Toto Wolff has backed the upcoming F1 75 Live event to be a success, despite scepticism from a section of the sport’s hardcore fans, and reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who jokingly threatened to skip the show after it was announced.
Traditionally, F1 teams reveal their liveries in separate events in the two weeks prior to pre-season testing, giving them each a time to shine in front of fans and the media. However, to celebrate the series’ 75th anniversary, all teams will get together at The O2 Arena on Tuesday to unveil their paint schemes together.
When Verstappen was told about the new event during a sim-racing livestream, he responded: “I don’t watch any F1… I hope I’m sick that week.”
Offering his thoughts on F1’s bold new idea, Wolff said: “I think it’s great. It is almost like a race weekend, we’re all coming together after the season, all teams will [be] present, the drivers will [be] present.
“There will be lots of media buzz around it, new liveries will be seen, and maybe for some of us hardcore fans, you will be a little bit disappointed at not seeing the end product. The truth is you will not see the end product until the end of the test anyway.”
The Mercedes team principal continued: “Regulations stay stable and it’s a little bit like the NFL draft, but maybe a little bit with less consequences than the NFL draft.
“We should be promoting that. We should be promoting testing much more than that. And I think Stefano [Domenicali] and Liberty [Media] are doing a really good job in doing that.”
Wolff’s verdict matches up to the opinion of most F1 fans. The event sold out 15,000 tickets in under an hour and has generated a fanfare that has dwarfed that of a conventional livery launch. The buzz has also been amplified by Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, as this will be the first opportunity that many fans have to see their hero in the iconic red overalls.
While Verstappen wasn’t enthused by the concept when it was first announced, some of his fellow drivers are excited to hit the stage at The O2 on Tuesday. Among them are McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who are hoping to fight for both titles in 2025.
“It’s going to be crazy, Norris said. “The O2 is a cool place to do it. We’ve never done something like this before. It’s great for Formula One, it’s great to kickstart the season rather than just going into testing to have more of an event.”
Piastri added: “It’s always important in anything in life to try something different every now and again. That’s how you make progress, whether that’s trying new things on the car or different things for the sport.”
