Boxall-Legge
Formula 1
Charles Leclerc
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Charles Leclerc has detailed how he’s been able to focus on his own preparations for the 2025 Formula 1 season, with the spotlight on his new Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton, and the advantages this brings.
Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari has dominated news stories and been the subject of much social media discussion.
The focus on the seven-time F1 world champion has been enormous and is in stark contrast to Leclerc’s low-key Ferrari arrival in 2019, when he was promoted from Sauber to become Sebastian Vettel’s team-mate.
Watch: Why the rain didn’t dampen Sainz’s parade – F1 Testing Day 2 Snapshot
Leclerc said: “Obviously, it’s very different, the situation that Lewis finds himself in joining the team. When I joined, I only had done one year in Formula 1, so it was still new to me.
“I had to learn how a team like Ferrari would work in Formula 1, even though I knew the factory and everything by being in the Ferrari Driver Academy before.
“For Lewis, an Italian team is new to him, but he’s achieved so much and he arrives here, obviously, as a legend of the sport.
“So it’s really cool to see what it was like for him to have so much success in other teams and the way they used to work.
“On that, we’ve learnt a lot. And it was really exciting also to see how happy and excited he was about the whole thing.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Clive Rose / Motorsport Images
“For me, that meant that the off-season was a bit more in the shadow, but I enjoyed it.
“I focused on myself. I’m pushing at the maximum to be ready for the first race. And I’m really looking forward to this year, hoping we’ll start the year on a more positive way compared to last year.”
When asked about their fledgling partnership, Leclerc added: “I was surprised – our driving style is very similar.
“We both like to push quite a lot, especially the entries to the corners, so that’s positive because it requires the same thing out of the car.
“As a team, that is always a good thing because we’ll definitely push in the same direction because we need the same things, so we’re working super well together.
“We’ve spent quite a bit of time together since the beginning of the year. Less on track, more in the studio to do pictures, which is not the part we enjoy most, but it’s part of the job, but I’m looking forward to race with him and hopefully bring Ferrari back to the top.”
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur says the team would not become distracted by the interest being shown in Hamilton’s arrival.
“I think everybody and every single team is excited at the beginning of the season – it’s the DNA of our sport,” he said.
“We all have the feeling that we can be world champions at the beginning. And when you are speaking about the drivers or to the teams, we are all positive.
“In our case, in our situation, it went very well this winter. For sure, we had a huge wave of marketing, but the team stayed focused all the winter.”
Photos from the Bahrain Pre-Season Testing – Day 2
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Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
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Charles Leclerc has detailed how he’s been able to focus on his own preparations for the 2025 Formula 1 season, with the spotlight on his new Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton, and the advantages this brings.
Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari has dominated news stories and been the subject of much social media discussion.
The focus on the seven-time F1 world champion has been enormous and is in stark contrast to Leclerc’s low-key Ferrari arrival in 2019, when he was promoted from Sauber to become Sebastian Vettel’s team-mate.
Leclerc said: “Obviously, it’s very different, the situation that Lewis finds himself in joining the team. When I joined, I only had done one year in Formula 1, so it was still new to me.
“I had to learn how a team like Ferrari would work in Formula 1, even though I knew the factory and everything by being in the Ferrari Driver Academy before.
“For Lewis, an Italian team is new to him, but he’s achieved so much and he arrives here, obviously, as a legend of the sport.
“So it’s really cool to see what it was like for him to have so much success in other teams and the way they used to work.
“On that, we’ve learnt a lot. And it was really exciting also to see how happy and excited he was about the whole thing.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Clive Rose / Motorsport Images
“For me, that meant that the off-season was a bit more in the shadow, but I enjoyed it.
“I focused on myself. I’m pushing at the maximum to be ready for the first race. And I’m really looking forward to this year, hoping we’ll start the year on a more positive way compared to last year.”
When asked about their fledgling partnership, Leclerc added: “I was surprised – our driving style is very similar.
