At the end of the winter, the longest period of the entire year without any F1 action for fans to enjoy, the launch season arrives in February to wake fans up with around a fortnight’s worth of festivities.
Teams have often used February to reveal their new cars and liveries for the upcoming season, ahead of the opening or sole pre-season test.Ten teams on the grid means there are often ten separate launch events hosted by the teams themselves. Some feature live events at venues such as their factory, circuits like Silverstone or exotic places like New York, while others are simply pre-packaged videos streamed online to show off the new designs and provide a word from the team’s drivers.
But next year, FOM seeks to capitalise on the sport’s current popularity and fans’ rabid appetite to see the upcoming season’s cars by hosting a special live launch event at the O2 Arena in London. Called ‘F1 75 Live’ – to celebrate the 76th world championship season – the event will see all ten teams unveiling their colours for 2025 in the same event, in front of a live audience of thousands.
The concept seems to have proven very popular with fans. Demand was so great, tickets for the event sold out on the arena’s website within 45 minutes of going on sale. However, it has been met with cynicism by some fans, especially as FOM has confirmed that teams will only be revealing their base livery designs at the event, rather than their actual cars.
But how do RaceFans readers feel about the event? Do you prefer the traditional way of revealing cars or does this unique approach to the launch season appeal to you?
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For
F1’s launch season is protracted for what it is, taking place over multiple weeks. With each team wanting the spotlight to itself, launches are organised throughout the week, meaning several take place during weekdays when many of their fans are working and unable to watch.
Having all the reveals done at the same time allows for more fans to enjoy the excitement of seeing the liveries that teams will run the next season. It’s also likely to make the launch process more streamlined with less tedium as teams are forced to trim the fat from their presentations.
It also makes the sport feel more of a big deal, echoing the pre-game pomp and circumstance the NFL achieves in the build-up to the Super Bowl.
Against
F1’s traditional launch season works well because it is spread out over multiple days and provides an easy-to-digest drip of F1 intrigue as the start of the season approaches.
Even for hardcore F1 fans, the idea of sitting and watching team after team going through the exact same routine of pulling the covers off their car followed by bland interviews with the drivers talking about their hopes for the year ahead for multiple hours sounds like it could lose its appeal rather rapidly.
But the biggest negative is that teams will not even be unveiling their actual cars – just their liveries. Most teams will surely unveil their 2025 models in their own separate events anyway, making F1 75 Live feel a little unnecessary.
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I say
On the face of it, there’s plenty to like about the idea of a special live event celebrating the start of the championship season. For one thing, treating car launches as an ‘event’ like this really does make it feel like the official end to the off-season. And you know that Formula 1 will do whatever it feels necessary to make it feel sufficiently glamorous.
But that is half the problem – are fans truly clamouring for a ‘glitz and glamour’ launch event?
Then there’s the obvious issue for many fans. These won’t be 2025 cars – just their liveries. Fans are already getting tired of tuning in to live streamed ‘launch’ events only to see a livery that is 97% the same as the previous year’s car placed onto a generic show car. For teams like Red Bull or Aston Martin who rarely innovate on their basic liveries, all the intrigue comes from the actual design of their cars – which fans will have to wait for a separate event or even the first test to actually see.
Finally, there’s the fact that these events will be attended by the paying public – in the heart of the British capital. As the competition on track has heated up, so too has the temperature of fan discourse. With thousands of fans attending – many likely to be British – is each team and driver going to be treated with the respect they deserve? Especially as the current world champion has been very vocal about his perception of bias against him in F1 media.
For a one-off event, it feels like something worth a try. Especially as the ticket demand shows genuine interest in watching hours of show car reveals. But the idea of making this a regular event on the F1 calendar is less appealing.
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You say
Are you excited about the F1 75 Live livery launch event? Or are you put off by the idea and would prefer another traditional launch season? Have your say in this weekend’s poll.
How excited are you for the F1 75 Live launch event in 2025?
- No opinion (1%)
- Very disinterested (61%)
- Slightly disinterested (15%)
- Neither excited nor disinterested (14%)
- Slightly excited (9%)
- Very excited (1%)
Total Voters: 163
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Debates and polls
- Verstappen banned? Alpine sold? Which of these 2025 predictions will come true?
