Season launch

Judging by the exuberant fans exiting London’s O2 Arena on Tuesday night, Formula 1 has stumbled upon a winning formula for engaging a new audience.

Fans, many of whom had never attended an F1 race before, were buzzing at having seen their heroes in the flesh and in a familiar setting inside an easily-accessible city venue.

It had whetted the appetite, with many of those punters now investigating the opportunity of attending a live grand prix.

There was also a sense that despite all the grumbling about eating into driver PR days, it being a logistical nightmare, plus additional production costs, the teams all saw some benefit to F175.

But despite this, there are currently no plans to host another event of its kind in the future – which is a real shame.

Take this July’s British Grand Prix, for instance, the Silverstone race was F1’s maiden points-scoring event yet there are no grand plans to mark the occasion in the championship’s 75th year.

Watch: F175 was bold and risky – but was it successful?

This is a great disappointment, as MotoGP did it. In 2024, the motorcycling championship celebrated its 75th anniversary with teams running retro liveries at the British Grand Prix – an effort which proved widely popular.

Of course there are many obstacles when staging such an event, like significant costs, but the perspective from the ground was that F175 was a hit with fans going home happy.

But reality states that the true return on investment will not yet be known for a while. It is only once the commercial value of F175 can be relayed into monetary terms that its impact will be palpable.

And once that has happened, then there can be a push for a repeat of said event. Yet 2026 will arguably feature the biggest regulation overhaul in F1 history with changes to both chassis and power units, so the strain on teams to go through it again will be a lot.

But why not do it, given F175 exceeded many expectations and on paper, it is easy to see how it could be replicated in another city across the world. Especially because it is obviously a target for the marking departments to take F1 to new audiences.

Madrid, for example, would be an ideal host for 2026 given it is preparing to become the new host of the Spanish Grand Prix. It is just one of many options though, with the United States clearly being another as Liberty Media has been keen to crack the American market ever since its F1 takeover in 2017.

But it is all part of the conundrum F1 will likely have over whether to use a season launch event as a way of bolstering its fanbase, or have it as an additional source of income. Should it be the latter, then Rwanda hosting would be of no surprise, as the African country has expressed interest in holding a future grand prix while having staged last year’s FIA Prize Giving Ceremony.

And there is always the cash-rich, PR-seeking Middle East, which continues to expand its presence within the series yet having it there would sacrifice the concept of engaging more fans.

Regardless, the possibilities are endless, so hopefully the attitude will change and one big livery launch will become a mainstay – but fans must remain at the heart of it.

Formula 1’s first-ever livery launch which gathered all 10 teams brought elements of a race weekend to the one-off event, including the return of the divisive topic of booing certain stars.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and reigning world champion Max Verstappen received poor receptions, while the mention of the FIA also gained a negative reaction from fans inside London’s O2 Arena.

Fans booing in F1 isn’t anything new, but the situation sparked debate over the rights and the wrongs of it at F175. Our writers offer their views.

If cheering is permitted then why not booing? – Ben Hunt

Like it or not, booing is now part of F1 and while it can be uncomfortable for the recipient – just as Max Verstappen found out – it is simply another element to the changing face of the series.

Like the introduction of social media influencers, huge livery launches, pre-race shows and three races in the US, F1 has changed considerably.

The difference being that unlike the above, reactions from the fans, such a booing – or cheering – is organic and not manufactured.

Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Getty Images

Outpouring in emotion is part of live sport and provides an added element to the dramatisation. There is the opinion that as spectators paid their money, they are entitled to their view. Why should that not encompass booing if cheering is permitted?

In the same way that those fans have given these drivers and team bosses the social profile, their opinions matter. So let’s see that passion, rather than scoff and disapprove.

F175 not the place for booing – Jake Boxall-Legge

In sports like football, booing is understandable. When a rival team is pitched against your own, of course you’re going to emit low-frequency jeers and bawdy songs about the questionable parentage of the other fans. That’s normal, and expected.

In F1? I don’t really love it – and what’s worse is that it’s completely one-sided. At the F175 event, Max Verstappen and Christian Horner drew the majority of the pelters from the audience, their appearances on camera drowned out by a rumbling storm of mild discontent. The assertion is that Red Bull has long revelled in the pantomime villain role, but neither looked like they enjoyed it.

Had Horner turned around and said, quoting Parks & Recreation‘s Dennis Feinstein, that he was “nourished by their hatred” then it would be fine. In reality, it made an event that had otherwise been a feel-good celebration of F1’s coming season feel a little uncomfortable. Instead, both driver and principal looked bemused. Time and place, and this didn’t quite feel like either.