“We both like to push quite a lot, especially the entries to the corners, so that’s positive because it requires the same thing out of the car.
“As a team, that is always a good thing because we’ll definitely push in the same direction because we need the same things, so we’re working super well together.
“We’ve spent quite a bit of time together since the beginning of the year. Less on track, more in the studio to do pictures, which is not the part we enjoy most, but it’s part of the job, but I’m looking forward to race with him and hopefully bring Ferrari back to the top.”
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur says the team would not become distracted by the interest being shown in Hamilton’s arrival.
“I think everybody and every single team is excited at the beginning of the season – it’s the DNA of our sport,” he said.
“We all have the feeling that we can be world champions at the beginning. And when you are speaking about the drivers or to the teams, we are all positive.
“In our case, in our situation, it went very well this winter. For sure, we had a huge wave of marketing, but the team stayed focused all the winter.”
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Ben Hunt
Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
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The Italian press are some of the most revered figures in the Formula 1 paddock. For decades their opinions have held sway and dictated the outcome of many debates. Ferrari itself is steeped in passion and enthusiasm; the Scuderia is a national icon.
Now, with the arrival of Lewis Hamilton at the country’s most famous sporting team, what has been the reaction of the press and the fans?
Here we ask the writers at Motorsport.com Italy for their take on Hamilton’s first few weeks as a Ferrari driver. What has impressed them most? How he has been received by the public? Will he come under scrutiny from the Italian media as he tries to lead Ferrari back to world championship glory?
How did the Italian public react to Hamilton joining the team?
Roberto Chinchero: I don’t remember anything like this in the past. Ferrari is used to – if not spoiled by – champions joining the team. We saw Fernando Alonso come in, Sebastian Vettel. And Michael Schumacher before that. And he became a legend with Ferrari. The difference with Lewis is that he’s already a legend, and he’s coming to marry another legend.
And the reaction of the fans has been extraordinary. The day he drove the new car at Fiorano for the first time, there were 7,000 people there to witness it, and that has never happened before. It’s a track with no grandstands, it was a Wednesday, it was during working hours, it was really cold – and yet people started arriving at 5am to get a better spot. That tells you something.
Franco Nugnes: Formula 1 had long disappeared from the news and the front pages, but now it’s very much back to the way it was with Gilles Villeneuve in the early ’80s. Hamilton has managed to win over the fans, but also the staff at Ferrari. They now hang on his every word.
And that is no surprise: Lewis was already highly respected as a seven-time F1 world champion, although until last year he was seen by many as a possible “usurper” of Michael Schumacher’s records. Now that he has arrived in Maranello, however, the perspective has completely changed: he is seen as the man who will bring the Prancing Horse back to glory and continue the Kaiser’s work.
Gianluca d’Alessandro: He has brought back a lot of excitement, not only from the fans but also from the mainstream media, partly because his move also showed that a driver of such calibre wanted to accept the Ferrari challenge, live the dream and win with it, after so many years in which other champions hadn’t achieved the title.
Nobody in Italy thought it would happen before the end of his career. We thought he’d end his F1 story with Mercedes, but instead he’s coming to Maranello. And he’s happy, he’s excited, and that translates to the fans because they feel they’re sharing the same dream with Lewis: to see him win with Ferrari. They feel that Lewis is coming to Maranello because he wants to make history.
Photo by: Ferrari
Have you been particularly impressed by his attitude?
Roberto Chinchero: The first day he arrived at Maranello, he was there with his parents. You don’t do that unless it means something very special to you. You want to share those moments with those closest ones, and we saw that Anthony was there, Lewis’ mum was filming him with her phone. She was there when he went out to meet the fans. That says a lot. Not just for Lewis, but for the Italian fans. They see how passionate he is, and it resonates. Because he is a seven-time world champion. He doesn’t have to do all these things. But you can see how much of a dream it is for him.
