What to expect from F1 teams trying ‘normal’ car launches in this very different pre-season

OPINION: F1 is preparing for a launch event at London’s O2 next week. It expects to split F1's already polarised fanbase, but while it is an extension of how everything in the series evolves in the cash quest, for those craving how things were previously on the front of revealing new cars in turn, thankfully some are sticking at it

The 2025 Formula 1 launch season is like no other.

It’s a modern fixation anyway. By this stage in the 1953-58 actual racing seasons, the first rounds in Argentina had already been held – and later a schedule arrangement repeated the early year rounds for the South African race.

And yet, promoting upcoming grand prix campaigns is also a time-honoured tradition that has evolved over time. Remember Essex Lotus and the Royal Albert Hall in 1979 (OK, in December ahead of the 1980 season)? Or McLaren’s “grand pricks” – per Geri Horner – launch with the Spice Girls at Alexandra Palace?

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Alex Kalinauckas

Formula 1

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.