F1 75 Live

There was a lot riding on F1’s first foray into an arena concert entertainment spectacle. Before a wheel has been turned in anger, all teams temporarily buried the hatchet and agreed to launch their liveries in unison in front of a rapidly sold out 15,000 crowd. Each team was allocated seven minutes to showcase its new livery in any way it wanted, strung together by musical acts and British comedian slash MC Jack Whitehall.

Judging from the positive reactions of those who attended, ranging from casual fans to cynical journalists, the event was a resounding success. F1 said there was a peak of 1.1 million concurrent live viewers on its YouTube channel, with 7.5 million viewers in total across various platforms, officially kickstarting the 2025 campaign.

F1 ostensibly chased a rock concert vibe, although the way it started off veered more towards the Golden Globes, with MC Whitehall’s opening skit delivered in front of untold VIP tables. But while some of his interventions crossed the cringe-line, Whitehall’s jokes generally landed and it was good to see a sport that often takes itself too seriously poke fun at itself, even if only for one night. “Cheer up Max, we didn’t sit you next to George Russell,” was a good line that set the tone for a night in which F1 merrily played into its latest rivalry rather than walk on eggshells.

What worked particularly well on the YouTube broadcast was the visual production of the event, helmed by Brian Burke and his team and armed with a huge LED panel that spanned the length of an enlarged catwalk where teams strutted their stuff one by one.

Formula 1 has never looked this good. Whether or not it ever sounded as good is open to debate, see musical acts – mgk, Take That and Kane Brown.

Things became a bit more disjointed once we got stuck into the actual main course, the 10 teams unveiling their 2025 liveries. It was good to see all squads afforded the leeway to be creative and fill their seven-minute slot any way they pleased, a nice contrast to the otherwise constricted and formulaic nature of actual F1 race weekends.

Kick Sauber C45

Photo by: Getty Images

That approach prevented the event from becoming very repetitive and stale after two or three outfits, but it also became quite uneven and heavily dependent on the quality of each team’s act. Sauber’s cyberpunkesque black and neon green aesthetics got the reveal off to a decent enough start, while Williams rightfully paid tribute to its legacy and founder Sir Frank in a pre-recorded segment before going into a slightly more awkward on-stage rollout. Team boss James “please make some noise” Vowles as MC is not what I had on my bingo card, not least flanked by an army of ominous looking Williams stormtroopers slash pit crew.

VCARB or Racing Bulls or Visa Cashapp Racing Bulls – you know, the Anglo-Italian team that is owned by Red Bull but isn’t actually Red Bull – took the confusion around its name and ran with it, before showing perhaps the best livery of the lot. Alpine eschewed a pre-recorded segment for a mini-DJ set by F1 theme composer Brian Tyler and his alter ego Are We Dreaming, a mixture of dark synths and hip-hop that didn’t really tell us anything about the team itself but at least seemed to mesmerise Flavio Briatore looking on through his trademark blue shades.

The most ambitious of the bunch was Aston Martin, which paid tribute to a famous scene from James Bond flick The World is Not Enough as Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll raced across the Thames on armed powerboats before being hoisted down into the O2. A well-crafted animation then flowed into the on-stage scene of singer Tem flanked by violins. There was a lot going on, but it was all classy stuff.

The energy of the crowd played a key role, but rather than a rock concert the evening became more of a pantomime, with cheers for Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris and boos and jeers heading the way of Max Verstappen, Christian Horner and the FIA. Asking foul-mouthed celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay for his opinion on the swearing ban was an easy win.

Machine Gun Kelly

Photo by: Getty Images

Amid all of this it would have been easy to forget that this was effectively an anniversary, celebrating the history of 75 years of Formula 1 racing. By and large the event did more than pay lip service to its past. The opening pre-recorded montage hit the right tones, and after Williams and Aston, Ferrari too showcased its legacy later on with a tribute to Enzo Ferrari. But Liberty Media clearly also had its eyes on a new horizon, with a long teaser of the upcoming F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt that is intended to be the next stage of a launch vehicle sending the series into a higher orbit.

But the further down the kaleidoscope of presentations we went, the more the event began running out of steam as a TV product. “Now that we’ve seen the best-looking car of the night, please enjoy the rest of the evening,” Alonso jested. And I felt that. It all started taking a bit long, and elements involving hosts and musical acts broke up some of the momentum. There are likely very good production reasons for this, as it is quite the logistical effort to turn around both the cars and the stage choreographies for every individual team, one after the other.

