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Everything about Formula 1’s 75th anniversary extravaganza at London’s O2 Arena shouldn’t have worked: mass commercialisation of a sport with £9 pints and 10 teams showing off this year’s designs on last year’s cars one after another.
What unfolded, however, was a lesson in how sport can continue to innovate, and how it can take fans with it as it goes along.
We may be in the final weeks of winter but the 15,000 fans packed into the north Greenwich venue did their best to turn the two-hour event into the last pantomime before spring.
There were cheers for Charles Leclerc and his new teammate Lewis Hamilton – who dazzled in his first public appearance as Ferrari’s star boy – while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Christian Horner, as well as governing body the FIA and former Formula 1 mogul Bernie Ecclestone, were on the receiving end of boos.
Highs and lows
Stake F1, who look like they should be selling vapes rather than racing cars, got the night off to a splendid start while Red Bull sister team RB shocked with a mostly white livery.
Of the big boys, McLaren took a look at their history, showing their new livery alongside some of their iconic challengers of years gone by, while Mercedes performed a botched pit stop and Red Bull’s unveiling was the only launch devoid of driver interviews.
But the award for best presentation went to Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso and their Aston Martin team, who took on a James Bond theme to dazzle spectators.
Very little came close, however, to seven-time world champion Hamilton’s homecoming alongside his Prancing Horse.
Sure, the livery has received criticism for being too white but that was a minor irritant to what was Hamilton’s coronation in front of adoring spectators.
One fan was heard before the event saying that she’d ditched her Mercedes gear for Ferrari replicas at the cost of hundreds of pounds following Hamilton’s team switch.
The aura 40-year-old Hamilton had at the O2 was nothing short of astonishing. But he, and Tuesday’s event, represents a modern Formula 1 light years beyond Ecclestone’s empire.
The Formula 1 revolution
Under Liberty Media the racing series has diversified its audience, especially in age and gender profile, and has become a digital mastermind. The on-track action remains core to the product but the hefty add-ons are now as important.
Formula One Group’s market share is now north of $20bn and the sport is a leader in industry innovation.
Could this style of event work with Premier League teams launching their kits? Probably not. The closest event to this would probably be a send-off concert for Team GB ahead of an Olympic Games.
It shows how Formula 1 really has taken on the mantle of being a leader in sport, and what was expected to be proof that every entity has a commercial ceiling instead worked as justification that the series isn’t even close to reaching its summit.
Lessons
The “F175” event stands as a lesson to other sports in what can be achieved with a decade of drastic change to everything around it.
For those sports that struggle in building personalities, leaning into technology and employee intelligence and developing storylines, F1 is the one stop shop for lessons.
Leaving the O2 Arena after the event, fans were stopping to take one last photo alongside large posters of each of the 20 drivers.
Formula 1 has a cult following now, more than it has ever been able to claim, and that’s something the sport can be proud of.
And the reality is that the anniversary event was just that, a one-off. But given the success of it, with tickets selling out in 20 minutes and millions watching online, there’s certainly scope to make it an annual, travelling circus of a curtain opener.
So watch this space, because given the reputation Formula 1 has built for itself there’s undoubtedly a new, wild and wacky idea in the works that’ll change the game once again.