F1 75 Live review: The hits and misses from the sport's showy 2025 season launch

New York Times

19-02-2025

Lights, camera, action — The 2025 Formula One season has officially begun.
In celebration of its 75th anniversary, F1 pulled out all the stops Tuesday, creating a spectacle unlike any other for a season launch.
At The O2 in London, before a sell-out crowd of 15,000, all 10 teams had seven minutes each to unveil their liveries for the season ahead in a creative manner. Some knocked it out of the park (hello, Aston Martin!), others weren't quite as successful.
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Sprinkled between the reveals were musical acts: country music's Kane Brown sang 'Miles On It' before Haas unveiled its livery and British trio Take That closed the event. English comedian Jack Whitehall nailed it as the host – a segment with a Gordon Ramsay chat on the misconduct rules and swearing was particularly entertaining – and F1 made sure there were regular nods to the sport's history.
But while millions tuned in to watch (4.6 million total on YouTube alone, per F1), was the event a success? Let's walk through the major talking points.
Luke Smith: Yes. It achieved all of F1's goals, which were to celebrate the history of the sport, bring the fans closer to the event and build anticipation for the new season. Tick, tick, tick. The production was super slick, and the teams made full use of the stage, lighting and lasers at their disposal. All in all, this is a win for F1.
Madeline Coleman: Yes. The purpose was to celebrate the sport, honor its 75th anniversary, and create hype ahead of this milestone season, and it did just that. Everyone went all out during their moment. Sure, there wasn't much F1 talk, several liveries were similar to last year and it was a longer event. However, it created excitement, and even some of the drivers seemed to enjoy themselves on stage. Bringing fans closer to the sport is important, and celebrating this milestone matters.
And what about the fan experience — both for those at The O2 and watching globally?
Smith: It was all pretty seamless, meaning there wasn't a huge difference in what you saw whether you were watching in person or at home. The vibes in the arena were pretty positive through the night — with a few exceptions — and it all ran smoothly. There was definitely a Grammy's-esque vibe of having the tables down at the bottom with all the F1 drivers and VIPs while the fans were all around them making the noise, but this was just as good for TV as it was to watch in person.
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Coleman: I watched from the U.S. via the YouTube livestream and there was no buffering. I would not have known there was a delay if I wasn't speaking with people at the event. The camera angles were great, and it was an enjoyable experience. This was always meant to be a flashy spectacle — and we need to remember that.
Smith: I don't think this was how the drivers would have wanted to spend their time ahead of the new season, but most of them understand the importance of the event and why things like this matter. You saw some of them really lapping up the attention. Lewis Hamilton stepping out in his red Ferrari race suit for the first time generated the biggest cheers of the night.
Others were less enthused. Max Verstappen had previously joked he might get sick this week, and while he came along, his one-word reply of 'fantastic' when I asked him earlier in the day what he thought of the event sounded like it was laced with sarcasm. It was interesting he and Liam Lawson were the only drivers not to speak during their team unveiling.
Smith: It's clear just how much Hamilton is enjoying life with Ferrari. He soaked up the energy in the room and bounced off Fred Vasseur and Charles Leclerc nicely in their segment. I also enjoyed the quiet confidence of McLaren, particularly with so many of its great title-winning cars on the stage before unveiling the new one. Of all the teams, those two seem to be riding the biggest waves going into the new season.
The vast difference in enthusiasm between Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso was interesting when they addressed the crowd. And the boos that greeted Christian Horner and, to a lesser extent, Verstappen, indicate how many fans still view Red Bull.
Coleman: We know how many fans feel about Red Bull, but to be able to hear how loud the boos were towards Horner compared to Verstappen and the cheers that Liam Lawson received was surprising.
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On a different note, I enjoyed the chaotic (albeit maybe a bit cringe) Williams selfie. I liked that the team shared the clip on social media fairly soon after it happened, and I look forward to seeing how the new partnership of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz develops. We saw positive signs at the team's launch last week.
The selfie video attempt that was just PURE chaos 😂✌️ pic.twitter.com/j6VUirAsRd
— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) February 18, 2025
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Smith: I'm not so sure. We know that F1 fans around the world will have been tuning in, and the sport has reported big viewing figures already. But if you're a general sports fan, would you have been tuning in? The music acts were hardly exclusive or big enough to pull in people that way, like Beyoncé did for the NFL game on Christmas Day on Netflix, for instance. It felt like a big flex from F1, but I'm not convinced it would have done a ton to convert a lot of new fans.