But by the time the Mercedes and Red Bulls slot came around, I started wishing I could just fast forward to the final few liveries and go do something else with my time. Looking at Verstappen’s facial expressions, the champ and I seemed to be on the same page there. He and team-mate Liam Lawson didn’t speak on stage, a decision by Red Bull to let Horner take the point, and with it the brunt of the booing. And while there could have been much more driver involvement in general as they are supposed to be the superstars, there wasn’t a lot of time to let them say or do anything meaningful. See Esteban Ocon, who made the cardinal sin of uttering a variation of the cliche: ‘I hope the car is as fast as it looks’. Take a shot.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Getty Images

One late highlight was Ferrari, with the sight of Lewis Hamilton in red raising the roof of a pulsating arena. McLaren also roped in its wonderful legacy with historic F1 cars on stage, but its identical livery for 2025 then further drove home the point that we had been spending two hours just to see…. not very much of substance.

This was clearly not for everyone and while lots of cynics were pleasantly surprised, including myself, I also won’t blame you for finding it all a bit too much pantomime for one day.

But the bigger picture is that it was a successful milestone for F1. Would teams like Sauber and Haas have gained more mileage out of holding their own virtual launches instead of sharing the bill with their rival heavyweights in front of a million viewers? I’m not so sure that they would have.

And while the show overstayed its welcome while watching remotely, F1 set out what it achieved to do and presented itself to a new audience in a modern way. It may not have been aimed at you or me, and that’s okay.

Photos from the F1 75 Live season launch

As the curtain fell on the bombastic F1 75 event at the O2 Arena in London, all 10 liveries that Formula 1’s teams will use in 2025 were revealed over the course of the night – between various musical performances and distinctly varied presentations from each team. 

Everyone will have their own opinion on which (old spec) car was best dressed on the night, and the beauty of livery design is that it’s a purely subjective art. Even last year’s Alpine ‘livery’ had fans…somewhere, presumably. 

Throughout the 2025 season, we’ll be continuing with our ratings for each driver after every race but, on this occasion, we’ll instead be giving our marks out of 10 for the presentations of the liveries this season. 

They’ll be marked on originality, whether it’s an upgrade on last season’s paint scheme, and quite simply due to the author’s own tastes. One’s fellow writers won’t agree, and we’d be surprised if you did too – you have the opportunity to offer your own points of view in the comments. 

Without further ado… 

Aston Martin Racing AMR25

Photo by: Aston Martin

This livery is a considerable downgrade. It’s hard to go wrong with British Racing Green, especially with Aston Martin’s modern-day icon of fluorescent yellow trim, but the black sidepods appear completely incongruous with the rest of the livery.

Is that a hint that the AMR25 will roll out in Bahrain with a little bit of a weight problem, and that the revised sidepods are going to be in naked carbon in Bahrain testing? We wait, indeed, with bated breath… 

It’s hard to love the new direction for the livery, especially as Aston Martin could have played this very safe and turned up with something that still looked stellar. 

Red Bull Racing RB21

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

The same. As usual. It’s become a bit tired (and the cringe factor of the presentation) brings it down a couple of points.

Is there anything more to add? Oh, the sponsor on the rear wing is different. That’s…something.

Williams FW47

Photo by: Williams

It’s blue. Very blue. I mean, it’s fine if you like blue, with a dark blue to medium blue gradient through the car. But it just feels a little bit…low effort, perhaps? The tesselating blue pattern from the previous couple of cars is gone, and the yellow engine cover tease used at the end of last season is nothing but a distant memory. 

It appears the overall livery has been simplified to accentuate the rather conspicuous Atlassian logos now added to the engine cover as Williams has signed what has been touted as its biggest title partnership ever. 

The Duracell battery engine cover remains, but the novelty has probably worn off. 

Kick Sauber C45

Photo by: Liberty Media

The key issue with 2024’s livery was that it looked somewhat pedestrian; the weight-saving efforts with the nude carbon fully dampened the potential of leading with a neon green scheme.  

Thankfully, this year’s effort is much more cohesive. Clearly influenced by the better reception its Las Vegas rendition got, the use of green is more liberal in the first two-thirds of the car. Then there’s a fade gradient that transitions into what appears to be naked carbon at the rear. 

The car shown at the event seemed to be in a much less ennobling livery than the launch images revealed by the team in its press materials. If the actual car looks like the render images, and if that gradient actually blends well into the carbon, then it could be a hit. 

