F1 News
Former driver blown away by F1 75: 'People should stop whining'
- Kimberley Hoefnagel
Former F1 driver Christijan Albers was a fan of the F1 75 event that took place last Tuesday, and hopes to make it a permanent one in the future. According to the Dutchman, the fans who did not enjoy the show should stop whining.
There were contrasting opinions after the event took place at the O2 Arena in London. While some fans enjoyed the spectacle, others did not do so much. Albert is part of the first category, he explained on De Telegraaf's F1 podcast.
"I thought it was really great. And people who say, 'Yes, I thought it was all so-so', those are just old whiners all. They just need to stop," he began.
"What I like about it is that everything is all together at once. Normally, you would always have to search the internet," Albers began to list the adventages of having such event, given how timeconsuming it could be to keep up with all the launch events in the calendar. He also argued that this way, teams can focus on preparing their cars for pre-season testing in Bahrain, as they only showed their livery at the event.
Will the event return?
Albers adds that the reveals usually mainly revolve around the sponsors and liveries anyway. "Yes, I just thought it was a really mega nice event," the Dutchman continued, but added that it might not be possible. "I don't know if that's doable, because it was the 75th anniversary. I don't know how much it cost, but I thought the way it went was fantastic. The drivers arriving on that kind of runway and a red carpet, interviews and then with those cars."
Still, he also had some criticism for the spectacle: "I do think that if they were to do it again, they should ask at least two questions to a driver, for example. Now it was all very short and Red Bull even chose not to tell anything at all."
At the moment, it is unclear whether a similar event will also take place in 2026. To begin with, F1 created the event to celebrate the competition 75th anniversary, but given its success in terms of viewing-figures, they might decide to continue with the concept. In addition, presenter Jack Whitehall also said 'next year' several times over the course of the show. For example, Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay was told that he 'won't be invited next year.'
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sárközi
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!