The F1 75 event was a star-studded affair in London as all 10 teams unveiled their liveries for the 2025 seasonin front of fans at the O2 Arena.
Lewis Hamilton received the best reception of the night appearing in Ferrari gear for the first time at an official F1 event, while Christian Horner and Max Verstappen were on the receiving end of heckles from the crowd.
It was being billed as a season launch for F1’s 75th anniversary, including a few events in and around the big London launch.
According to a report from GQ, along with other motorsport grandees, one current F1 driver from the grid joined them for the event.
Fernando Alonso joined F1 legends dinner in London
In the days before the F1 75 launch, a dinner was hosted by F1 legends including Nigel Mansell, Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, Emmerson Fittipaldi and Mika Hakkinen at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant in Mayfair.
Fernando Alonso was present at the legends dinner and was the only current driver from the grid to make an appearance.
Posting about the dinner on social media, Andretti said it was the “best time” and that it was “so fun” to meet up with fellow big personalities of F1.
Several of them would go on to attend the F1 launch at the O2, where their cars were displayed on stage including Fittipaldi’s McLaren and Hakkinen’s from his title-winning season.
Fernando Alonso and F1 legends write messages to opened in next 25 years
Alonso said that his former team boss, Giancarlo Minardi, who gave him his first drive in F1 in 2000 was also present at the event.
He revealed that each of the drivers did something special by hand-writing messages and putting them into a locked box for the future.
“It was good to see Giancarlo Minardi there – he was my first boss – and also Bernie [Ecclestone] and [former Ferrari chairman] Luca di Montezemolo, with whom I have a great friendship. Mario Andretti, I admire him so much. It’s great we got to do this on the 75th anniversary,” said Alonso.
“We each wrote a message and locked them in a box which will be reopened in 25 years. I can’t tell you what I wrote, it’s a secret. But let’s imagine if we’d done this quarter of a century ago, the champions who could have been there, it would be nice to read their notes now. This will be good for the next generation, and I may still be at the table.”
I guess we will have to wait until F1’s 100th anniversary until we see exactly what these legends of the championship have written.
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