F1 is kicking off the 2025 season with the first ever season launch at The O2 in London
In 1950 Formula 1 contested its fourth season, but the first in which a driver was crowned champion, the inaugural FIA World Championship of Drivers. Over seven races between May and September that year drivers battled at circuits including the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500, and when the dust settled Giuseppe “Nino” Farina was the first Drivers’ Champion.
F1 was truly born that year.
To help commemorate that campaign, and to launch the sport’s 75th anniversary season, F1 is holding a first-ever season launch event Tuesday at The O2 in London. All ten teams will attend, with their drivers and team principals, to launch their liveries ahead of what will be a transformative season for the sport.
Here is how you can watch, who will be performing, and everything you need to know for F1 75 Live.
What will happen at F1 75 Live?
When F1 announced the season launch event last November, the sport promised an “interactive” event featuring “interviews with the key figures from the sport, including drivers and Team Principals, as well as top entertainment and special guest presenters.”
In a recent update regarding the first-ever F1 season launch event, the sport outlined that “[t]here will be red carpet arrivals from drivers, Team Principals and celebrities, entertainment from world-class acts and the all-important livery reveal that will showcase the cars that will go head-to-head for the 2025 season.”
The main focus for many will be the liveries, as each team will share the main design for the upcoming season that will be featured on their challengers. As we have seen with increasing frequency in recent years teams are using special one-off liveries at various tracks, whether for promotional purposes or to highlight their history. For example, Williams launched the FW47 last week in a special livery that the team will run at the British Grand Prix.
At the United States Grand Prix last year Alpine ran a customized livery promoting the upcoming launch of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a video game developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda Softworks. That led to these incredible photos on Thursday in Austin:
Alpine F1
Yes, Alpine was kind enough to let me wear an Indiana Jones hat for a few minutes.
So fans can expect to see each team’s main paint scheme for 2025, as well as hearing from the drivers and Team Principals.
As for the entertainment, F1 provided more information on what fans can expect on Monday.
Who will be performing?
On Monday F1 provided another update on F1 75 Live, outlining the “host and global music” lineup for the event.
Jack Whitehall will host the event, and will be “joined throughout the night by familiar faces from F1TV Laura Winter, Ariana Bravo, and Lawrence Barretto.”
Several musical acts will perform at the event, including Kane Brown, mgk, and Brian Tyler. Tyler is the creative force behind the F1 theme and will appear as his alter-ego Are We Dreaming, which is a “completely immersive audio-visual experience that explores the universe and our place in it through exhilarating and moving music and powerful imagery. It is an explosive visual journey through space and time that encourages one to experience the height of joy and discover the meaning of self.”
So … yeah.
What are the major storylines for F1 75 Live?
Beyond the teams releasing their designs for the upcoming year, and the introduction of driver lineups and team principals — with many new faces in new places as well as several drivers embarking on their first full seasons in F1 — there is one overarching storyline.
Lewis Hamilton making his first public appearance as a driver for Ferrari.
Ferrari has slowly rolled out Hamilton’s move to the Scuderia from Mercedes, including images of his first day at the factory, a look at his first laps in a Ferrari, and an incredible behind-the-scenes video of his first few days. But now Hamilton will step onto a stage at The O2 clad in red, kicking off his first season for the legendary team.
How that season unfolds remains to be seen, but that is sure to be an electric moment.
Another storyline? How will the drivers feel about this event? Brian Burke of BrianBurkeCreative is the visionary behind this event, and Burke also was the force behind the Opening Cight event before the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023.
Drivers such as Max Verstappen were critical of that event, with Verstappen saying he would rather focus on the “performance side” of the sport. “For me, you can all skip these things,” said Verstappen in 2023. “It’s not about the singer, it’s just standing up there, you look like a clown.”
Are teams holding individual launch events?
Despite the season launch event, some teams are holding their own launch events to unveil their challengers for the upcoming season, as well as special one-off paint schemes.
As noted above Williams launched the FW47 last week, in a bespoke livery the team will run at the 2025 British Grand Prix. Ferrari will hold their own launch event on Wednesday, the day after F1 Live. Aston Martin and Mercedes are holding special launch events next week, ahead of pre-season testing.
When does the 2025 F1 season really begin?
Regarding when you can see cars on track, that begins next week with three days of pre-season testing at Bahrain International Circuit. All ten teams will be in action from February 26 through February 28, putting their challengers through the paces ahead of the season.
The 2025 F1 season begins with the Australian Grand Prix on March 16.
How to watch F1 75 Live
Finally, here is how you can watch F1 75 Live.
Fans in the United States can watch the event on F1’s YouTube channel, and follow along on F1’s social media channels. You can also stream F1 75 Live on F1TV, the sport’s streaming service.
Fans outside the United States should be able to watch the event on their F1 broadcast channel. For example, fans in the United Kingdom will be able to watch the event on both Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event, as well as the Sky Sports app.
