Showtime! F1 ditches livery reveals for big, 2025 launch event

F1 is to kickstart the 2025 season - the 75th in its history - with a big launch party at the O2 Arena in London on February 18.

And rather than have all the cars and liveries drip-fed out online in the fortnight before pre-season testing, all 10 teams will use the event to unsheath their challengers for the season in front of a huge (paying) audience.

Each one of the 20 drivers and corresponding team principals will be in town for interviews and the like (it wouldn’t be F1 without asking what they hope to achieve in a car they’d yet to drive, would it?) as well as ‘top entertainment' and ‘special guest presenters’.

Martin Brundle guitar solo and Taylor Swift quizzing Fernando Alonso about tyres; you heard it here first.

“For the first time we will bring together our fans, all 20 superstars of our sport and some very special guests to officially kick off our new season and mark our 75th year of racing,” said F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali.

“With 2025 set to be a classic season following all the drama so far for 2024, this is a fantastic opportunity for fans of all ages to experience up-close the incredible entertainment spectacle that is Formula 1.”

The curtains are set to raise at 8pm on the night (it's a Tuesday, FYI), with three tiers of tickets available to fans ranging from £58 to £113 (including a booking fee) (but not including a ‘transaction fee, ugh).

Sales commence from 10am GMT this Friday, but if you miss out on tickets fear not: the event will also be broadcast. More details to come, we’re told.

Call us crazy, but… this is a concept we can get on board with. A bit of razzmatazz never hurt anyone, right?