The Formula One teams were on display as a collective for the first time since the final race of the 2024 season. Ferrari stole the show as Fred Vasseur, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton received the biggest roar of approval of the night as they arrived on stager following a video tape scrolling through the history of the iconic Italian red team.
Mercedes seven minute time allotment was by comparison relatively subdued following the host Jack Whitehall ribbing both George Russell and Max Verstappen for their handbags at dawn dispute over the final two rounds of last year.
Wolff made a desperate attempt to spear upbeat, uttering his favourite English word “unbelievable” several times in his opening remarks.“What an incredible evening and an event from F1,” said the Mercedes boss. “The sport continues to set new milestones with such occasions, and I hope the thousands watching in the arena, and everyone tuning in at home, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Wolff and Hamilton mocked by F1 launch MC
“Mercedes has a long history in motorsport and it’s an unbelievable honour to carry that baton forward. We start to write the next chapter in our story this year with George and Kimi, and we’re excited to get going,” concluded Wolff.
Yet behind the scenes this year Mercedes may yet become the talk of the paddock as in 2024 when Lewis Hamilton made his SHOCKL announcement that he was leaving the team he had been part of for twelve long, and on the whole, successful season together.
Wolff was mocked by Whitehall as the evening got under way following his jesting about Lewis Hamilton for “peacocking across the paddock like a fortnite character.” The reference was lost on some, but likened the seven times champion to a strangely dressed Comicon character.
Toto Wolff was next in line to suffer at the hands of Whitehall’s ruthless Mickey taking. “Lewis of course is on the Ferrari table tonight… pray for Toto… its everyone’s worst nightmare when your partner of ten years is running off with an Italian stallion.”
No rear wing Ineos big logo
“We’re gonna be seeing Lewis in the red of Ferrari for the first time this evening. What a moment that is going to be. Toto, I hope you’ve changed your eyeballs to wets,” quipped the British comedian.
Yet any sharp eyed Mercedes fan would have seen when the new W16 car was revealed, something important was missing – the previously large name of the team’s one third shareholder Ineos. TJ13 reported last year the relationship between Ineos and Mercedes was close to breaking down as tense negotiations were underway with both parties.
Last night instead of the large Ineos branding in the traditional red lettering on the air intake above the drivers red, the space was plain silver with sponsors Solera beneath it. There was a small Ineos logo on the inside of the front wing endplate as was the case in previous years, but the huge logo on the rear wing had been replaced by Crowdstrike.
Ineos is owned by billionaire British businessman, Jim Radcliffe, but the business has suffered financial headwinds recently with the result of credit ratings agencies downgrading the company’s worthiness. The £6bn of accrued debt was partly created following a £1.bn acquisition of a minority shareholding position in English Premier League football team, Manchester United.
Mercedes look to buy out Ineos
The petrochemicals organisation recently cancelled their sponsorship of both Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup team and the All Blacks New Zealnd national rugby team. Both are to enter legal proceedings. Ineos blamed the All Blacks sponsorship row on “poor trading conditions” due to “Hugh energy costs and extreme carbon taxes” together with “the deindustrialisation of Europe. “
Further, Mercedes-Benz were reportedly looking to source finance to buy out Ratcliffe’s share in the F1 team. Jim Ratcliffe ultimately opted to retain his investment. The F1 team were also forced to deny last weekend there was a prob elm with their Ineos partnership.
Yet the livery on display at Formula One’s first ever combined new season car launch raises questions again over how committed Ineos now are to the multi-million deal they have with the F1 team. Mercedes denied there has been any discussions over a change in ownership but the proof of the pudding will be seen in the livery Mercedes choose to sport, at next weeks pre-season testing in Bahrain.
The silver arrows F1 team lost a fortune from Tommy Hillfiger following Lewis Hamilton’s departure to Ferrari. The fashion brand was primarily involved via their contact with Hamilton, is said to cost the team some $1bn over a decade, although this reported number appears a little far fetched.
Radcliffe to build $1bn stadium i Manchester
Ratcliffe has plans to redevelop the Manchester United stadium and build a new record 100,000 venue for football fans nicknamed, “the Wembley of the North.” Yet given Everton’s new football stadium which opened last weekend with a price tag of £750m, Ineos will have to raise at least £1bn for a hope of replacing their ageing match day facility.
The matter will be under the radar for George Russell and rookie Kimi Antonelli who both spoke at the big F1 paunch event, though in a far more subdued fashion than ex-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Russell made headlines earlier in the day when he admitted he had “no intention” of speaking to Max Verstappen following their acrimonious row following qualifying in Qatar.
“I’ve got no intentions [to do so], to be honest,” the Mercedes driver said when asked whether he would seek to smooth things over. “That happened last year. I want to focus on myself. Things got out of line last year. That was then. We are not going to go back to being best mates, that’s for sure.”
When asked whether he had concerns about the situation, Russell added: “No concerns about him or his driving. I am not going to change my approach fighting him or other drivers.”
Gordon Ramsey takes this “piss” out of the FIA
Ever the sport thats innovating, Formula One delivered its first ever combined launch event for all the ten teams at the 20,000 seater O2 arena in London last night. It was full of dazzling lasers, smoke and lighting effects as in reverse order of their finishing spot in the 2024 championship, the teams were introduced.
British comedian Jack Whitehall conducted the role of MC and his jibes were aplenty those aimed at including Max, Verstappen, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff. Many of the team’s liveries for this year were little changed from 2024 as McLaren boss Zak Brown stated the reason for his metro’s continuity was to honour their achievement of winning the constructors’ championship for the first time in 26 years.
Red Bull similarly will run a similar livery to the one which saw Max Verstappen become a four times consecutive F1 drivers’ champion. The junior team now officially based at Milton Keynes, which principal Laurent Mekies stated was now their HQ, was “very white” according to Yuki Tsunoda… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