- Is F1 doing the right thing by overhauling car design rules again for 2026?
- Ten years since its introduction, does F1 need its superlicence points system?
- Which F1 team created the best alternative livery during 2024?
- Which Formula 1 team has the strongest driver line-up for 2025?
Riccard
17th November 2024, 13:00
When the liveries are shown off I will naturally take a look, pick favourites, imagine them racing
But I’m not going to spend any energy getting excited in advance, especially with the current season still running.
Part of the reason I’m a motorsport fan is that I find races more exciting than photoshoots.
Doh
17th November 2024, 14:05
Especially when half the cars are just black with a couple stickers on top
BasCB (@bascb)
18th November 2024, 8:16
Yeah, that’s why I voted “slightly disinterested” since I am way too far from having any real feelings about this “event” to put a “very” ahead of the disinterested part (I had already forgotten about this since the announcement last week, this article/poll reminded me and I will likely forget about it until we get some pictures of the minor changes in colour schemes used on most cars).
The PR talk of this event is what will make it hard to watch.
MacLeod (@macleod)
19th November 2024, 13:17
Max said it’s all fake cars (only models with liveries which isn’t interesting) on his stream he hopes he is sick so he doesn’t have to go there.
f1andrea
17th November 2024, 13:01
useless until is a celebration of F1 75th anniversary. I hope is just a one off, should celebrate F1, not livrery launch (who cares about?)
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
17th November 2024, 21:07
yeah, the liveries are usually garbage, unless they are iconic. F1 isn’t that anymore, its highest bidder action, and celebrating F1’s offering itself to the highest bidder, the ads, commercialism, well, thats pretty gross in my estimation.
bring back the tobacco sponsors, they had more class, and to be honest, cigarettes, even with all the additives are far less stressful to the healthcare industry than all the toxic addictive food circulating in fast/convenience foods. Diabetes and overweight-ness is killing America, and the people at the top of the killchain don’t care, its just more money for their stocks in healthcare, and government thievery.
elchinero (@elchinero)
20th November 2024, 14:55
Could not care less …..zzzzzzzz
Pete R (@prupp89)
17th November 2024, 13:06
I love the traditional livery reveals because it helps make each reveal feel special and it gives me something to look forward to each of those days when there’s no F1. Doing one big reveal just takes away the luster of it
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
17th November 2024, 13:22
The novelty of seeing each car launch on separate days is something that I look forward to each year before the season. It progressively builds the interest for the pre season testing and the year itself. At each of the car launch program, there is adequate time for each team and its drivers to tell about their expectations for the year ahead. Even junior drivers and reserve drivers get the opportunity to speak. Last time, Alpine at their event showcased its WRC car too. A composite launch will be rushed for each team, and most likely many of the discussions that would otherwise happen, will be skipped. So my vote is slightly disinterested. I would prefer the teams to continue with the tradition of their separate launches in addition to whatever jamboree that this event will be.
Rick Gomez (@rgomez13)
17th November 2024, 13:38
It seems like they want to make it an event like the World Cup draw. I’ll reserve judgement until it’s done. You have to try new things. Sometimes you fail and many times it leads to something better even if you learn from it and change what you just tried.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
17th November 2024, 14:09
Even the world cup draw has changed in recent years, as they just do the draw and that’s it. No more flashy stuff…
notagrumpyfan
17th November 2024, 14:58
I don’t mind, it even has an upside:
I never got excited about, or even commented on, a single team’s livery launch; I’m only interested in the technical developments/solutions. So maybe it’s better to get it all over in one event, rather than ten separate launches (and articles).
SPArtacus
17th November 2024, 16:53
+1, grumpy. I’ll enjoy F1 media not being able to stretch out each meaningless reveal (meaningless because all it is livery and no car), into a separate article. Liveries are nice and all, but all that matters is what they’ve actually done with the technical development.