Coleman: I don't think so. It was a different type of event, and if viewers were expecting more F1 talk, they're likely very disappointed in how this turned out. However, the build-up still felt tailored towards the traditional F1 audience. An argument could be made that some of the artists' fans tuned it, but these weren't massively big names.
Smith: I really liked it. We could have maybe spent a little longer on the rivalries segment, but otherwise, I feel it flitted nicely through the big moments in F1 history. From my seat, I kept thinking to myself, 'Man, it's cool to be a part of this sport.' Eyes may be forward to the future, but we're not forgetting where we've come from, which is really heartening to see.
Coleman: I agree with Luke. I found myself wanting more from the rivalries segment, but I enjoyed the different clips sprinkled throughout. The Enzo Ferrari one was a phenomenal segue into the Prancing Horse's launch, especially considering how much hype is around the driver lineup. Talking about the history of the sport, not just in articles but with those within the F1 world, is something I love because there are so many stories to share. The sport has come a long way since the world championship began in 1950.
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Smith: It surpassed my expectations. I was unsure what to expect – and I think a lot of the teams also had the same kind of uncertainty – particularly not knowing what others had up their sleeves. But they largely all pulled together and produced some really impressive displays. My fear was that some teams would just play a video and then take the covers off their cars which, thankfully, was not the case.
Coleman: Though some teams' reveals were a bit of a letdown, I appreciated the creativity of how the teams approached their seven minutes in the spotlight. For example, the drawings and breakdown of the car in Ferrari's launch surprised me in a good way. I also did not know what to expect with Whitehall, but I enjoyed the awards season approach. We always talk about the balance of show versus sport, and this felt right, whereas the opening ceremony for the Las Vegas GP in 2023 felt a bit much for a race weekend.
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Smith: This is the bit that surprised me because it wasn't 'cookie-cutter' at all. Each of the 10 reveals was different and had unique ways of involving drivers and team officials while nodding to their own histories. The drawback of doing all 10 reveals in one night is that each team lost its moment 'in the sun,' so to speak — one colleague likened it to opening all your Christmas presents at once — but I think they all managed to still stand out.
Coleman: I appreciated how several teams maintained their individual identities. McLaren and Williams gave nods to their roots, while Aston Martin leaned into the James Bond concept, which came as no surprise. Teams had to think of how to use their seven minutes in a creative, engaging manner, and only a few felt like there was a misalignment in the team's identity and how their segment unfolded. It did not feel like a shared spotlight but rather individual spotlights in a shared venue.
Smith: The best has to be RB; I love how clean and slick it looks. 'Worst,' I think, goes to Sauber, just because of how much black is still on the car – I wanted it to be more brat. But none of them are bad this year.
Coleman: Best livery is a toss-up between Racing Bulls and Alpine. I like how clean Racing Bulls' design is, and Alpine's two-tone approach is interesting. As far as the worst livery, it would be Sauber. I liked how the green wrapped around last season.
Smith: I enjoyed Machine Gun Kelly more than I expected. But I think Kane Brown wins this one.
Coleman: This comes with a caveat — I am a big country music fan. So, Kane Brown, hands down.
Smith: My favorite reveal was Aston Martin's musical number. It started slow, built up nicely, and then Tems' performance with support from an orchestra was excellent. The worst was Alpine, which had Brian Tyler's Are We Dreaming perform. I didn't realize it had even started.
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Coleman: My least favorite was Alpine because it did not feel like the reveal matched the team or honored the sport for this big occasion. My favorite reveal was McLaren. Having the greatest cars on stage while revealing this year's challenger was a great touch.
Smith: It's been a fun evening and has probably been a big commercial success. Horner noted earlier that if it made F1 money, it wouldn't surprise him if it became a regular occurrence. But should they? I'm not so sure. It's quite nice that this was something special to celebrate F1's 75th anniversary. I think if we did it every single year, it might lose some of its novelty. The teams will also need to be fully on board again, and I wonder if all of them will be after tonight.
Coleman: I admittedly am torn on this because I can see an argument for either side, as it is a great way to kick off the season. But my immediate reaction (as Take That plays while the event comes to an end) is to reserve this for milestone moments because of how big and special the event felt. I'd worry this would lose its appeal if done every year, and it was a big spectacle.
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Top photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Images/Alamy Images/Sipa USA