The F1-75 live show made history with all teams showing their 2025 liveries introduced by a video and show to a live audience. But which teams nailed the brief, and which fell short?
Formula 1’s first-ever season launch event came with many firsts. Namely, the presentation of each team’s 2025 liveries and race suits, all of which were preempted by a short video giving a sense of the team’s ethos for the coming season.
However, some teams were more successful at this than others. While some managed to perfectly balance the theatrics with the design of the new liveries, others’ videos fell as flat as their recycled car designs.
10: Red Bull Racing
Red Bull’s F1 75 got off to a poor start. With team boss Christian Horner being met with boos when he came on stage, it seemed to be an omen of what was to come.
Instead of having a video of the rich history and successes of the Red Bull racing team, potentially highlighting the dominance of first Vettel and then Verstappen with four-time champions, Red Bull chose to take a different angle. Audiences saw a montage of ordinary people driving souped-up cars following around the Red Bull truck.
Though they tried to play the everyone is a Red Bull fan angle, highlighting ordinary car mechanics and car fanatics. With almost every other team focusing on their history inside Formula 1, the video felt out of place.
The entrance on stage was a mass of unrecognisable people, akin to Charlie XCX’s Grammy performance. Although both drivers showed off their new race suits that looked nearly identical to 2024, they were the only drivers who didn’t have short interviews post-reveal. With a new driver in Liam Lawson, it would’ve been nice to hear his thoughts about 2025.
The car livery remained the same as it has for countless years, and the entire performance felt lacklustre for an incredibly successful team coming into 2025 to defend their WCC title.
9: McLaren
McLaren immediately received praise for the host of championship-winning vintage McLaren’s on display. A team which truly has fought in the trenches to return to glory, which seemed to be shown visually through the ages of cars.
Their video echoed this with montages of the historic victories and performances McLaren has shown fans over the years. The reminder that hope is not lost even after seemingly endless bad seasons. Their motto was ‘Never stop racing’, and you feel that in their progress over the last two seasons.
However, while their display of vintage cars and poignant video was impressive, the actual man event of the liveries and race suits was disappointing. Coming off the back of a momentous season clinching the Constructors’ title after so many years, there was hope that they may give fans an interesting livery that perhaps harked to their successful past.
There were calls for less black and the reintroduction of silver, but they fell on deaf ears. With such a fun intro, the suits and liveries fell short of the excitement. With cars up and down the grid moving away from the carbon of 2024 and towards colour, it was a shame not to see McLaren do the same.
Though Zak Brown noted that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, fans wanted more for the 75th anniversary and a historic championship defence.
8: Atlassian Williams Racing
Williams arrived at the O2 with a brand-new sponsorship at hand. The sign of changing tides in what has been a painful decade for the once-successful team. Their video mirrored that. A montage of the highest moments of a historic team. The O2 illuminated with the phrases, that was then, this is now.
An ode to a new era of Williams, with an impressive line-up, pragmatic team principal and a desperately needed injection of cash and sponsors.
James Vowles took to the runway resembling a model from a former life, and his stage presence was impressive. Carlos and Alex sported race suits once again eerily similar to the year before, while the main difference in the car was the addition of sponsors.
The classic blue colour works for Williams, and the contrasting race suits remind fans of the history of the team. The car and suits represent the old and new sides of Atlassian Williams Racing.
Though there weren’t glaring issues in the launch, the lack of changes to the liveries and the suit leaves them near the bottom of the list, hopefully not a prediction for the coming year.
7: Stake F1 Team
Sauber’s performance set the bar through the roof. As the first team showing their cars, fans had no expectations of what they were going to be sitting through. However, Sauber knocked the performance out of the park.
The glow sticks, and drumsticks cut through the darkness of the arena; the video prominently featured their two current drivers, a feature which other teams across the grid surprisingly lacked in theirs. They chose the angle of focusing on the future – the pressure of performance and hard work, and an apt call for the back-marker to make.
Unfortunately, the impressive lead-up fell short when the car was mostly black. Some, no doubt, were hoping for a move away from the vibrant green colours that Stake brought to the track in 2024, when a team chooses the ostentatious route, you want them to embrace it.
The neon green became a fun counterpart to night races last year, but now they are making the shit to an ombre black and green livery. It was a shame to see the team dull down their bold choices for such an interesting season ahead – especially with the rest of the grid embracing the move to colour.
6: Mercedes
The F1 75 show was a massive night for Mercedes. Their chance to re-invent themselves without Lewis Hamilton present for the first time in years. A team once again with a huge and vivid history within the sport entering a new chapter.
Their video focuses on the logo of Mercedes, with overarching reminders of the ‘every dream needs a team’ motto that we saw touted in Abu Dhabi to say goodbye to Hamilton.
Frankly, after Stake’s video opening the show, many of the videos fell short of the same impact that they had. Mercedes were, without a doubt, one of the teams that struggled with this. The video felt as though it was missing some of the personality and the actual team behind the Mercedes ‘dream’.