But, who are we kidding, they’ll end up posting an article about each individual livery anyway and people will comment.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
17th November 2024, 14:08
Presentations are very boring anyway. I want to see the cars. That’s all I’m interested about. They’ll do interviews, surely, they’ll all say the same things as usual and that’s it.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
17th November 2024, 21:59
exactly, who wants to celebrate the sponsors, thats all this event is for, to make sure the backmarkers get sponsor visibility. Thats all this is about, it has nothing to do with the new cool cars. For criminy sake, they might as well do a Race Of Champions or something in conjunction, because at least the fans get something instead of a bunch of empty glam goo.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
18th November 2024, 7:30
it’s not all bad if the backmarkers get more visibility. THis way they might get better sponsors or more money, in theory making their chances better at competing with the top teams. I’m all for that, plus it doesnt’ cost us anything, if you don’t want you just dont watch it.
MacLeod (@macleod)
18th November 2024, 8:24
Sponsors shoulf pay for everything not us so paying to see showcars that is happening when every Sea’s has no water in it.
Neil (@neilosjames)
17th November 2024, 14:25
Went for very disinterested, as I can’t manage to generate any internal excitement for seeing some paint and stickers. Especially not when the paint and stickers will be more or less identical to the paint and stickers from this year. And the reveal cars will probably be 2024-spec, so it’ll be like looking at this year’s cars again.
“Here’s the Ferrari and it’s… red. And the Mercedes is silver and black. And here we have a Red Bull looking exactly the same as it did last year, and an orange McLaren and… woah, hang on, is that green Aston Martin one shade lighter than it was last year?”
I’ll look at pictures after and probably have views on the attractiveness of each, but the event itself holds no interest for me at all.
RandomMallard
17th November 2024, 15:58
I bet they’ll employ some kind of “super cool” and “unique” lighting that actually results in the cars looking completely different in the O2 to how they look on track (albeit individual team launches are also frequently guilty of this).
SteveR (@stever)
17th November 2024, 16:42
Yeah, they all seem to especially like blue lighting.
PacificPR (@streydt)
17th November 2024, 14:27
Yawn. Watching teams unveil a show livery on a show car. Just another way the milk the cash-cow.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
17th November 2024, 15:19
+ 1
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
17th November 2024, 14:37
I’m not interested at all.
But then even as things have been done traditionally with the individual launches I would never sit down to watch a car launch live as I don’t really want to sit through all the fluff that surrounds them (Something it sounds like there’s going to be far more of with this big event).
I’ll just do what I usually do and look at pictures of the liveries after the launches & then wait until we see cars on track during testing & then the first race weekend to start having a closer look at the details.
floodo1 (@floodo1)
17th November 2024, 14:54
Car launches are already meaningless. Imagine paying to see them
HAL
17th November 2024, 15:02
I like the car launch period because it means the season is coming…. But I only spend only a few minutes looking at the pictures, knowing very often it’s not the new cars and the interviews, the speeches are very boring, basic PR stuff to present the sponsors…
So, frankly, I like the idea of a big show where you discover all the cars at once and potentially, you have some real F1 commentator.
I don’t have a lot of expectations and maybe it will be boring. But kudo’s to LB to try out new stuff.
AlexS
17th November 2024, 15:14
Do not like this one at all.
I am against one place to show all cars.
I like the build up, new cars presented in their various settings. If they want to make a culminating show before the first GP i am okayish. But should be the last not the first.
Bob C.
17th November 2024, 15:16
To answer the question as stated: no, not excited in the least.
If FOM want to arrange this and sell tickets for it, I am perfectly fine with that. If fans would like to pay the entrance fee to watch it, I am perfectly fine with that, too. Different strokes for different folks, and all that.
But, frankly, for me personally, I struggle to find anything (F1-related, at least) that I could care any less about.
Ideals (@ideals)
17th November 2024, 15:17
I have some doubts in the poll results as they appear to me more of a disapproving vote than a disinterested vote. I guarantee you all these voters will be sitting watching a countdown timer come live cast of the event.
For that reason, I voted the neither option. I will, of course, watch this event along with everyone else, while still wishing we got our two week daily trickle of launch cars instead. While being annoyed at the pointless musical guest appearances. While being annoyed at the OTT presentators asking drivers and team bosses the most milquetoast questions and listening to Hamilton calling the attendees the most bestest fans in the world to thunderous applause and cheers.
