Formula 1 will not be following up with a second edition of the joint season launch after this year’s F175 event in 2026.
At the start of the 2025 F1 season, the sport decided to commemorate 75 years of the world championship with a combined season launch featuring all 10 teams and 20 drivers.
The event, called F175, was hosted at the O2 Arena in London. Famed British comedian Jack Whitehall hosted the evening’s proceedings as the teams unveiled their racing colours.
The entire show was live-streamed on F1’s social media channels, grossing an audience of upwards of 7 million viewers across all platforms.
Fans were also in attendance at the O2 Arena, with tickets selling out within 20 minutes. More than 15,000 people showed up for the sport’s foray into live entertainment.
Naturally, this kind of commercial success warranted the FOM to follow up with a second edition. However, as per Autosport, F1 has decided to scrap this idea for 2026.
It is being suggested that the decision not to follow up this year’s event has been taken by the FOM after careful deliberations with the teams and the stakeholders involved.
The F175 season launch event was put together to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the sport. Therefore, it was thought best to keep revisiting such events across other milestones rather than reduce it to an annual event.
Moreover, the FOM also concluded that a second edition would have been a logistical nightmare, especially in light of the 2026 technical regulations kicking in.
Owing to the teams needing to run cars built from scratch — in terms of both the chassis and power units – next season will see the existing 10 teams and newcomers Cadillac take to two separate three-day pre-season tests.
The first of these tests is likely to be held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, behind closed doors, in January, with a follow-up expected at the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March.
Holding an event of the scale as magnanimous as the F175 between a packed pre-season was deemed as an unnecessary distraction by the teams, stakeholders and FOM. Hence, the decision not to go ahead with a repeat. That said, the sport is still open to holding season launch events in the future.
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