For me, there were four drivers at the F175 who looked the most excited and flattered to be there: Gabriel Bortoleto, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar and Lewis Hamilton. It’s almost like he’s experiencing a rookie level of excitement. And I don’t think Lewis is that good of an actor. It looks like that’s how he really feels. He’s been lucky enough to achieve a lot of his dreams in F1, but now he’s living another one.
Franco Nugnes: Hamilton’s communication skills are extraordinary: in the space of a few days he has become the centre of attention in the Ferrari world. He went to the most remote corners of the racing department, shaking hands and signing autographs, dragging John Elkann to places the president had never been before. He also immediately introduced himself to the Italian fans, showing a genuine desire for dialogue.
What he must remember in the long run, however, is that Maranello has never liked those who threaten to overshadow the Ferrari legend.
Giacomo Rauli: I personally don’t think there’s any reason to be particularly impressed with his appearance and attitude, because Lewis is a seven-time world champion, he has been in F1 since 2007. He knows how important it is to get the team on his side and to be accepted by the fans. He’s a smart guy. He’ll be sharing a garage with Charles, who not only has been a Ferrari driver since 2019, but was also part of the Academy. And if he wants to lead the team, that’s the only way to do it.
Photo by: Ferrari
How quickly will he adapt to working with a team that is not based in England?
Roberto Chinchero: When we talk about the team structure, I don’t think there’s much that’s different from other teams. Because the way they work now is very similar. And even the people: yes, it is an Italian team, but the staff is from all over the world. There are plenty of British, German and French people at Ferrari.
What might be different is that at Ferrari you’re a lot more in the spotlight and the pressure is somewhat greater. But I think it will be more of a challenge for Leclerc. Because Lewis came to Ferrari to finish his career in F1, and Charles has to prove that he is the future.
Giacomo Rauli: I don’t think it’s a big problem for Lewis because, yes, he’s a British driver, but he’s, shall we say, a man of the world. He lives in Monte Carlo, he travels, he’s experienced different cultures. On the contrary, I’m pretty sure he’ll enjoy the team and the environment.
Gianluca d’Alessandro: While there may be some differences between the British teams and an Italian one, the way of working nowadays is very similar, if not identical. What Lewis will have to get used to is the people – and I don’t think it will be very different from what he experienced when he moved from McLaren to Mercedes. He won’t have Bono [Peter Bonnington, his former race engineer at Mercedes], who understood him perfectly, by his side. He’ll have to build a relationship with Riccardo Adami and all the other people around him – and that can take time.
Photo by: Ferrari
Will the Italian media put extra pressure on him to lead the team?
Franco Nugnes: At the beginning, I think Hamilton will be forgiven a lot because he will be treated like the saviour of a team that has not won the world championship for 18 years. The team and the love of the fans will make it easier for him to feel like a Ferrari man.
Roberto Chinchero: Everything is fantastic at the moment. He is respected by the Italian media, and they appreciate the way he has introduced himself to the Italian public and the Italian fans. The fact that he tries to speak Italian, even if his vocabulary is only a few hundred words at the moment, is also appreciated.
Last year, not everyone understood why Carlos Sainz was let go, but even he accepted that he wasn’t going to be replaced by some random driver. It’s Lewis Hamilton he’s giving his seat to. I think what was harder for Carlos to accept wasn’t that Hamilton was going to replace him at Ferrari – it was that three other top teams had vacancies and didn’t call him.
But I think everyone now accepts, including the Italian media, that Hamilton and Ferrari is something special. What happens next will be much more about the stopwatch. But the first chapter of this story – the one without engine noise – was perfect.
Gianluca d’Alessandro: I think we can all agree that the media is a big part of the challenge of being a Ferrari driver. Because in Italy there’s Ferrari and there’s other teams. People grow up and get attached to the sport because of Ferrari, and even when they start to realise that there is something else beyond Ferrari in F1, it remains special. And the attention it gets is almost like a national football team. So the pressure is much higher. But I think he knows how to deal with the media, and I am sure Ferrari will do everything to protect him as much as possible.