And then I will remember watching a Spice Girls performance at a McLaren car reveal in 1997 and remind myself that the more things change, the more they will inevitably stay the same.
Riccard
17th November 2024, 15:33
Probably just reflects the timing of the poll.
People aren’t excited now… but with 1 week to go when it’s been months since the last F1 race, sure, people will be
SteveR (@stever)
17th November 2024, 16:45
Well, you’d lose that bet as I certainly won’t be.
SPArtacus
17th November 2024, 16:57
+1
I have never watched a launch event in more than 30 years of watching F1 (that’s likely a higher number than the average age of all the new F1 fans) live or otherwise and I certainly won’t be watching this.
kcrossle (@kcrossle)
30th November 2024, 16:06
+1
gregwtravels (@gregwtravels)
18th November 2024, 8:02
I went for very disinterested, but I am not disapproving of the format itself. I haven’t be interested in the launch events ever, so however they choose to do it probably wasn’t ever going to pull me in.
Jere (@jerejj)
17th November 2024, 15:26
Very disinterested was an easy choice.
I simply struggle to find any excitement for something that most likely only features show cars with 2025 livery or something.
RandomMallard
17th November 2024, 15:56
This comes across to me as in the category of “great idea on paper”. On the face of it, it sounds like a great idea. A big event to celebrate the start of the season, with everyone together unveiling some exciting new liveries and getting some interviews in front of a live audience. However, I kind of feel that once you account for the fact that it’s only the new liveries, no one present will be able to get a proper good look at them at the event, and that a lot of the interviews will likely sound quite similar between different drivers, I feel it loses it’s appeal quite quickly. Additionally, I personally quite like the current format for car launches, as it gives different teams each a bit of the spotlight for a bit, allows you to appreciate and discuss the cars and interviews over a period of 3-ish weeks rather than 3 hours, and you get a bit of variety between the different styles as well.
Coupled with this, from what I’ve heard, the way F1 has handled this has been a bit of a disaster. If the rumours that only about 25% of the tickets were actually available to fans, with the rest allocated to sponsors/partners and celebrities/influencers are true, then it’s a massive own goal as quite a lot of fans don’t seem to be very happy with how the ticket sales were handled. It also feels very expensive for this kind of event as well.
Overall, quite easy to feel pretty disinterested/disappointed by this…
MichaelN
17th November 2024, 16:04
I like it. It’ll be nice to see all the new looks in one go.
I’m not interested in seeing ten variations of the same corporate speech drawn out to fill an hour long presentation for each team. I also find it increasingly uninteresting to read pure speculation about some minor technical change and how this will supposedly change te competitive order. It’s usually wrong anyway.
But this will probably be a real downer for smaller teams, as attention naturally goes to the potential title winners.
Johns
17th November 2024, 16:40
It is really going to hurt the smaller teams; it is completely unfair to them. Just as they are hurrying to get done, the corporate elite asks them to stop work for a photoshoot. They need this time to finish the cars, not run off to take some pretty pictures.
SPArtacus
17th November 2024, 17:01
They won’t be sending technical personnel or resources. A couple of movers transporting an old chassis done up with new graphics is all. So, I wouldn’t worry about “the smaller teams” especially since who are these smaller teams now? Basically Haas. They’re all spending at the budget cap with maybe, maybe the exception of Haas and RB.
But I agree 100% w/your comment below.
MichaelN
17th November 2024, 17:17
They’ll probably roll out last year’s model with the new look, but that look is going to get a lot less attention when folks huddle around the new McLaren or Red Bull.
Sauber got like a week of coverage following their new association with their questionable sponsor platform last winter. They’re not going to get anywhere near that level of attention now. Even if they come up with some new outlandish look, people are going to be saying ‘that’s nice… so anyway, what about McLaren!?”
Johns
17th November 2024, 16:37
No matter how pretty the cars are, the Bull$1t stops when the green flag drops.
Sergey Martyn
17th November 2024, 17:14
Is the only sane reason for yet another stupid Liberty media gimmick – cost cap?
I luv chicken
17th November 2024, 17:32
Will the Spice Girls be performing?