Podium: second place Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1, John Owen, Mercedes AMG F1 Chief Designer, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sutton Images

Booing has been a part of live sport and entertainment long before F175 – Alex Kalinauckas

“You don’t hear a lot of booing, which means we’ve got a great British spirit here.”

There was something utterly delightful about how wrong Lewis Hamilton was about to be on the podium after the 2016 British GP. Seconds later, as ex-F1-driver-turned-presenter Mark Webber turned to runner-up Nico Rosberg, the home crowd vented their feelings one week on from Hamilton being on the receiving end of such feelings in the aftermath of the intra-Mercedes shunting in Austria.

It’s all very well trying to rise above it, but this is base human nature and a part of sporting entertainment since ancient times.

And, if you’re A: going to revel in playing a pantomime villain for a generation and B: lionise F1’s ‘gladiatorial spirit’ at the opportunity provided by basically every television camera, it just must be expected that this comes with the territory.

Hosting F1’s first season launch event in London made sense given the geographic locations of the majority of the teams at a critical point of the season for car preparations – including liveries. London is also the home base of championship promoter and organiser, Formula One Management. Some home favouritism from the fans paying to attend was to be anticipated and, indeed, we understand Red Bull was braced for this – if not to the extent it occurred on Tuesday night.

I’d expect something similar in Amsterdam or Austria – based on the past example, at least – and it is the right of every crowd to express themselves. There’s far too much trying to shut this down across society and motorsport’s niche too – hence why the FIA got a vocal kicking too during the briefest of mentions for the governing body in FOM’s glitzy show.

All drivers and cars

Photo by: Getty Images

This situation, overall, is neither new nor surprising. And this is a billion-dollar industry designed to glorify the epic glory of speed, where far lower mudslinging tactics are constantly engaged to try and gain even the slightest competitive edge.

Spare me the hand-wringing, please.

Fans paid to be there, can do what they want within reason – Mark Mann-Bryans

Tickets for the event sold out within 45 minutes and were priced between £58-£113. These fans really wanted to be inside the O2 Arena for the first (and possibly only) livery launch event.

Of course, just owning a ticket does not give the holder right to cross a line with any personal attacks or abuse of the talent that took to the stage during the evening.

But simple jeering? What is there to say other than ‘you pays your money and you takes your choice’. If that choice was to boo Red Bull boss Christian Horner – who is usually happy to live up to the Disneyesque bad guy role cast upon him by Drive to Survive, then so what?

Horner rolled with the punches, as did Max Verstappen when he received a more mixed reaction from a crowd giddy with anticipation. Nothing stepped over a line, and at any sort of sporting event there is always a villain of the piece – F1 should be pleased to see such partisan reaction among its fanbase.

The FIA doesn’t exist to be liked but boos reflect its current popularity – Oleg Karpov

Imagine at any football match – let’s say at half-time – the public announcer says: “And now, ladies and gentlemen, let’s give a round of applause to the referees for doing their job” – would there be a round of applause? Or booing instead? Something tells me the latter. At best – complete silence.

O2 Arena atmosphere

Photo by: McLaren

Putting the boos for Christian Horner and Max Verstappen to one side on this matter, the FIA isn’t there to be liked. It’s there to make sure that the teams respect the rules, that the cars are safe, that they comply with the technical regulations and that all the necessary procedures are followed. It’s not supposed to be popular. And as a regulator, it shouldn’t be looking for that either.

Perhaps the FIA shouldn’t have been mentioned at F175 at all. But for whatever reason it was. And the best reaction from the audience would have been silence. Which would mean that the FIA is simply doing its job as a regulator. And booing doesn’t really mean that they’re failing as an organisation.

What it represents is probably a reaction to its current leadership image. Most probably to its president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and his style – because it’s mostly him who represents the FIA to the outside world.

Whether he likes it or not is another question. It certainly doesn’t look like it’s bothering him at all. What it probably says is that this FIA role isn’t exactly the right one for someone looking for applause. And booing isn’t really surprising. But silence would have been a much better response.

Attendance at Formula 1’s glitzy season launch was mandatory for the teams. Some came willingly, others less so.

Time was tight so each outfit was given just seven minutes to play with. How did they do? Here is our ranking of each presentation.

10. Mercedes

Mercedes F1 W16

Photo by: Getty Images

Long after the dry ice had spluttered and dispersed – as if the smoke machine, like Mercedes, quite frankly couldn’t be arsed with the whole thing – a dreary miasma of “do we have to?” pervaded the arena. An utterly by-the-numbers ‘sizzle reel’ presaged the arrival of last year’s car in what looked like last year’s livery, a fact emphasised by the vehicle lurching along the catwalk and spinning around as if suspended atop a giant Roomba.