And I would agree that it’s Leclerc who might feel the most pressure from the outside. Yes, Lewis has come to make history with Ferrari, but he’s already a legend in the sport. Charles is one of the best drivers on the grid, he loves Ferrari dearly and, after so many years of high hopes, he wants to be the driver who brings the title back to Maranello. But if Charles is beaten by Lewis, where does that leave him, even if he still has a long-term contract? Where does that leave Ferrari for the future? So he too has a huge challenge ahead of him.
Photo by: Ferrari
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Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
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Charles Leclerc sounded a note of caution over the FIA’s plans to introduce more special rules for his home race, the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Formula 1 Commission has agreed to introduce a new regulation increasing the number of mandatory pit stops drivers must make in the race on the famed street circuit. The precise wording of the proposed rule is now under discussion by the Sporting Advisory Committee.
The narrow layout of the Monaco track, and the wider cars F1 introduced in 2017, means the grand prix tends to be processional. That was especially so last year when a first-lap red flag allowed all drivers to complete their mandatory change of tyre compounds without making a pit stop. Afterwards Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali vowed “we must not let that happen again.”
Monaco’s race is unusual in that it is already governed by certain special rules. The distance of its grand prix is set at 260 kilometres, 45km less than every other round of the world championship.
The FIA revealed two days ago its plan to introduce another special rule for Monaco’s race, requiring drivers to change tyres more than once, and therefore make more pit stops. Leclerc said increasing the strategic options for drivers could make the race more interesting, but said F1 should be prepared to abandon the rule if it doesn’t work as intended.
“Because strategy will become a bit more of the thing, I think [that] is a good thing. Monaco is super-exciting on a Saturday – for us drivers it’s incredible, it’s the best qualifying of the year. Then on the Sunday it can get a little bit… there’s not much happening.
“So I think this is a way to spice the things up a bit more. But then we’ve got to be open-minded. If it’s the direction that we are going today, then we need to see if that actually makes a difference or not and be open to change back if that’s not the right solution.”
Another rule which was introduced with the aim of improving the show, the bonus point for fastest lap, has been scrapped for this year.
Charles Leclerc says his new team mate Lewis Hamilton has chosen the right time to join Ferrari as they are on a clear upward trajectory.
Ferrari finished second in the constructors’ championship last year, just 16 points behind winners McLaren. The team is heading into its third year under the leadership of Frederic Vasseur, whom Leclerc credits for giving Ferrari clear targets and encouraging a calm atmosphere.
“I think Lewis is coming into the team at the right time,” Leclerc told media including RaceFans during today’s launch. “I think Fred is a guy that, as I’ve said, has a very big strength of keeping the emotional level of the team at a very good level. We have been so much more solid in that way in the past years.
“Obviously the fact that Lewis has joined the team has been a big boost and has been amazing in so many ways. But I feel like the team is very calm and very clear in what is the direction to work in and not getting too affected by everything that is going around the team. That is extremely important and that’s great to see.”
Leclerc led the drivers’ championship early in 2022, but fell to second behind Max Verstappen as Red Bull began to dominate. Vasseur took charge of the team the following year, and by the second half of last season Ferrari were consistently winning races again.
That has given Leclerc confidence they can begin the season with a competitive car. Although he is going up against a seven-times world champion in the same car this year, he is convinced he will be able to compete for the title.
“Of course it’s very early,” said Leclerc, who drove Ferrari’s 2025 car for the first time today. “If we’ve got the car capable to fight on a regular basis in the front, I think [I can compete].
“But I feel like it’s going to be a very close season. If that’s the case, then I can see many contenders for the title. But of course I believe in myself and I think I’ve got the qualities to do that.”
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Ferrari’s new SF-25 has run for the first time at the team’s test track in Fiorano.
