Written by Lorenzo Baer, Edited by Madison Cooper
Just a day before the special event to present the drivers and vehicles for the upcoming 2025 F1 season, relive some of the most remarkable launches in the category’s history. Choosing one representative per decade, we show how these events, despite their clear evolution in terms of grandeur, always tried to keep their essence: to maintain suspense until the last moment.
Lotus 49T: Unveiling the colours that changed Formula 1 (1968)
The exchange of the traditional green and yellow for the white, red and gold of the Gold Leaf sponsorship by Team Lotus was certainly a change that would forever alter the face of the sport.
The unveiling of the car's new livery for the 1968 F1 Championship was planned to take place during the Tasman Series, an interseason event for modified F1 cars in Australia and New Zealand – that is, far away from the impetuous European media outlets, which already suspected the change of colours proposed by Lotus.
In an almost secret event, attended by only a few selected journalists, the car was revealed in a dirty small garage of the Pukekohe circuit the night before the first practice sessions for the season opener of the Tasman Series.
However, the story of the Lotus Gold Leaf's unveiling goes far beyond this closed-door presentation: the following day, when the first track training sessions were to take place, the car was banned from participating based on arguments from the Australian Motorsport Federation the new paint scheme violated some of the terms of the tournament.
So, to avoid an unnecessary discussion with the federation, Lotus had to go back on its decision. Jim Clark's newly painted Lotus Gold Leaf was then hastily repainted in the old green and yellow pattern to pass preliminary inspection and be cleared to enter the track!
Lotus subsequently appealed the decision to ban the Gold Leaf paint scheme, reversing the initial verdict in time to be allowed to use the new colours in the third stage of the Tasman Series in Wigram.
Arrows FA1: An arctic reveal (1978)
The launch of Arrows FA1 could well be considered one of the biggest fiascoes of this type of event but, in reality, it generated some of the most epic scenes of a car launch.
Planned to be revealed to the press at an exclusive event in Silverstone, on 20th January, 1978, everything seemed in Arrows team's control, except for one thing: the weather.
An unexpected snowstorm blanketed the traditional English circuit on the night of 19-20th January, and when the sun came out the next day, a substantial layer of snow covered the entire track.
However, it was too late to cancel the event, and, in almost glacial conditions, the Arrows FA1 was pulled out of the pits, revealing the first vehicle built by the Milton Keynes team.
Due to track conditions, Riccardo Patrese, the driver behind the wheel of FA1, couldn't do much other than take the car for a few spins around the pits and paddocks of Silverstone, posing for the cameras of the few journalists present.
Despite Arrows' rather bland reveal, the legacy of this FA1 presentation session was to present the audience with one of the most interesting and peculiar combinations of images from an F1 car showdown.
Minardi M185: An F1 car in an F2 event? (1984)
Minardi was a team that built one of the most dubious and symbolic reputations in F1 for being a constant backmarker in the 20 years it was involved with the category.
Perhaps a hint of things to come was the strange launch of the team's first F1 car, the M185.
Obviously, it was to be expected that a new team on the grid would want to attract public and media attention by promoting their product in a location that as many people could see as possible.
However, instead of launching its vehicle at a pompous event, the M185 made its first public appearance almost without any prior notice at the Misano leg of the 1984 European Formula 2 (exactly, an F2 race!), as a surprise for the public and the few journalists present.
According to reports, the vehicle was simply exposed to the public, in a discreet tent in the circuit's paddocks. Team members and designers were easily found around the circuit, as if this were just a normal day (and not the official launch of a team in F1!), in an atmosphere very different from that of the category's circus.
Minardi's choice to launch its vehicle at an F2 event may seem strange to a certain extent, but putting the pieces together, the idea made sense.
It is worth remembering that from 1980 to 1984, Minardi was an F2 team; in addition to the Misano circuit being almost in the backyard of the team's HQ, located just 90 km away in the town of Faenza – such connections tied down the symbolic aspect of the presentation, promoting the union between the team's past and future in motorsport.
BAR 01: Two liveries, one team (1999)
Certainly, one of the strangest moments of a car launch in F1 was the one starring yet another newcomer to the category, the British American Racing (BAR) in 1999.
The team, which was built from the ashes of bankrupt Team Tyrrell, had emerged with a great air of optimism due to the large financial incentives of the cigarette giant British American Tobacco, which had taken over the operation from Ken Tyrrell's old squad, in 1997.
Renamed BAR in 1999, the team promised that the reveal of its first vehicle, the BAR01, would be something of a revolution in F1. The public and the specialized media expected something different, but not as much as what would happen on 6th January, 1999.
The first sign of things to come was when Jacques Villeneuve and Riccardo Zonta appeared at the team’s presentation wearing different coloured overalls, representing two of BAT’s subsidiary brands.
While the Canadian was dressed in white and red, in reference to the traditional palette of Lucky Strike, the Brazilian was in a blue and yellow overall, the official colours of 555.
Despite such innovation, it seemed small when the drivers pulled the covers over the cars, revealing two vehicles with completely different paint schemes, matching the colours of their respective drivers.
From a commercial point of view, British American Tobacco's move was a masterstroke: instead of using just one brand on its two vehicles, the team maximized the visibility of its affiliated brands, with each car serving as a billboard for parts of the BAT’s portfolio.
However, the public's shock would be nothing compared to the repercussions this choice would have for BAR. Within a few weeks, the team would be approached by the FIA, who would claim that it was illegal for an F1 squad to have cars running in two distinct liveries.
The FIA's notice took on a more serious tone when it was warned that if the team failed to paint both its cars in the same paint scheme before the start of the season, BAR could even have its entry in F1 revoked by the federation.
To comply with the FIA's ultimatum, BAR took another drastic decision: merging the two paint schemes, thus creating the famous zip-livery, with which the team would compete in the 1999 F1 season.
Jordan E12: Did someone order an air delivery? (2002)
Jordan was certainly one of the most memorable teams of the 90s and 00s. Whether due to some surprising performances, its charisma or even the irreverence of its owner, Irishman Eddie Jordan, the team left a lasting mark on F1.
In 2002, after seven years of a partnership and many ups and downs with the cigarette manufacturer Benson & Hedges, Jordan presented as its official partner for the upcoming season the German firm DHL, a well-known company in the logistics and cargo transportation.
Jordan, a person who strongly supported the union between brand marketing and F1, could not let such an event go unnoticed, and, to that end, the team owner planned something special for the team's launch for the 2002 season.
Instead of inviting journalists and specialized media to a traditional event in a ballroom, castle or exhibition centre, Jordan asked everyone interested in seeing the car's unveiling to show up at Brussels Airport on 22nd February.
While Jordan hinted that this would be a traditional press conference, with him and pilots Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato answering countless questions from journalists about Jordan's project for 2002, this was not the complete tale.
During the conference, held at the DHL’s hangar in the airport, a message arrived from the airport control tower announcing the arrival of an urgent delivery for “Mr. Jordan”. On a screen in the hangar, a video appeared, showing an Airbus with DHL colours landing at Brussels.
Then, the hangar doors were opened, and a DHL cargo plane was towed into the building where all the journalists and team Jordan members were.
After the plane’s parking, the unload process began, revealing its “special order” through a side door: the EJ12, the official car of the Jordan team for the 2002 F1 season.
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