McLaren MCL39

Photo by: McLaren

Team principal Andrea Stella stated that McLaren wanted continuity with its constructors’ championship winner from 2024, and it’s done that; it keeps the papaya flashes draped on top of black carbon in pretty much exactly the same arrangement as before. 

For those hoping for something a little bit more from the team, then you’ll be disappointed. Ultimately isn’t a bad livery by any stretch, but it’s not a great one either; it just merely exists to maintain its post-Ron Dennis-era identity and act as a platform for its plentiful commercial partners. Could there be more orange? Yes. Could the team have played about with the form factor a little more? Yes. But hey, they like what they had – and that’s okay. 

Haas VF-25

Photo by: Haas F1 Team

Less naked carbon, more chance for the designers to flex their creative chops — and Haas has delivered something that should stand out more than its usually conservative efforts.  

A fresh spin on the white, black, and red tones that it has stuck to in the past few seasons looks good, and it’s refreshing to see the sidepods get a bit more of a brighter treatment than just a giant Haas logo splodged on the face. 

Is it the standout from the batch? No, but it’s unmistakably brand loyal and represents one of the more imaginative efforts from the American squad.

Ferrari SF-25

Photo by: Ferrari

It’s red, but it appears to be a much bloodier hue – much like in 2022 – versus the shades of red used over the past couple of years. The added white on the engine cover, naturally to accentuate the HP title sponsorship, rather harks back to the Michael Schumacher days — particularly at the races when its Marlboro sponsorship was covered up by a white square. 

The yellow notes are gone, which is a little bit sad. And if we’re being really picky, the UniCredit sponsorship doesn’t entirely sit well with the rest of the car; the white outlines look a little clumsy. At least the accent stripe relates to its similar World Endurance Championship livery.

I don’t hate this – actually, it’s a decent effort to wrap in HP’s corporate desires into Ferrari’s historic back catalogue of red and white efforts. But I suspect I might be in the minority.

Mercedes F1 W16

Photo by: Getty Images

Same, but different. The extra silver on the engine cover and flanks is a nice touch, which upgrades the already-pretty 2024 livery. That begs the question over the scope of INEOS’ involvement with the team, as the red flash that usually surrounded its rollhoop branding is gone – as is said branding, much reduced over the revised livery that will adorn the W16. 

The use of Petronas teal remains tasteful, separated from the silver by the use of black around the car, as suitable Mercedes branding continues to pepper the livery’s blanker spots. 

As we said, it’s an upgrade and I’m quite fond of it. Perhaps there was more scope to be imaginative around the sidepods, which remain black with a teal flash. Otherwise, it’s a lovely livery.

Alpine A525

Photo by: Alpine

That’s more like it! After last year’s woeful effort as it eschewed paintwork in line with its overweight chassis, Alpine at least started to add a little bit more paint back onto the car towards the end of 2024. This time, it’s back with a bang – and for followers of F1 esoterica, with a paint job similar to Brabham’s 1992 BT60B.  

The pink nose wouldn’t flawlessly merge with the metallic blue, so the carbon black has been kept sparingly to create space between the two. To see Alpine’s ‘proper’ brand colours back in F1 is a welcome sight, and the team has been bold with its inventive contrast between colours. In other words, it’s anathema to last year’s carbon-heavy liveries. 

Further notes: the team has opened its livery space on the engine cover to new fuel partner Eni, which returns to F1 for the first time (when it was Agip) since 2000. You’ll see the pink and blue machines from a mile away – which is what a distinctive livery is all about. Quite the turnaround – chapeau, Alpine. 

Racing Bulls VCARB 02

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“White like Turkey teeth,” said comedian Munya Chawawa, who was brought in to present the team’s new identity. And… it’s very white, but with the clearest Red Bull iconography that the team has used since its days as Toro Rosso. 

There’s the yellow nose cap and roll hoop, flanked by the scarlet hues of the energy drink brand’s bull logo. The white backdrop is likely all the better for the myriad sponsors involved, which no longer have to rely on the clumsy white blocks of colour hurled onto the metallic blue tones that RB used last year. 

There’s at least a little bit of blue on the car, albeit at the rear as it progresses into an MC Escher-esque transition from a dark blue to white with the use of further Red Bull logos.

Think Red Bull’s revered 2020 Turkey one-off livery, but perhaps a little more cluttered. It’s still pretty nice, though.

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