The deletion of the red INEOS flash atop the roll hoop could have been a source of intrigue, given recent rumours of a schism between the shareholders. But, judging by the steady exodus of folk up the stairs, we had reached the equivalent of that point in a gig where the band’s lead singer says “Here’s one from our new album” and everybody heads to the bar.

Bonus points to George Russell for trying to be funny rather than cycling through the usual racing driver bromides in the insipid Q&A but, by this point in the evening, everything had already been done. Even raising the car on a plinth. And – Ye Gods! – if Dr Samuel Johnson were alive today he’d tell you that when a man is tired of plinths, he is tired of life.

Still, at least team boss Toto Wolff didn’t try to host the segment himself (also already done). Perhaps he’d had a phone call from Michael Masi screaming “No, Toto, nooooooo!”

9. Alpine

Alpine A525

Photo by: Getty Images

The chap sitting next to me and Autosport colleague Mark Mann-Bryans excused himself and bid us good night before lights-out for Alpine. Perhaps he’d had a premonition.

The team had outsourced the majority of its seven minutes to F1 theme composer Brian Tyler, here appearing as his DJ alter ego Are We Dreaming. Perhaps we were – if so, I can’t imagine what freakish variety of cheese would summon nocturnal visions of a man dressed in an oversized bin liner twiddling some knobs.

A thankfully short video montage was on brief nodding acquaintance with self-deprecation, though the use of Alex Jacques squawking “What is going on at Alpine?” aptly summed up the sentiments of those in the room.

By the time team boss Oliver Oakes and drivers Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan appeared on stage, this farrago had gone on about six and a half minutes too long. Indeed, Oakes gave the impression of a man keen to get it all over with and return to the bar, batting one of MC Lawrence Barretto’s questions back so flippantly that poor Lazza, one of the nicest men in F1, was left floundering.

Neither was there mention of the elephant in the room, Franco Colapinto. Given the SFX technology available to the production crew it would have been simplicity itself to have a ghostly image of Alpine’s ‘reserve driver’ hovering over Doohan’s shoulder like a Shakespearean spectre at the feast. After all, the BBC could do likewise in the 1970s for the closing credits of Rentaghost on a budget of 10p.

8. Haas

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, Esteban, Haas F1 Team, Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Getty Images

The late Terry Wogan, whose laconic commentary lit up many a Eurovision Song Contest, famously had a rule not to start drinking until the ninth entry had come on stage. Haas was but act four of the F175 evening and yet Mark Mann-Bryan’s arrival with a pint of overpriced beer was timely.

This was an earnest yet workmanlike effort, clearly influenced by WWE and yet missing a finishing move. The video package, complete with evocative voiceover, was slick enough and yet cleaved to a template which was already becoming familiar.

Team boss Ayao Komatsu was happy to let his drivers do the talking, a strategy his peers would have done well to emulate. Likewise the car spinning on its large-scale Lazy Susan; by all means show your car from all angles but only if, like Haas, you’ve bothered to show up to a livery launch with a new livery.

Even so, the most interesting element of this package was the presence of more white paint on the car. This was seven minutes in need of an edge; perhaps Esteban Ocon should have lived up to his reputation and put Oliver Bearman in a pre-emptive headlock, or given him a wedgie?

7. Sauber

Kick Sauber C45

Photo by: Getty Images

Given the unenviable task of opening the livery launch with very little in the way of raw material – a short history in its present identity and nothing pleasant to report on track in 2024 – the team with the unwieldiest name in F1 came out of the blocks as strongly as it could. Granted, this was the audience’s first sight of the giant Faraday cage which enclosed the ‘catwalk’, but the Swiss equipe currently sailing as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber made a little go a long way.

Initial auguries were not good as a fusillade of thunderous, portentous music was accompanied by screen captions along the lines of “It’s not about last season”, “We are united”, and “Ready to hustle harder”. The sense of diminishing returns was only mitigated by the voiceover seemingly channelling the spirit of Vincent Price at the beginning of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  

The 2025 livery mule duly arrived on stage flanked by drummers with luminous green sticks, a nicely creative touch in the absence of triumphant video footage. Setting the tone for the rest of the evening, the energy quickly departed the room once the personnel on stage actually started to speak. Team boss Mattia Binotto then hustled his charges off stage with a minimum of chat, as if recognising that speaking in front of 16,000 people is perhaps not his metier.

Post-show, Binotto made a point of visiting the room in the bowels of the Intercontinental Hotel which had housed the press conferences earlier in the day to thank the drummers in person for doing a great job. A classy touch.

6. Williams

Carlos Sainz, Williams, James Vowles, Team Principal, Williams Racing, Alex Albon, Williams

Photo by: Getty Images

“Greenwich, it’s James.”