Charles Leclerc was the first of the team’s drivers to sample its latest car for the 2025 season. The team is conducting a 200 kilometre filming day at its Maranello base today.
Ferrari revealed the livery for its new car yesterday at Formula 1’s official pre-season launch event, F1 75 Live, held in London. Meanwhile the team was completing work on its first chassis for the 2025 season.
F1 75 Live at the O2 wouldn’t have felt out of place in the Hunger Games universe — the sudden appearance of a face on a massive screen as thousands cheered or booed in equal volume.
Instead of going into a dystopian thunderdome, though, the faces were there to show off their teams’ liveries in all sorts of off-the-wall ways. From Williams’ storm troopers to Sauber’s powerful drum line, all 10 teams brought plenty of drama to the O2 arena. And then there were the bits in between the livery launches: the emcee roasting Christian Horner, Gordon Ramsay having his mic cut, and a DJ set from the alter ego of the man who composed F1’s theme song.
Which is to say, a lot happened at the F1 75 Live event. Here are 7 of the moments — good, bad, weird, wild — from the spectacle.
Host Jack Whitehall landed a few good jabs
Jack Whitehall
Photo by: Getty Images
Fans were skeptical when British actor/comedian Jack Whitehall was announced as the host the day before the event. Then, with his opening monologue, he addressed the elephant in the room: that the 2025 liveries looked almost identical to last season. “You know your sport’s ridiculously minted when they book the O2 to show off cars that are the same color as last season,” White quipped before any of the cars had rolled on stage.
Whitehall (well, probably his writers), took some strong jabs at the sports’ stars, including a mandatory dig at Christian Horner, calling him, “Geri’s plus one.” When the camera panned to a glum looking Verstappen, Whitehall said, “Cheer up Max. It could’ve been worse — we didn’t seat you next to George Russell,” referencing the pair’s possibly-squashed beef. He also urged fans to “pray for Toto Wolff,” comparing Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari to your “partner running off with an Italian stallion.” (Okay, not all the jokes were great.)
Gordon Ramsay said #!$@ the FIA (sort of)
Lando Norris, McLaren, Frederic Arnault, TAG Heuer CEO, Gordon Ramsay and George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Getty Images
Celebrity chef and F1 super fan Gordon Ramsay was sitting in the audience, notably alongside Stefano Domenicali, when Whitehall asked the famously foul-mouthed TV personality about the FIA’s swearing ban. His response:
“Listen, I think it’s an industry language. The fact that these athletes are pushing themselves to the extreme. So sometimes if it comes out, let them be real. Let it go, come on! They’re risking their life every time. They’re traveling over 200 miles an hour. So if the sh—”.
That’s when his mic cut — though the O2 crowd roaring in approval let the FIA know where F1’s audience largely stands on the matter.
Nobody realized the Alpine DJ was the composer of the F1 theme song
Brian Tyler
Photo by: Getty Images
Fans were left baffled when a guy in full European pop DJ cosplay hit the decks ahead of Alpine’s livery reveal. Turns out the man with the slicked blonde bangs performing under the moniker “Are We Dreaming” was actually Brian Tyler, the American composer of the F1 theme song. Tyler described his set as a “modern-day Fantasia crossed with the visual spectacle of cinematic films like ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ and ‘Blade Runner.'” That messaging wasn’t exactly communicated to viewers, leaving many perplexed by a Deadmaus-esque performance mid-show.
Machine Gun Kelly and Kane Brown sang vaguely car-related songs
Kane Brown
Photo by: Getty Images
Announced on Monday, the event’s musical lineup — aging Britpop trio Take That, American rapper Machine Gun Kelly, American country singer Kane Brown — read like an AI generated Spotify playlist. The event opened with Machine Gun Kelly rapping vague lyrics about F1 while cameras caught Lewis Hamilton scrolling on his phone in the crowd. Kelly’s hit song “Bloody Valentine” is catchy, but didn’t quite match the vibe of the evening. Especially for a crowd that probably knows him best for an exceptionally awkward grid walk moment with Martin Brundle.