KaIIe (@kaiie)
17th November 2024, 17:34
Ignoring the price-y tickets, I can’t really see a downside to this. For the past decade or so, the car launches have been livery or “season” launches or something similar, with mock-up cars, and teams and drivers just telling PR speak how this will be a good season for everyone. Gone are the days of Tyrrell revealing the six-wheeler… So, for someone who hasn’t that actively followed the pre-season launches or analysed every single photo and try to guess where teams stand, this new format makes no difference.
John Beak (@johnbeak)
17th November 2024, 17:35
Disinterested means impartial; uninterested means indifferent 🤓
Dex
17th November 2024, 19:41
Short answer – no. After all, it will be same old, and if there’s anything truly different, it will probably be for the worse (something garish, like from video games). In any case, I’ll just check the articles with pictures.
Vincent Ouwehand (@bazzek)
17th November 2024, 19:47
I am neither interested, nor disinterested. I never looked forward to the 10 livery shows by teams spread over 14 days. All it does is show the color scheme, it never shows the actual car.
I am way more interested in the first day of pre-season testing, i mean, you get the livery AND the actual car for the season.
Will i watch this…. no
Will i check some pictures of the liveries…. maybe, depends on how busy i am.
That said, if people want to watch this, are hyped for it and all that, then fantastic. Clearly i am not the demographic this is aimed at.
And for F1 in general, any hype is good hype. It is clear that the age of people like me that enjoy the technical side as well as the pure racing are a minority.
To those that watch it, hope it is fun and you get to enjoy it.
If you got tickets, make a party out of it.
For those that don’t care, 1st day of pre-season testing will also be right around the corner and i am sure we will enjoy that (assuming FOM broadcasts it)
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
17th November 2024, 19:58
Very disinterested….. I actually don’t think I could be any less interested.
I don’t care for all the showbiz nonsense, Never have & never will & to be perfectly honest all that stuff is nothing but a turn off for me.
As such I have absolutely zero interest in sitting through a bunch of that while waiting for an F1 car to interrupt the show every so often.
I’m here because i’m a fan of the sport, I watch because I enjoy the spectacle of seeing the drivers driving the cars around the circuits (Well apart from most of the newer circuits which I don’t really enjoy watching at all). I couldn’t care less about the Americanised show Liberty seem determined to turn F1 into & so refuse to engage with any of it. I don’t watch the sprints, I don’t watch any of the US style pre event/race shows they have tried and I won’t be watching this launch show either.
Sport over show!
SPArtacus
17th November 2024, 21:45
Other than actually marketing the sport, I’m not sure exactly in what ways it’s been “Americanized.” Watch an F1 weekend from pre-Liberty and post-Liberty and they’re basically identical. I’m not interested in the show biz aspect either, but F1 and show biz have always gone hand-in-hand. Why do you think Monaco is its most famous race and why it’s always attracted the rich and famous?
“Liberty” and “the Americans!” have just replaced “Bernie!” as the scapegoat of [what’s wrong with F1 these days] complaints.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
17th November 2024, 21:39
Whilst I have some interest in the liveries I have zero interest in the launch event.
I did have to ponder how both can be true, however given that we will see the liveries anyway, the ‘event’, for me at least, is superfluous.
Robert Williams (@weiliwen)
17th November 2024, 21:41
It’s just for spectacle. I’m surprised they aren’t bringing pit babes back as the UFC-ization of F1 continues.
SPArtacus
17th November 2024, 21:48
Not sure why you’d expect the same people who sillily banned grid girls to bring them back. UFC-ization? What are the parallels between the UFC and any recent changes to F1?
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
17th November 2024, 22:10
there are some people who believe in gladiators running around in circles, running each other off the track.
there are some who like the technical innovation, the teams who are pushing towards excellence (not political correctness), who are in it to win, on technical merit.
MotoGP (previously run by Dorna) was very much gladiatorial, and celebrated wrecks (most of the replays on their site were), celebrated guys like Marquez who literally ran people off track, ran over them and almost killed a couple guys. F1 is trending in that direction, unless it shows any interest in curtailing Max’s poor driving tactics. The way you know the direction F1 is going is how the commentators (who are paid to uphold the status quo) frame the narrative.