A peculiar seven minutes of two halves began with the kind of historic video which might uncharitably be described as ‘route one’ – if the voiceover were being performed by a mere artist-for-hire. Here, though, were the unmistakable tones of Sir Frank Williams himself, economically describing his team’s philosophy: racing.

Cut.

“That was then. This is now,” came the screen captions amid much sub bass. A straightforward enough statement, and yet a triggering one for habitual pub quizzers who will of course recognise it as a minor 1983 hit by ABC, one which featured the peculiar lyric “Can’t complain, mustn’t grumble / Help yourself to another piece of apple crumble.”

Perhaps not as triggering as the sight of team boss James Vowles taking centre stage and introducing both himself and his drivers. Given that wine is an exorbitant £40 a bottle at the O2, this could have been an expensive proposition for players of the James Vowles drinking game (a shot or two fingers every time he says “journey”, “direction of travel”, namechecks a sponsor or some such).

“You’ve met myself,” Vowles told the crowd, demonstrating that, while he has a firm grasp on business strategy, the rules governing the reflexive personal pronoun remain an undiscovered country.

Thankfully the drivers shone – there was a lot of love for Carlos Sainz in the room – but closing off the segment with the team boss taking a selfie called to mind the famous Steve Buscemi 30 Rock meme “How do you do, fellow kids?”

5. Red Bull

Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Getty Images

Famously, the French author and philosopher Albert Camus rejected suggestions that he was an existentialist, preferring to associate the absence of objective meaning in his works with the absurdist movement. You may think I’m putting Descartes before the horsepower here, but bear with me.

Christian Horner appearing on the catwalk solo represented nothing new in the context of an evening where his Williams counterpart had already done the same. He probably wasn’t expecting his walk-on music – The Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up – to be drowned out by churlish booing, but such is the nature of toxic fandom even in the VIP community which appeared to make up much of the evening’s demographic.

Faced with similar provocation the inexplicably popular funnyman Peter Kay would probably have called security, but Christian styled it out. That song, he explained, was a favourite of the late Dietrich Mateschitz, architect and animator of the Red Bull empire.

With that single, exquisitely delivered passive-aggressive flourish, a blanket of embarrassed silence descended.

Thus the stage was set for the most high-budget video package of the evening. No ho-hum montage of race footage, this: it was, Horner explained, “a celebration of car culture”. Ahead of the evening, word had circulated of the amount spent on the production, but Autosport cannot repeat it for fear of excommunication.

The plot of the film is best described as a group of car “influencers” and the like – including Japanese drift specialists Garage-D – follow a Red Bull team truck around central London. In the best tradition of absurdism it was exquisitely pointless. Albert Camus would have been delighted.

Also, pleasingly, there was no pointless driver chat – largely, we understand, because Max Verstappen hated the whole idea of the launch and didn’t want to do it.

Despite the positives, we’re marking Red Bull down on the grounds that this felt like a high-budget yin to long-time rivals Mercedes’ yang. “So, right, make us a film about car culture. We’re an edgy, fun brand, yeah? You’ve got a budget of [ACTUAL FIGURE REDACTED] and just make it better than everyone else’s, huh?”

4. Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal and General Manager, Scuderia Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Getty Images

Another slightly phoned-in effort – this was a box-ticking day for Ferrari, the only team not to run a press conference in the hotel next door – but the video package leant heavily on Enzo Ferrari, which was pleasing for the purists in the room, and the graphic representations of historic cars rather than old racing footage showed that someone had spent more than five minutes thinking how it ought to play. Ultimately you can’t argue with a team that’s been part of the scene since race two, especially since it’s fielding the most popular man in the room.

Lewis Hamilton got the biggest cheer of the evening while Charles Leclerc gamely shrugged off the awkwardness of Jack Whitehall’s man-flirting; team boss Fred Vasseur took the smart option of saying as little as possible and letting the spotlight focus on his drivers rather than the ugly white HP stripe on the car.

3. McLaren

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Getty Images

Entirely ‘route one’ in the format of historic sizzle reel followed by soft interviews, the McLaren presentation achieved uplift by dint of wheeling not only the ‘new’ car on stage but also a collection of previous championship winners – along with the constructors’ trophy.

Well, it made up for the ‘new’ livery being virtually identical to last year’s.

Eschewing the standard F1 TV talent line-up in favour of Martin Brundle, this segment was heavy on interviews – first with bosses Andrea Stella and Zak Brown, then with drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. By this point in the evening, though, the interview format had been proven to suck all the oxygen out of the room, a sensation rendered all the more disquieting here as random background sub-bass noises punctuated the chat, as if some eldritch being from an HP Lovecraft novel was trying to break through the barrier between worlds.

