► All teams and drivers shown on stage
► The event lasted around two hours
► Performance from Take That
We’re now well into the next era of F1. Earlier this week, all the new drivers and liveries revealed at one event at the O2 Arena in London. It’s a first for the sport, and the most visceral sign yet that Formula One has joined the top table of sports entertainment, alongside things such as the NFL Super Bowl, Champions League football and the Olympics.
The show, which sold out in minutes, was presented by Jack Whitehall along with F1’s regular presenters, but also had music from Machine Gun Kelly, and Take That among others. A weird combination on paper, but no doubt a laser-guided strategy to appeal to every single demographic of F1 fan. The result sat somewhere between X-Factor, the Superbowl half time show and The Office – but it seemed to work.
The livery and team reveals were interspersed with Golden Globes-style roasts of drivers, celebrities and videos. Drivers looked bemused but played along, while the biggest boos were reserved for Christian Horner, Max Verstappen and the FIA organisation itself. We also got a new preview of the F1 film due later this year. Drive to Survive is the TV show that propelled F1 to a global audience – so what will ‘F1 The Movie’ do?
Each team had a slot to fill, and the reveals varied considerably; some too long, others too loud and most probably just showing last year’s car with a lick of paint. The teams had the same tools to play with; a stage, a door, a platform that could raise a car. Below you’ll find a quick summary of each.
Stake Sauber
The team soon to be known as Audi kicked things as they finished last in the constructors’ championship last year. It was a chance to see their new driver line-up of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg – the latter of which got one of the biggest cheers of the night form the O2 crowd.
However, it was also a chance to see ex-Ferrari team principial Mattia Binotto, who is already managing the team’s transition to the full works Audi outfit. Adding an extra point just for him.
Williams
We’re into a new era of F1 and a new era of Williams too, but that didn’t stop the Groves outfit laying on the nostalgia. Their segment kicked off the voice of Frank and Claire Williams – which may have been lost to some of those at the O2 – and reminded many new fans of the team’s past success.
James Vowles has been soft launching as the popular team principial for over a year now, but at the O2 he hard launched to the biggest crowd imaginable. Continuing Williams’ segment as the master of ceremonies, he introduced Alex Albon and new signing Carlos Sainz.
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VCARB decided to run a longer video from the usually entertaining Munya Chawawa.You can understand why VCARB’s team picked one of the UK’s best comedians, though really it just needed to show us the car to win us over: the new VCARB is without doubt one of the best-looking F1 cars in a while.
Those familiar to the sport will see hints of Red Bull’s special F1 2021 livery in it – which is in spirit with the team’s penchant for Red Bull hand-me-downs, anyway – but it’s a cracking looking car.
Haas
Haas opted for a black and white video that leant on the talents of country star Kane Brown, and doubled-down on being America’s team and going racing in an American way. Whatever that means. It wasn’t particularly interesting or entertaining, but the all-new driver line up certainly is; Esteban Ocon will now drive for Haas alongside Ferrari’s next top-talent Ollie Bearman.
Alpine
Next was Alpine, who persisted with an EDM powered-set from Brian Taylor – the man responsible for the Avengers theme and the equally catchy F1 theme. However, his performance at the O2 was a more aggressive number that seemed to pulverise the crowd into submission.
It went on for a while, but soon we were able to see Pierre Gasly along with team principal Oliver Oakes and new signing Jack Doohan. Not joining the new car on stage were the team’s growing squad of reserve drivers, which now includes Franco Colapinto and Paul Arron.
Aston Martin
James Bond, again. Things began with a video of a spy chase along the River Thames, before cutting to the drivers arriving at the O2 in person. Between that and the car and drivers being shown, we got a video showing the history of the marque, and a live performance from Tems, which again doubled down on the James Bond theme.
Most interesting was a lack of mega-signing Newey – who isn’t contractually able to work for the team yet – and the presence of Andy Cowell, now the top dog at Aston. The ex-Mercedes engine man now leads the team in the place of Mike Krack. And yes, Jack Whitehall mentioned him, too.
Mercedes
The only thing more surreal than Hamilton at Ferrari is no Hamilton at Mercedes, and it made for a relatively muted display from the Brackley team. Bathing the O2 in Petronas green, Mercedes ran with their ‘every dream needs a team’ motto, along with a VT with the team’s many successes – and occasional disasters, such as Barcelona 2016.
It was our first chance to see George Russell as the de facto team leader, but it was interestingly the new talent Kimi Antonelli that seemed to get the biggest cheer from the London crowd. Perhaps George has a fight on his hands already…
Fashion fans would’ve also enjoyed our first look in person of the team’s new Adidas kit following a partnership that began earlier this year; Run DMC, Stan Smith, Beckenbauer and now Wolff.
Red Bull
After the 2024 he’s had, Christian Horner must’ve been expecting the chorus of boos he got at the O2 – and it seems Red Bull creative team saw the bad reception coming too. That’s probably why their segment diverted from the team entirely and instead focused on things we all like: modern classics and drifting.
Flashy and entertaining enough, it was a neat if not random sidestep from the actual team – and didn’t really nod towards any of the other extreme, interesting things the brand does aside from F1. Surely Red Bull should’ve leant into the pantomime.
Instead, we had a crowd of dancing people, a similar livery to last year, and no word from Verstappen or new signing Liam Lawson.
Ferrari
The first chance for the public to see Lewis Hamilton in red began with a quote from none other than the boss himself, Enzo Ferrari. After that we were into footage of the team’s various cars and drivers, before zooming into the here and now.
With Fred Vasseur at the centre and both drivers either side, we got a brief interview with all three. Later, we got a look at the new car, which – even on the surface – features a few tweaks compared to last year’s runner-up.
The livery is what you’d expect from Ferrari with a little more white – and a bunch of huge HP logos.
McLaren
As winners of last year’s team championship, McLaren was able to use the stage to display multiple cars – including Hamilton’s 2008 car and Mika Hakkinen’s car from 1998.
As you’d expect, the team has stuck with the same papaya and orange look as last year – though it’ll hope to have a better start and more consistent year than 2024.
After all, despite a car advantage for much of the year, errors on and off the track – combined with some strong performance from Verstappen – ultimately cost the team a proper run at the drivers’ title.
Final verdict
As Take That played one of their supermarket advert bangers, I realised the event had gone quite well. Jack Whitehall was a solid MC that went a little further than you’d expect and provided enough non-racing entertainment for more casual fans to stay tuned. All in all, then, it was an interesting way to really crank interest up after the off-season.
Somehow, F1 – the slickest most corporate enterprise going – tried something new, made itself the underdog, and only went and did a decent job of it. F1 hasn’t said the event, which this year commemorated 75 years of the sport, will be an annual thing. But projected viewing figures will surely make it a no-brainer. Expect similar events in other major capital cities around the world, then, for even higher ticket prices.