For the first time in the sport’s history, all 20 drivers on the 2025 grid will gather to launch their new cars at The O2 in London to show off how their cars will look for the majority of the upcoming season.
One-off liveries are becoming more and more common, with McLaren’s Senna-inspired look at last year’s Monaco Grand Prix particularly eye-catching.
One team that never tends to push the boat when it comes to how their cars look is Red Bull.
The Anglo-Austrian team are notorious for producing some incredible looks during pre-season before reverting to type once the season starts.
Ever since they made their debut on the grid 20 years ago, they’ve built up an iconic brand that makes them instantly recognisable.
However, it also makes an event like Tuesday’s F1 75 launch slightly pointless given that Christian Horner’s team are unlikely to spring any surprises.
Red Bull have lost some of Sergio Perez’s sponsors which means that the names on the car might be slightly different.
However, speaking on Team Redline’s latest Twitch stream, star driver Max Verstappen has explained why he’s ‘super excited’ for the world to see the RB21 for the first time.
Asked about how this year’s car is going to look, Verstappen said: “I’m really excited for our livery, to be honest.”
When pestered about potentially sharing any clues on what the car will look like, Verstappen jokingly said: “Yeah, I’ll just say I’m super excited.
“Yeah, [it’ll be red], and a little bit of yellow and maybe a little bit of blue, a bit of carbon.”
Last year’s car launches drew some criticism given how many machines heavily featured a lot of carbon.
This was reportedly done as a weight-saving measure with every gram of paint potentially saving thousandths of a second that could be the difference between outqualifying a rival.
The weight limit has been increased by two kilograms this year, although this has been done to help bigger drivers who have frequently been forced to look harder than their smaller rivals to get under a certain weight limit.
Last season saw Verstappen at his very best as he had to battle against a car that slipped down the pecking order to win his fourth championship.
Verstappen went on a run of 10 Grand Prix without a victory at one point in 2024 but managed to maximise every result to hold off the likes of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
However, Red Bull have reportedly ignored one complaint Verstappen had about last year’s car when developing their 2025 machine.
Whether this is because they think it will impact new teammate Liam Lawson, whether they don’t believe it will make the car faster or with one eye on the new regulations in 2026 is yet to be seen.
Keeping Verstappen happy is vital to Red Bull’s long-term success, especially with several other teams on the grid sniffing around the Dutchman.