Or maybe it was just background grumbling about the bar prices.

2. Racing Bulls

Isack Hadjar, RB F1 Team, Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team, Racing Bulls VCARB 02

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Weirdly polarising in the room – not helped by the production crew failing to put the video on the big screens until it was already rolling – the Racing Bulls package was the most creative on a low budget. Comedian Munya Chawawa has 1.7million followers on TikTok but, judging by the muted reception, not many of them were in the O2.

The tone of the evening had been unusually irreverent for F1 but perhaps this segment – Chawawa performing a comic vox pop which laughs self-referentially at the team’s seemingly constant changes of identity – exhausted the audience’s appetite. Some of his best zingers had to circle and dump fuel before coming in to land.

“Formula 1 needs a lot more fun,” said CEO Peter Bayer, before proceeding to ruin things by going on about platforms. They should have left him in Faenza and made the video a minute longer.

1. Aston Martin

Aston Martin Racing AMR25

Photo by: Getty Images

The house lights went down, searchlights swirled, and the sound of police sirens wailed in the distance. Had someone stolen Lawrence Stroll’s wallet?

It wouldn’t surprise us if Aston Martin’s segment cost as much as Red Bull’s to produce, but what differentiated the two was the creativity poured into Aston’s staging. It was a veritable projectile vomit of ideas – in a good way.

James Bond? Of course. Cartoon recreations of the Aston hill climb? Just do it. Le Mans? Get it in there, we’ll worry about whether it fits into seven minutes later.

Staging which required Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll to appear in the audience in designer suits, before executing a quick change to go on the catwalk in their race gear, simply showed more ambition than anyone else all evening.

Naturally, to paraphrase PG Wodehouse, it is never difficult to distinguish between Lance Stroll and a ray of sunshine. So when he told the audience “It’s great to be here” he forgot to tell his face to reflect this sentiment. Par for the course.

There was one line in the middle of F175 livery launch event that particularly stood out.

Above all the whooping every time Lewis Hamilton’s image was shown on the big stage. And the booing of Christian Horner and Max Verstappen. More poignant too than the loudest jeers of all, which were reserved for a mention of Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA.

It was a line from the host, comedian Jack Whitehall, who upon reflecting on the extravagant evening in London’s O2 Arena, said: “I can hear all the purists groaning.”

It was absolutely bang-on. For the past couple of weeks as we have edged closer to the event, there had been growing rumblings of discontent from within the teams.

Criticisms over how much it has cost for each of them to have a seven-minute presentation to rip off the covers off their 2025 challenger.

Not only the cost in monetary value – with Red Bull’s presentation believed to have cost around £800,000 – but also eating into their allocated driver time for PR functions and to wheel out in front of sponsors.

Well, sorry purists, if this ceremony was not too your liking, but the reality is, it wasn’t for you anyway.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal and General Manager, Scuderia Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Ferrari SF-25

Photo by: Getty Images

This was F1’s attempt to take the series into the city, to showcase its drivers on the big stage. To those fans who perhaps have not been to an F1 race before – and judging by those who had paid to come and watch, it was an overwhelming success.

Hamilton undoubtedly stole the show as he appeared in public for the first time in Ferrari red, while McLaren’s universal popularity was confirmed judging by the overwhelming reception for the Woking-based team.

Yet while the cheering and applauding was all well and good, it was a negative reaction that piqued interest more.

It was pantomime stuff as Horner walked on stage to present his team’s car for the 2025 season to a chorus of boos.

In his defence, he handled it brilliantly to brush it off but it must have taken some bashing to his ego and would have understandably been uncomfortable.

He had arrived with his wife Geri, who was dressed in white and stood by her husband’s side as they walked down the red carpet.

Horner has leaned into the dramatisation of himself as the perennial villain, which he has been cast by Netflix’s Drive to Survive, and this crowd reflected that.

Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Getty Images

Of course, this time 12 month ago, he was standing on a stage in Red Bull’s sprawling campus launching the 2024 car in what should have been an exuberant celebration after dominating the previous season. Wearing glasses – unusually so – he looked exhausted as his position as the team’s principal was in serious doubt.

Horner, who always denied the claims of inappropriate behaviour made against him and was ultimately cleared, was in danger of being removed from his position as the team’s boss and CEO.

Ironically, the man who posed the threat of usurping him, Red Bull’s managing director Oliver Mintzlaff, was sat between Horner and his wife at the livery launch. There is now a much-more united front in the team as it looks to regain its constructors’ championship title from McLaren.