Currently it doesn’t look good. If you like what F1 used to be. But if guys like Toto get their hands further and further around F1 market share, it will continue to devolve until it’s credibility is used up like a cheap trick on the corner next to a drug store. It is what it is. Personally I think a lot of the drivers, to include Max like to think they are driving in a ‘class’ that means something, and this consumer fetishization, stakeholder ‘capitalism’ approach will only end up ‘pimping’ F1 to the highest bidder, until it reaches crescendo, and begins its way back down, and like all commodities, that don’t have any real value (because F1 is turning-turned only in to a marketing/political instrument) the value is ultimately baseless. Not what it used to be, dudes proving their metal, and adding a little class to it at the end of the day, worth admiring.
SPArtacus
18th November 2024, 1:54
I know you really dislike Max, but suggesting F1 is becoming “gladiatorial” is maybe the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. It’s become so disappointingly sanitized and overly cautious, it couldn’t be further from gladiatorial. And, if you’ll recall, they clearly cracked down on Max and, while unsporting, the incidents people didn’t like had adhered to the letter of the flawed law. They also weren’t dangerous (I.E., had contact been made, they weren’t going to result in big crashes). So, if UFC-ization means letting them race in full wet conditions, not issuing penalties every time cars have light contact or throwing SCs for a car that could easily be recovered with a local double yellow, I’m all for it.
Michael A.
17th November 2024, 23:34
Probably by mid-2025 there will be a host of ‘special’ liveries – so, what is the point of all this fake stuff?
Bring back the Lancia D50 and the Vanwalls – they carried proper liveries.
F1 sinks even lower into its self-made morass!
Coventry Climax
18th November 2024, 0:59
About as excited as looking at stainless steel urinal while with an empty bladder.
Johns
18th November 2024, 1:41
We need grid girls. The drivers can line up differently than qualified since the spaces that were occupied by non starters can now be filled. The grid girls were important to make sure the drivers find the right spot. They were not just window dressing.; they serve an important role.
SPArtacus
18th November 2024, 1:57
I’d like grid girls back, but assuming you weren’t being facetious, they were never present at the end of the formation lap.
kcrossle (@kcrossle)
18th November 2024, 2:12
This whole reveal / intro is anachronistic. Old and boring. No value.
Once was there were radically different new cars. Exceptional liveries.
Now all cars, by regulation, look the same and the liveries are but a dab of point on the last one.
What’s the point?
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
18th November 2024, 7:12
I don’t really care for it but I don’t think I’m the target audience. If it gets some new fans interested and engaged, great! I’ll be looking forward to seeing the actual cars testing and seeing them in person when they hit the track at Albert Park.
gregwtravels (@gregwtravels)
18th November 2024, 7:56
Very disinterested, though I was never much interested in the past individual launch events either. I’d quickly scan the photos that get put up on the website, and might comment if there is a big obvious change (like when Mercedes went from silver to black, or the papaya came back for McLaren), but otherwise, meh. I’ll get interested again when the racing starts.
HW-Small
18th November 2024, 8:39
Erm… nope.
I will be interested to see the new Mclaren and its competition during pre season practice, but the liveries tend to change for one off races and sponsor ‘campaigns’ on a regular basis (and the Mclarens even have panels that cycle through different sponsors during the races), so why would I be interested in the pre-season renditions?
Craig
18th November 2024, 9:00
Not particularly, I prefer the proper car launches as you at least get to see something resembling what will be raced by a given team in the season to come.
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
18th November 2024, 12:35
I’m sure it will sell out and I’m sure Liberty will pack their self on the backs for “giving the fans what they want” when really just milking the cash cow for every penny. Like sprint events.
But for me personally, I enjoy watching the individual launches over a week or two: enjoying each individual livery and design philosophy and giving each a bit of attention and time to savour.
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
18th November 2024, 12:36
Pat
The Dolphins
18th November 2024, 16:43
I wonder if teams are barred from quietly unveiling renders of their liveries prior to the event.
Femke
20th November 2024, 2:33
The what now?
Who cares!! Tell me what upgrades they bring, not what stickers…..