The car was revealed with a pitstop that went wrong, a painful way to begin the season. The livery and suit followed a similar pattern. The car design was much like the 2024 car, with more silver. Though it looked okay, it feels as though the Mercedes design team are stuck between the silver arrows of old and the success the all-black car saw around 2020.
The suits featured the new Adidas stripes, which have been met with mixed reviews from fans. Sensing a shift away from the smart Tommy Hilfiger partnership the team once held.
Their overall average reveal leaves them in the dead average spot in the rankings from the evening.
5: BTW Alpine F1 Team
Alpine took to the stage with Brian Tyler DJ-ing through the reveal. The mind behind the iconic Formula 1 theme tune was an interesting choice for a team that has had its hands in Formula 1 for years.
Unlike last season, where they disappointed fans with an almost colourless livery that acted as one of the worst-looking cars in 18th and 19th, this year they took a different avenue.
Surprising everyone, Alpine chose to dive down the historic route with their 2025 livery eagerly mirroring their 2021 livery. The only big change was a switch from red to pink, which added to the overall ethos of the car. It was also a welcome shift from 2024 and hopefully a sign of more positivity in Renault’s final year in Formula 1.
Pushing them down the rankings was their race suits, which, in comparison to their colourful cars, feel like they were put together last minute. It also would have been nice to see a video celebrating Renault’s impact in Formula 1.
Overall, their redemption from 2024 and the fact that they were one of the few teams to show off a brand-new livery moved them into a respectable fifth place.
4: Moneygram Haas F1 Team
Haas was wildly becoming for the team, taking the route that no other team could. The American route. With the country singer Kane Brown introduced the team, giving the audience an insight into the history. They gave platitudes about the progress Haas has made and the historic moments we’ve already seen from them.
We saw glimpses of Kevin Magnussen’s pole position as well as the notorious Romain Grosjean incident in 2020. The video seemed to compliment the changing tides at Haas, finding themselves further up the grid and in points fighting positions more frequently.
Their new deal with Toyota, the fact they are profitable for the first time in their history and the combination of an impressive line-up and team principal all culminated in an aesthetically pleasing Haas with nice race suits to match.
The red, black and white constantly felt like it was an ode to their American roots that suited their towering driving duo.
3: Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team
Aston Martin probably came to the launch with the most interesting intro. Focusing on the way Aston Martin has become synonymous with James Bond, we saw both drivers appear in the crowd while wearing suits and helmets. A touch that no other team experimented with.
The class and regal aspect of Aston Martin heavily leaned into the British racing roots appearing in the racing green Aston has become accustomed to. The car wasn’t wildly different, but the small change looked good on the car.
Fernando Alonso brought his usual charm to the launch, joking that the audience had seen the best car of the night. But the standout aspect of the intro was the orchestra of violins playing in the car and drivers with Tems singing. The only thing that could’ve fed into the spy movie aesthetic more would’ve been Adele singing Skyfall.
All the team that acquired Adrian Newey have left to do is prove the car can be a contender on track the way it is off-track.
2: Scuderia Ferrari HP
Enzo Ferrari was the focus of Ferrari’s presentation, taking a similar root to many of the historic teams taking fans on a journey through their history. With drawn versions of the cars through the ages, representing the championship-winning machinery that Ferrari has been capable of bringing to Formula 1.
The launch itself was highly anticipated within the Formula 1 world outside of the car due to the presence of Lewis Hamilton. Entering the stage in a haze of smoke and red lasers, the O2 arena erupted in cheers at the sight of the seven-time world champion in red alongside Fred Vasseur and Charles Leclerc.
The livery itself had nods to the 2024 livery but replaced the yellow lines with white. It was more similar to the 2023 Vegas one-off livery with its white segments that slightly hid the garish HP Logos that litter the car.
The choice to debut a darker shade of red paid off, with the hue looking smart on the Ferrari without seeming out of place. The only aspect that kept the Ferrari from being the best livery of the night was the blue HP logos and the Ferrari on the back wing that many have been mourning since its disappearance.
1: Visa Cash App RB
VCARB took the angle for 2024 of not taking themselves too seriously. Their entire launch video was an ongoing joke about the recent name changes and the fact that no one can remember what they’re called. It was well executed and funny and couldn’t have prepared fans for the stunning livery they were waiting to reveal.
The white livery reminded fans of the 2021 Istanbul one-off livery that Red Bull had produced, something that sits as a fan favourite Red Bull livery. However, the key details on it only went to further its impression.
The small blue bull stamps on the back were a welcome touch, while the classic Red Bull logo on the nose and inlet above the seat echoed the old Torro Rosso liveries.
The livery matched old with new in a way that was refreshing and unexpected for the team. Isack Hajdar took to the stage like a kid in a candy store, and for the first time in a while, it felt as though Red Bull knew what was going on with their junior team.
With a change from 2024 that left very few disappointed, VCARB cleared the other teams on the grid for the first time in 2025, taking the spot of the best reveal and livery.
Feature Image Credit: Clive Mason – Formula 1