Verstappen too felt the wrath of the London crowd, although the tone for this was set earlier on by the chippy Whitehall, who had quipped: “Cheer up Max, we didn’t sit you next to George Russell,” referenced their end-of-year bust up from the Qatar GP and that continues to rumble on.

There were some humorous moments. The image of Williams’ boss James Vowles walked out in front of the 16,000 crowd and said, “good evening, London,” was Alan Partridge-esque, and it was not possible to handle any more jokes about Aston Martin’s Mike Krack.

There were varying levels of success for the stylistic presentations. Aston leaned into its James Bond heritage was smart, McLaren gave a nod to its previous world-championship winning cars was also great, while Red Bull’s heavily-produced video was also enjoyable.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Getty Images

There were opportunities missed not to go into depth to highlight the F1 Academy, Formula 2 or Formula 3 beyond a video package. And we should have at least heard one car fire-up, as had been done in the MotoGP launch last weekend in Thailand. However, this is nit-picking.

There will be plenty of back-slapping going on at F1’s HQ, but also some huge sighs of relief. This event was a gamble that could have backfired stupendously but it absolutely hit the mark.

It was never intended for the purist but to tap into a new, younger audience. To take an otherwise dreary car launch and make it fun and engaging. Indeed there can be things which can be improved upon, as is always the case, but otherwise this was an overwhelming success and F1 should ultimately be applauded for trying something new.

All 10 Formula 1 teams have unveiled their liveries at the championship’s 75th anniversary event in London’s O2 Arena, showcasing their new colours in front of fans live at the venue.

This was F1’s first collective launch event in history, with all teams in attendance to unveil the designs they will race with in 2025 – albeit on older machinery at the arena formerly known as the Millennium Dome – in London’s docklands area.

Teams revealed their new paintwork in 2024’s reverse championship order, starting with Sauber and concluding with the unveiling of McLaren’s new livery; the Woking team had previously shaken down its MCL39 at Silverstone in an orange-and-black camouflage scheme.

Sauber opted for a twist on the neon green and carbon grey livery used last season; in a similar layout to its Las Vegas scheme from 2024, it features a green nose with a fade into grey along the rear half of the car.

“I feel energised,” said Sauber boss Mattia Binotto. “I feel energised for the new season – I like it [the livery].

“So we are really looking forward to the next season and show how capable we are – 2025 we be an important season for us.”

Kick Sauber C45

Photo by: Sauber

Williams followed the Sauber presentation with its own 2025 livery in a not-dissimilar scheme to the test livery unveiled last week, featuring a dark-to-royal blue gradient livery from front to back – set off by white trim.

The popular Duracell battery intake remains in place, as the team has also added title sponsor Atlassian to its portfolio.

“This [F175] is fantastic,” said Williams team principal James Vowles. “Thanks to everyone here, it is an amazing event, for us racing is in our heart – it’s what we do – we’ll be in Bahrain in just a few days’ time with Australia less than a month away. We can’t wait – 2025 starts now.”

Racing Bulls – known as RB in 2024 – celebrated its revised new identity with a white scheme, accompanied by red and yellow Red Bull iconography on the nose and rollhoop, while the blue Red Bull brand imagery was at the back of the car.

Team boss Laurent Mekies said: “We have a mantra and it’s written all over our walls in our HQs in Faenza and Milton Keynes, it says that whatever we do, it has to follow three things.

“It needs to be performance obsessed, it needs to be no blame and it needs to be no nonsense and we are building the project altogether around this.”

Racing Bulls VCARB 02

Photo by: Liberty Media

Although the Haas livery had been leaked in various corners of the internet ahead of the event, the team effectively confirmed that it would run with the scheme that features more white versus its largely nude-carbon aesthetic used last year. This features a larger white portion on the nose, sidepods, and set off by black and red secondary hues in angular blocks.

“It’s been awesome to drive the car for the first time,” said new signing Esteban Ocon. “For you hardcore fans, you must have seen it [the new car] somewhere, but we’re happy to present it to you tonight. It’s a beautiful car.”

Alpine has switched to a renewed pink and blue livery for 2025, perhaps putting some in mind of Brabham’s BT60B from 1992.

The pink nose section contrasts with the return of a metallic blue chassis – with pink BWT imagery on the sidepods and new fuels partner Eni occupying plenty of space on the engine cover.

After opening with the bombast of a James Bond-themed presentation, Aston Martin showcased its AMR25 livery that retains similar British Racing Green tones to last season – albeit now with black sidepods bounded by fluorescent yellow.

“She looks pretty good, for sure,” said Lance Stroll, while his team-mate Fernando Alonso added “so much looking forward to this season, the car looks incredible – now we’ve seen the best looking car of the night, please enjoy the rest of the evening”.