(You remember: Back at the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix, Machine Gun Kelly found himself on the live end of a Brundle mic, and proceeded to give the commentator the cold shoulder. “Someone put a microphone in my face, essentially forcing me to do a random interview when i was just trying to enjoy an event,” he wrote on X after the incident, to little sympathy.)
Country crooner Kane Brown delivered the next performance when he took the stage to sing the automotively-themed “Miles On It.” His first words, “How are we feeling F1?,” are the equivalent of showing up at Madison Square Garden and asking the crowd, “How’s it going NBA?!”. It was a poignant reminder that the Tennessee-born hitmaker maybe isn’t entrenched in the world of F1.
None of this is a slight to Brown, MGK, or Take That, who closed out the show (minus Robbie Williams, who no longer tours with the group). It just felt like a missed opportunity for F1 to book, say, a truly iconic British performer, a more relevant American singer (Tate McRae and her hit “Sports Car” was right there), or, you know, a single woman. The bar’s set high when your arena spectacle comes a couple weeks after Kendrick Lamar blew the roof off the Super Bowl halftime show.
Aston Martin went full James Bond
Tems
Photo by: Getty Images
Lawrence Stroll might’ve slipped F1 a few dollars to get a sightly bigger time allotment than the other teams (for legal reasons, I’m joking). Aston’s segment featured a James Bond-inspired clip, with animated versions of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll parachuting into the O2 before the actual pair landed in the audience in the Bond-esque formal suits. The screen then cut to black and white to celebrate the history of the brand, before switching gears to an anime-inspired video teasing the 2025 livery.
Cut to: Nigerian singer Tems, who delivered the most moving performance of the night, alongside dozens of violin players. Lance and Alonso eventually arrived on stage after slipping into their race suits, where they answered a few questions. Lance, as usual, looked like he’d rather be anywhere other than talking into a mic about Formula 1. Some things never change!
F1 TV, but shorter and less interesting
Jack Whitehall emceed, but the event also featured F1 TV regulars Laura Winter, Ariana Bravo, and Lawrence Barretto. The trio are fantastic pundits, but time constraints meant they had only seconds with the drivers and team principals, leading to basic questions and bland answers. It didn’t help F1 75 avoid a periodic air of “FIA press conference in an arena.”
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc played mind games
Besides Hamilton scrolling on his phone thought Machine Gun Kelly’s performance, fan videos showed him and his teammate, Charles Leclerc, playing a game of chess in the midst of the event. If nothing else, maybe a solid metaphor for how their season will go.
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In this article
Emily Selleck
Formula 1
Culture
Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc
Christian Horner
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Formula 1 is about to host its first-ever season livery launch party in London. Technically the event is called “F1 75 Live at The O2” — landing, as it is, at the outset of the 75th season in the sport’s history. At the centerpiece of the event, all 10 F1 teams will take their turn unveiling their car (or their car’s main livery, at least) for the 2025 season — on a stage, in a massive arena, as well as in front of a global audience of millions.
Given this is the first-ever event of it kind, the only concrete details we have are the ones we’ve been given by F1 itself.
Here’s everything you need to know about the F1 75 Live event at The O2 Arena in London:
When is the F1 75 Live event?
Everything kicks off at 5:30pm GMT, and the event is scheduled to last for five hours.
How can I watch it?
Unless you were one of the lucky few to grab arena tickets in the literal minutes before they sold out, you can watch along on F1’s YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook pages.
What is the plan for the F1 75 Live event?
Traditionally, each team pulls the covers off its new cars in their own ways: a racetrack with a few media in attendance, or in more recent (and boring) ways, as an email or social media post with a few images of the new car’s paintwork and some canned driver quotes.
