As the long northern European winter drags on, in the world of Formula One the pace of activity at the teams’ HQs is at fever pitch. And in just eight days time the first ever joint reveal of the challengers for 2025 in spectacular style along with their new liveries, will take place in London’s 20,000 capacity O2 arena to celebrate 75 years since the creation of the competition.

Project F1 75 is a ground breaking launch event for F1 as the team’s have previously orbited the time, date and setting for the new car launches, yet in recent years many of these have become dreary affairs with mere renders of the look of the cars posted on the internet together with the predictable bland quotes form the drivers’ and team bosses.

BrianBurkeCreative who created the Las Vegas opening and closing ceremonies in 2023 have been tasked with the entertainment for the evening, so there razzmatazz is set to be high.

 

 

 

Mercedes Adidas coup

The initial response from Ferrari was to object given tin their long history the tradition has been to reveal their new F1 cars to the Tifosi in Maranello. Such was the pettiness of the objections from certain quarters within the Italian team, that the matter of the incremental expense to the Scuderia was raised.

Of course Ferrari have been busy coping with the arrival of megastar Lewis Hamilton since the turn of the year and the red carpet has been truly rolled out as every effort has been made to ensure their new driver has the most complete orientation possible. The big chiefs in Maranello know the eyes of the entire F1 world will be join them and Hamilton creating even greater pressure than usual for the team with the biggest legacy in the sport.

Of course there are the regular media events being carried out by all the teams and the announcement of new sponsors and partners. Mercedes have landed global sports brand Adidas to their portfolio in a mega deal which Toto Wolff suggested made ex-driver Lewis Hamilton jealous.

At the announcement of the brand joining the Brackley team, the new colours for the race suits were revealed which interestingly remain the colour black but with the prominent iconic three stripes predominantly displayed on the shoulders.

Hamilton’s adaptation to Ferrari exceeds expectations

 

 

 

The ‘silver arrows’ remain moth balled

When Mercedes raced in F1 in the 1950’s they were given the nickname due to the colour of their livery, which was said to be just the base colour of the metal used in the chassis design, because the addition of paint would increase the weight of the cars.

However, the power of the  Hamilton brand reversed almost seven decades of tradition when he joined the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of criminal George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minnesota. Hamilton became one of the most vocal amongst European sports people over the issues of diversity and inclusion and even persuaded Mercedes to switch up their traditional livery to become predominantly black.

The specification of the F1 drivers race suits that year were changed by the FIA, making them even thicker than their precious iterations. With Mercedes then changing the colour of the overalls to match the ‘end racism’ black livery Valtteri otters was less than impressed come the Spanish Grand Prix.

As the temperatures soared above 30C, Bottas came on the team radio stating, “these black overalls are fucking hot”. After the race the Finn explained the switch to accommodate Hamilton’s anti racism campaign were now absorbing more heat. “It was really hot in the car and I felt that since this year it’s been even hotter in the car,” he said.

Ecclestone’s ongoing criticism of Hamilton

 

 

 

Reporters banned from mentioning Hamilton

“Obviously, we have changed the colour of the overalls and it’s known that black colour takes more of the heat, especially when there’s direct sun. I don’t know any numbers or facts how much it is actually black versus white in terms of temperature difference. But this year it’s been really hot in the car.”

With Lewis departing the team, some traditional Mercedes fans were hoping they would return to their classic silver arrows livery, yet presumably to prevent allegations that they merely went along with the black colour of the cars and overalls due to Hamilton’s presence, the team has decided for now that black will remain the predominant colour of the team’s identity.

Adidas appear to have eased some of the issues surrounding the black racing suits which remain constructed to the FIA’s specifications but are now made in a lightweight fabric with AEROREADY technology. This design is a moisture-wicking fabric technology patented by Adidas to keep athletes wearing their sportswear both dry and cool.

At the Adidas launch event, Toto Wolff broke the golden rule which in this case pertained to Lewis Hamilton. F1 journalists Julianne Cerasoli was at the event and explained the instructions the Mercedes PR team had given before the appearance of Wolff and the drivers stating of Hamilton: “His name cannot be officially mentioned here.

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Hamilton sponsors to leave Mercedes

“It’s normal for teams to tell us not to mention drivers who are not part of the team, especially at commercial events,” added Cerasoli. “But I think it will be impossible for his presence not to stop here after a partnership that was the most successful in the history of Formula 1.”

Cerasoli needed not to be concerned because in fact it was Toto Wolff who first mentioned the forbidden topic which of course opened the floodgates for the assembled media. In what appeared to be a petty attempt at portraying Lewis Hamilton as in some way jealous not he had left the team, Wolff revealed is response when the Mercedes team boss informed him of their new sponsor.

“Lewis said that it’s probably the sports brand with the most cultural relevance. He had a crying and laughing [reaction], I think, knowing that we were going to Adidas,” said Wolff.

Of course Lewis Hamilton’s commercial pulling power is huge and several sponsors which backed him during his time at Mercedes are set to follow him to Ferrari. Of course landing Adidas is a huge coup for Mercedes and may well boost sales with their fans. Yet the most important matter facing Mercedes and Wolff is improving the performance of the car on track this year, having finished a distant fourth last season.

Verstappen buys another million dollar toy

 

 

 

FIA dictator president now turns on F1 fans

The world appears as though the era of the dictator is nigh. Russia decided in 2021 they wished to re-draw the UN agreed territories following World War II and so invaded Ukraine with president Putin asserting the former Soviet state was in fact “not a proper country.”

Formula One appears to be suffering a similar fate and whilst the teams and drivers’ are not yet facing a takeover by force, sinister forces are at work which are now to affect all the stakeholders within the most watched annual sporting series in the world.

Lewis Hamilton was weeping tears of regret as his Mercedes team decided not to pit him for fresh rubber during the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Meanwhile Max Verstappen had been given new tyres by his Red Bull team and blew past the Mercedes driver who was leading the race to claim his first F1 drivers’ title, whilst simultaneously denying Hamilton of the much coveted eight world championship…. READ MORE