F1 – Formula One will sell tickets to an unprecedented 2025 season launch event featuring all the teams and drivers at London’s O2 Arena on Feb. 18 as the world championship celebrates its 75th anniversary year.
Formula One said in a statement on Tuesday that tickets would go on sale on November 15 priced between £58 to £113 ($74 to $144).
The two-hour extravaganza, with additional entertainment, will also be broadcast live.
“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 chief executive Stefano Domenicali.
The 10 teams usually hold individual launches – some virtual – for their new car liveries, with sponsors and media invited to their factories or other venues as well as increasingly some fans.
Ferrari, the only team to have been in the championship since the beginning, typically reveal their new car in Italy but 2025 will be their first season with Britain’s seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton.
The season is also the last under the current engine rules, with driver moves the major changes – including Hamilton’s from Mercedes.
There will also be at least four young rookies on the grid – Britain’s Oliver Bearman at Haas, Italian Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, Australian Jack Doohan at Alpine and Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto at Sauber.
It’s a major change in the dynamic of how F1 prepares for a new season, although there is nothing to stop each team from also getting its day in the sun via its own commercial launch event should they choose to do so.
Bringing together all 10 teams for a singular launch event compresses the entire launch season into a solitary couple of hours, but allows Liberty Media involvement in the organisation of the event rather than requiring the teams to pull their own ideas together.
“The FIA is delighted to join our colleagues at FOM and all the teams in the staging of the inaugural Formula 1 season launch event,” said FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
“The occasion will also serve as a fitting prelude to a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the sport throughout the 2025 season.”
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