The 2025 F1 season is officially underway with the sport’s ambitious live-livery reveal. The sport is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a 10-team livery launch event titled ‘F1 75’. And while the entire world is glued to their screens watching the event unfold, the Ferrari duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc don’t seem that interested.
Hosted at the O2 Arena in London, the F1 75 launch event was a star-studded affair with all the 20 drivers attending. But midway during the proceedings, Leclerc and Hamilton were spotted playing a game of chess, and it has sent fans online in raptures.
No sooner did the clip of Hamilton and Leclerc ditching the event and focusing on their little game of chess go viral than fans swarmed to X (formerly Twitter) to bombard the social media platform with their reactions.
not lewis and charles playing chess during #F175LIVE pic.twitter.com/PamgQm0one
— sin ⁴⁴ (@44britcedes) February 18, 2025
One fan even commented, “such an unserious duo.”
such an unserious duo
— Salmah (@salmahkaleel) February 18, 2025
This is sending me https://t.co/fbZmUcQanQ
— Hems✨ (@itsok_44) February 18, 2025
THEY ARE NOT SERIOUS https://t.co/WuTNbPNnAy
— karola (@vroomgurl) February 18, 2025
In the lead-up to the event, it was speculated that several of the drivers were not happy with the spectacle. However, it can safely be said that the Ferrari drivers were not let down by the raucous reception they received.
F1 75 event sees Hamilton and Leclerc serenaded with cheers
Formula 1 decided to give the reins of the event to revered British comedian Jack Whitehall. And the 36-year-old did not disappoint with a pretty hilarious and edgy introduction to the entire event.
The fans in attendance were obviously waiting to see Hamilton being unveiled as a Ferrari driver, officially, for the first time. And no sooner had Whitehall introduced the seven-time world champion than the packed crowd in the O2 Arena went bonkers.
His teammate Charles Leclerc was also received with a warm applause but Whitehall had a few sly jokes under his sleeve. The #16 driver was constantly poked fun at for his good looks, something that has garnered him a massive fan following in the sport.
Whitehall introduced the 2024 Monaco GP and Italian GP winner as the “most handsome driver on the grid”. He went on to call the Monegasque the person his fiancee imagines when they get cozy in bed!
