The F1 75 disinfected launch event was saved by its daring host Jack Whitehall

February 19, 2025 | Sport, movie and television

You can almost imagine the planning meetings of the Formula 1 head office before the first launch event of the live season of sport, which was held at the O2 Arena in London last night. What would appeal to new fans of new fans as wide as possible? Smiling drivers and team directors. “Inspiring” brand videos of each team. And live music. Young people always like to take this, right?

Formula 1 had a raw sensation. What has done the big races and championships of the last 74 years, it was not flashy graphics on the screen or to feel as if you were first name with the pilots – it was how high and bottom motor sport looked like a large geeks club adjusting conceptions and configurations, speculating on the strategy and taking advantage of the thrill of action on the track.

Since then – and especially since the acquisition by Liberty Media of F1 in 2017 – this feeling has become many more business and … well, boring. Survive transformed the paddock into a reality show, and drivers are increasingly censored to protect sponsorships – see the recent ban on the FIA ​​of swearing.

In short, the old F1 was both spectacle and substance, but in order to capture a wider and younger audience, the balance was much more advanced towards the first – even to the measurement of the production of artificial spectacle when the action on the track is not enough. If it is not suitable for Tiktok, it came out.

I was skeptical when F1 75 was announced. Before the 75th sports season, a live two -hour event would take place to reveal the ten seats of the ten teams (not cars, authorities). He seemed much more dinner costumes and Instagram shots than the oil smoke and telemetry prints, and many long -standing fans have questioned what was the point.

The heart of the evening was as bland as you can imagine. The time niche allocated from each team was filled with a kind of forced inspiring video, after which their new painting work was unveiled and the pilots and the director of the team would be at the front of the scene for another interpretation of the same interview on the way in which they were happy and how excited they are for the new season.

Between the two, the CEO of F1, Stefano Domeninicali, explained to what extent he is grateful to fans (despite his apparent ignorance of their comments on his attempts to dismantle what made the Sport Grand) and we were entitled to an eclectic collection of live music performance, culminating in the three remaining members of the favorite boy group of your mom playing their greatest successes.

Everything would have been very dull if it was not for an unexpected factor announced a few days in advance: the gala was organized by the actor Jack Whitehall.

While Whitehall can be a bit of love / hatred, he did an excellent job to recover entertainment from F1 75. He opened at night with a roast of several drivers and their bosses, and probably provided the highlight of the evening when he questioned the famous Explator Gordon Ramsay about the prohibition of Juron swears himself.

The other main moments of interest are also coming from events outside the control of F1 – especially when fans have hooked a mention of the sports organ body, the FIA, due to its recent unpopular decisions. It sparked an undoubtedly undoubted smile of presenter Laura Winter because she was doing well to keep her flow.

Did these spontaneity overviews make F1 75 A valid company? No – they were too rare. Will I try to arrive at O2 Arena if it happened? No – Now, I know exactly how much I would get little with one of these nose bleeding seats of £ 58. Should Does it happen? Probably not. It is probably better to be unique to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the F1 – although I wonder if the management will be able to resist the temptation to manage the event each year.

What I would say is that I appreciated F1 75 more than I thought, and that was largely due to what it is a little difficult on the edges sometimes – something that managers seem to be out of sport.