This time, Formula 1 has stepped in to bring all the teams together on one night in London in front of a live audience with musical acts, streaming the show for free. Though the event is fronting F1’s 75th anniversary, think of F1 75 Live more as an opening ceremony than a birthday party.
More importantly, it’s F1’s chance to build up — and, possibly, better control — the biggest moment before cars hit the track for pre-season testing. By turning the normally workaday livery launches into a spectacle, there’s a chance to invent something of a 25th audience-friendly event in a schedule already stuffed with races. And, given the musical performances (more on those in a moment), there’s a chance to do something that’s a little more loose, and globally pop cultural, than the usual nose-down focus of a race weekend.
How will the event go?
All 20 drivers will be there, plus the team bosses — as well as, of course, the new 2025 F1 cars.
Each team will have a seven minute segment on the O2 stage to do what they wish, meaning we are in for a range of interpretations when it comes to a livery launch. It’s worth noting: in advance of F1 75 Live, we’ve already seen both Williams and McLaren unveil their car designs — but not the liveries the cars will wear. For the other eight teams, everything we see will be new.
The running order will be the reverse of last season’s constructors’ championship standings, meaning the evening will kick off with Sauber and end with McLaren.
If you’re doing the math, 10 teams multiplied by seven minutes doesn’t nearly fill up a five-hour arena-sized production. That’s where the host and musical acts come into play.
What artists are performing at F1 75 Live?
F1 75 Live’s musical line-up
Photo by: Formula 1
F1 finally announced the event’s musical line-up on Monday, and it’s quite the varied bill. There’s American country singer Kane Brown and rapper mgk (formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly), who had a famous interaction with Sky F1’s Martin Brundle during the 2023 Sao Paulo GP that led to the two falling out.
Also performing are UK pop legends Take That, who these days perform as a trio, minus Robbie Williams.
Composer Bryan Tyler, who produced the F1 theme, will also provide the musical backdrop.
Who is hosting?
F1 75 Live Host
Photo by: Formula 1
The main emcee for the evening is Jack Whitehall, a London-born comedian and actor who is likely unrecognisable to the rest of the world save those who have seen “Jungle Cruise.”
Of course, since this is an F1 event, we’ll also see familiar faces from its broadcast channels, including Laura Winter and Lawrence Barretto. One we won’t see: Will Buxton, who left F1 TV to join Fox Sport’s IndyCar coverage for 2025.
Is there a way to make Lewis Hamilton central to this moment?
Absolutely. The F1 75 Live event will be Lewis Hamilton’s first public appearance with Ferrari. Expect this to generate its own flurry of headlines and social posts.
What about the other 19 teams and drivers?
Every team, aside from McLaren and Aston Martin, have a new driver lineup in whole or in part, so we’ll get to see drivers wearing new uniforms and how those relationships are building up.
What’s the deal with the O2 Arena?
The O2 Arena is a large, multi-purpose arena located in east London, sitting beside the River Thames. It has the third-highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the UK, with a capacity of 20,000. Originally it was called the Millennium Dome, but given how time operates, that quickly turned into a white elephant until sponsorship arrived from communication firm O2.
Whatever the name, the arena was (in 2023) the third-busiest music in the world, behind New York’s Madison Square Garden and the Movistar Arena in Chile. Which is to say, F1 didn’t skimp on the party’s location.
In this article
Ben Hunt
Formula 1
Culture
Fernando Alonso
Lewis Hamilton
Nico Hulkenberg
Carlos Sainz
Max Verstappen
Esteban Ocon
Pierre Gasly
Lance Stroll
George Russell
Charles Leclerc
Alex Albon
Lando Norris
Liam Lawson
Jack Doohan
Isack Hadjar
Yuki Tsunoda
Oscar Piastri
Oliver Bearman
Gabriel Bortoleto
Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Ferrari
Red Bull Racing
Mercedes
Sauber
McLaren
Racing Bulls
Williams
Aston Martin Racing
Haas F1 Team
Alpine
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