"It’s almost like having an extra race in the calendar" was how one Formula 1 team boss described the first-ever season launch event at the O2 Arena - but if it was a race then who won?
We asked The Race's F1 team - from those watching the event in the crowd to those following along from home - to rank the contributions made by each F1 team from worst to best as a bit of pre-season fun.
There was plenty of variety in opinion among our team with five different teams topping the lists of our eight contributors.
As always we've applied an F1 points system to each individual ranking to produce the following combined ranking:
Contributors: Scott Mitchell-Malm, Edd Straw, Jon Noble, Megan Cantle, Ben Anderson, Matt Beer, Josh Suttill and Duncan Anderson
10 Red Bull
The ‘follow the truck’ video would’ve been a cool piece of standalone social media but on a night when other teams made proper use of the stage and the room, having the live audience just watching a big screen for most of the slot was a missed opportunity.
Not giving the reigning four-time champion driver a chance to speak during his and Liam Lawson’s brief appearance at the end was another one.
Read: Our verdict on whether the launch was a success or failure
Read: Every 2025 F1 car and livery revealed so far
With the very samey livery and the awkward Christian Horner intro (and the rough crowd reception he got), Red Bull’s performance on F1 2025’s opening night was more 'Sergio Perez out in Q1’ than ‘Verstappen wins again against all the odds’. - Matt Beer
9 Alpine
Had Alpine forgotten it was also unveiling a car? It seemed that way as the DJ element went on, and on, and on, and repetitively on.
Fair play to Alpine for openly referencing how awful its start to 2024 was and for having a revamped livery to show off, though. But too much of its timeslot was just devoted to a guy stood on his own bouncing around in front of some kit while things flashed. - MB
8 Haas
Haas's big 'we're an American F1 team' pitch felt slightly at odds with the rest of its presentation and in general with the way Haas has approached things in recent years.
An epic reveal for Haas' 2025 livery... and those stunning race suits 😍#F175LIVE @HaasF1Team pic.twitter.com/bGoq3Lqd4h
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 18, 2025
But it deserves plus points for releasing proper imagery from its Silverstone shakedown - not least so our ex-F1 technical director Gary Anderson could analyse it before any other car revealed tonight. - Josh Suttill
7 Racing Bulls
Much like the senior team, Red Bull's junior team Racing Bulls relied heavily on a pre-planned VT to do the hefty-lifting.
There was at least more of a link to what followed on stage with comedian Munya Chawawa joining the drivers and team CEO Peter Bayer and team principal Laurent Mekies.
If this was purely a livery ranking then Racing Bulls would be right up there - there was near universal love for that livery in our virtual workspace during the launch - but unfortunately the other elements of its launch let it down - at least for the majority of us.
In defence of Racing Bulls: RB had a problem at the start of 2024, no one knew what to call them. RB, VISA Cash App RB, Racing Bulls, VCARB - the list goes on.
But tonight's launch was a reinvention of the team, with a social media campaign that followed through to onstage with Chawawa hosting and culminating in one of the best liveries of the show.
And of course a selfie! - Duncan Anderson
6 Williams
Not the flashiest or most innovative, but a sensible and well-paced mix of nod to heritage, evocative video, use of the actual stage, plenty of time with drivers, boss and car in front of the audience, and also carried off with a nice bit of polite swagger from James Vowles.
It got slightly confusing when Vowles introduced Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz and 16 anonymous Gulf-helmeted people initially came out instead but at least the actual race drivers weren’t far behind. - MB
5 Mercedes
A middle of the pack performance from Mercedes that started with a solid but unspectacular VT followed by a slow-motion pitstop - an odd callback to Mercedes returnee Valtteri Bottas?
After that we saw the new livery in some dazzling lights and heard from team boss Toto Wolff and race drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
Perfectly passable if slightly forgettable. - JS
4 Sauber
Proper theatrics! Lots and lots and lots of drummers! Glowing green drumsticks! Closer to the vibe of a traditional standalone over-the-top glitzy launch than anything anyone else pulled off.
And all for a team that was last in the championship last year and has a strong chance of being there again this season, and which was unveiling a significantly more drab colour scheme than last year too, and is basically just filling time for a year before becoming Audi.
The inverse of Red Bull in its gap between likely on-track relevance and launch night execution. - MB
3 Aston Martin
Aston Martin absolutely COOKED 👏#F175LIVE @AstonMartinF1 pic.twitter.com/aPq0JXDJe0
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 18, 2025
Aston Martin should absolutely continue to lean in as hard as it can to the James Bond thing. It’s classic for a reason.
In the midst of the two hour long continuous stream of livery/car launches, Aston’s stood out. The entrance of the drivers was unique, the performance was good, and it didn’t run on too long. It balanced the live element with the pre-made, and fit the location well. Good work everyone. - Megan Cantle
2 Ferrari
Given this was Lewis Hamilton walking out onto a stage in Ferrari overalls in London, Ferrari didn’t have to do too much to make a success of its slot.
Another good balance of elegant visuals, lots going on in the room itself, plenty of on-stage time for the (very, very popular) drivers, team boss and car, plus an actual digital reveal of the real new car at the same time and the ‘oooh’ factor of a genuinely different livery - even if that’s likely to be very divisive. Lots in common with how Williams handled its moment, but all done with a bit more pizzazz. - MB
1 McLaren
McLaren just pips Ferrari to the top spot on our list with our F1 enthusiasts being wooed by the presence of so many championship-winning McLarens on stage.
No other team brought such historic value on stage and there wasn't a more fitting way to celebrate 75 years of F1 or close out the show than with such vintage cars.
The 2025 McLaren design we'd already seen at Silverstone last week and the new colours, as McLaren admitted, aren't all that different from last year.
But it didn't matter because McLaren gave us something else that could be equally enjoyed by those in the crowd as well as those following along at home. - JS
