F1’s big birthday bash at London’s O2 Arena was a hit – at least according to former driver Christijan Albers, who thinks critics of the show need to pipe down.
“I thought it was really great,” Albers said on De Telegraaf’s F1 podcast. “People who say ‘Yes, I thought it was all so-so’ are just old whiners. They just need to stop.”
The event, celebrating Formula 1’s 75th anniversary, brought together all the teams to reveal their new cars in one place. It’s a big change from the usual scattered launches that keep fans glued to their screens for weeks.
That’s exactly what Albers loved about it.
“What I like about it is that everything is all together at once. Normally, you would always have to search the internet,” he explained. This format also gives teams more time to focus on getting their cars ready for testing in Bahrain.
The glitzy show featured drivers walking a red carpet runway-style, though some moments felt rushed. “I do think that if they were to do it again, they should ask at least two questions to a driver,” Albers noted. “Now it was all very short and Red Bull even chose not to tell anything at all.”
But will we see another show like this?
While it was meant as a one-off anniversary celebration, the strong viewing figures might convince F1 to make it an annual thing. Host Jack Whitehall dropped several hints about “next year” during the show – even telling celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay he “won’t be invited next year.”
The former F1 driver couldn’t hide his enthusiasm: “I just thought it was a really mega nice event,” though he admitted, “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.”