Alpine A525

Photo by: Alpine

Mercedes stuck to a largely similar version of its 2024 livery with its combination of silver, black, and Petronas teal – albeit with INEOS’ red flash on the roll hoop now removed for a smidgen of extra silver.

“Congrats to F1, this is a new milestone – such an amazing event,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

Red Bull has retained the same matte dark blue livery, with yellow nose and rollhoop brand imagery. This has been used by the team since 2016.

Ferrari was, predictably, enrobed in red – albeit with a much greater presence of white on the engine cover as a platform for its title sponsor HP. It retains the white front and rear wings, which it introduced in Miami last year when HP joined the Scuderia.

“Such a great night,” said seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is set for his debut season with Ferrari.

“The word that I’m thinking of is invigorated because I feel so full of life, so much energy because everything is new and just focused on what’s up ahead. I’m so proud to be part of the team, something new and exciting.”

Ferrari SF-25

Photo by: Ferrari

McLaren concluded the unveilings with the livery it will defend its title with, opting for effectively the same paint scheme used last season – retaining its papaya nose and flashes around the rear half of the car.

The night also included a series of musical performances by mgk (formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly), who opened the show, American country singer Kane Brown, and pop legends Take That closing the night, while it was all hosted by actor and comedian Jack Whitehall. 

It preceded next week’s Bahrain pre-season test, in which all 10 car designs will take to the track for their first proper runs beyond the usual flurry of shakedown and promotional events.

Photos from the F1 75 Live season launch

The first 2025 Formula 1 liveries at the championship’s 75th Anniversary event at London’s O2 Arena have now been unveiled, in front of a capacity crowd of fans at the venue.

This was F1’s first collective launch event in history, with all teams in attendance to unveil the designs they will race with in 2025 – albeit on older machinery at the arena formerly known as the Millennium Dome – in London’s docklands area.

Teams will reveal their new paintwork in 2024’s reverse championship order, starting with Sauber and concluding with the unveiling of McLaren’s new livery; the Woking team had previously shaken down its MCL39 at Silverstone in an orange-and-black camouflage scheme.

Sauber opted for a twist on the neon green and carbon grey livery used last season; in a similar layout to its Las Vegas scheme from 2024, it features a green nose with a fade into grey along the rear half of the car.

“I feel energised,” said Sauber boss Mattia Binotto. “I feel energised for the new season – I like it [the livery].

“So we are really looking forward to the next season and show how capable we are – 2025 we be an important season for us.”

Kick Sauber C45

Photo by: Sauber

Williams followed the Sauber presentation with its own 2025 livery in a not-dissimilar scheme to the test livery unveiled last week, featuring a dark-to-royal blue gradient livery from front to back – set off by white trim.

The popular Duracell battery intake remains in place, as the team has also added title sponsor Atlassian to its portfolio.

“This [F175] is fantastic,” said Williams team principal James Vowles. “Thanks to everyone here, it is an amazing event, for us racing is in our heart – it’s what we do – we’ll be in Bahrain in just a few days’ time with Australia less than a month away. We can’t wait – 2025 starts now.”

Racing Bulls – known as RB in 2024 – celebrated its revised new identity with a white scheme, accompanied by red and yellow Red Bull iconography on the nose and rollhoop, while the blue Red Bull brand imagery was at the back of the car.

Team boss Laurent Mekies said: “We have a mantra and it’s written all over our walls in our HQs in Faenza and Milton Keynes, it says that whatever we do, it has to follow three things.

“It needs to be performance obsessed, it needs to be no blame and it needs to be no nonsense and we are building the project altogether around this.”

Racing Bulls VCARB 02

Photo by: Liberty Media

Although the Haas livery had been leaked in various corners of the internet ahead of the event, the team effectively confirmed that it would run with the scheme that features more white versus its largely nude-carbon aesthetic used last year. This features a larger white portion on the nose, sidepods, and set off by black and red secondary hues in angular blocks.

“It’s been awesome to drive the car for the first time,” said new signing Esteban Ocon. “For you hardcore fans, you must have seen it [the new car] somewhere, but we’re happy to present it to you tonight. It’s a beautiful car.”

The night also includes a series of musical performances by mgk (formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly), who opened the show, American country singer Kane Brown, and pop legends Take That, while being hosted by actor and comedian Jack Whitehall. 

It precedes next week’s Bahrain pre-season test, in which all 10 new car designs will take to the track for their first proper runs beyond the usual flurry of shakedown and promotional events.

More to follow

All 10 Formula 1 teams have unveiled their liveries at the championship’s 75th anniversary event in London’s O2 Arena, showcasing their new colours in front of fans live at the venue.

This was F1’s first collective launch event in history, with all teams in attendance to unveil the designs they will race with in 2025 – albeit on older machinery at the arena formerly known as the Millennium Dome – in London’s docklands area.

Teams revealed their new paintwork in 2024’s reverse championship order, starting with Sauber and concluding with the unveiling of McLaren’s new livery; the Woking team had previously shaken down its MCL39 at Silverstone in an orange-and-black camouflage scheme.

Sauber opted for a twist on the neon green and carbon grey livery used last season; in a similar layout to its Las Vegas scheme from 2024, it features a green nose with a fade into grey along the rear half of the car.

“I feel energised,” said Sauber boss Mattia Binotto. “I feel energised for the new season – I like it [the livery].

“So we are really looking forward to the next season and show how capable we are – 2025 we be an important season for us.”

Kick Sauber C45

Photo by: Sauber

Williams followed the Sauber presentation with its own 2025 livery in a not-dissimilar scheme to the test livery unveiled last week, featuring a dark-to-royal blue gradient livery from front to back – set off by white trim.

The popular Duracell battery intake remains in place, as the team has also added title sponsor Atlassian to its portfolio.

“This [F175] is fantastic,” said Williams team principal James Vowles. “Thanks to everyone here, it is an amazing event, for us racing is in our heart – it’s what we do – we’ll be in Bahrain in just a few days’ time with Australia less than a month away. We can’t wait – 2025 starts now.”

Racing Bulls – known as RB in 2024 – celebrated its revised new identity with a white scheme, accompanied by red and yellow Red Bull iconography on the nose and rollhoop, while the blue Red Bull brand imagery was at the back of the car.

Team boss Laurent Mekies said: “We have a mantra and it’s written all over our walls in our HQs in Faenza and Milton Keynes, it says that whatever we do, it has to follow three things.

“It needs to be performance obsessed, it needs to be no blame and it needs to be no nonsense and we are building the project altogether around this.”

Racing Bulls VCARB 02

Photo by: Liberty Media

Although the Haas livery had been leaked in various corners of the internet ahead of the event, the team effectively confirmed that it would run with the scheme that features more white versus its largely nude-carbon aesthetic used last year. This features a larger white portion on the nose, sidepods, and set off by black and red secondary hues in angular blocks.

“It’s been awesome to drive the car for the first time,” said new signing Esteban Ocon. “For you hardcore fans, you must have seen it [the new car] somewhere, but we’re happy to present it to you tonight. It’s a beautiful car.”

Alpine has switched to a renewed pink and blue livery for 2025, perhaps putting some in mind of Brabham’s BT60B from 1992.

The pink nose section contrasts with the return of a metallic blue chassis – with pink BWT imagery on the sidepods and new fuels partner Eni occupying plenty of space on the engine cover.

After opening with the bombast of a James Bond-themed presentation, Aston Martin showcased its AMR25 livery that retains similar British Racing Green tones to last season – albeit now with black sidepods bounded by fluorescent yellow.

“She looks pretty good, for sure,” said Lance Stroll, while his team-mate Fernando Alonso added “so much looking forward to this season, the car looks incredible – now we’ve seen the best looking car of the night, please enjoy the rest of the evening”.

Alpine A525

Photo by: Alpine

Mercedes stuck to a largely similar version of its 2024 livery with its combination of silver, black, and Petronas teal – albeit with INEOS’ red flash on the roll hoop now removed for a smidgen of extra silver.

“Congrats to F1, this is a new milestone – such an amazing event,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

Red Bull has retained the same matte dark blue livery, with yellow nose and rollhoop brand imagery. This has been used by the team since 2016.

Ferrari was, predictably, enrobed in red – albeit with a much greater presence of white on the engine cover as a platform for its title sponsor HP. It retains the white front and rear wings, which it introduced in Miami last year when HP joined the Scuderia.

“Such a great night,” said seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is set for his debut season with Ferrari.

“The word that I’m thinking of is invigorated because I feel so full of life, so much energy because everything is new and just focused on what’s up ahead. I’m so proud to be part of the team, something new and exciting.”

Ferrari SF-25

Photo by: Ferrari

McLaren concluded the unveilings with the livery it will defend its title with, opting for effectively the same paint scheme used last season – retaining its papaya nose and flashes around the rear half of the car.

The night also included a series of musical performances by mgk (formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly), who opened the show, American country singer Kane Brown, and pop legends Take That closing the night, while it was all hosted by actor and comedian Jack Whitehall. 

It preceded next week’s Bahrain pre-season test, in which all 10 car designs will take to the track for their first proper runs beyond the usual flurry of shakedown and promotional events.