All eyes in the Formula One world were on the O2 Arena in London for the F1 75 launch. Never before had all 10 teams come together to reveal their liveries at the same event. It was an exciting opportunity for most teams, but it turned into a massive disappointment for Alpine.
Even members of Alpine’s team were taken aback by how the team went about with its livery reveal, according to Australian photojournalist Kym Illman.
The way the Enstone-based squad structured their presentation was, arguably, the most disappointing of all. Each of the 10 teams had seven minutes to launch their cars, and that’s where Alpine got it wrong.
They allocated six of those seven minutes to American DJ Brian Tyler, whose performance was underwhelming, to say the least. That left them with barely any time to reveal their challenger.
Illman, on his YouTube channel, stated that some Alpine insiders told him, “We cried.” That’s how bad the presentation was.
Tyler in particular, was the issue. Illman believes that he didn’t put much effort into his performance.
The veteran photographer, who used to be a DJ, said, “I am not sure he was doing anything with these knobs that he was twiddling on that deck. I thought that felt a little bit short”.
What you MISSED at the F1 LAUNCH EVENT
Photo credit: Getty imageshttps://t.co/xE6iokTqy9#f1 #formula1 #f12025 #f1news #f1content #formel1 #f1tickets #f12025 #f1live #f175 #F1SeasonLaunch— Kym Illman (@KymIllman) February 19, 2025
Thankfully, there were still a few moments of fun — most notably the hilarious interview with the Alpine drivers.
Alpine’s highlight of the launch — Pierre Gasly’s haircut
New season, a new haircut. That’s perhaps what Pierre Gasly had in mind ahead of the 2025 campaign. His new look was noticed at F1 75, prompting commentator Lawrence Barretto to ask him about it.
“I started shaving, and then I thought, why not do my head as well? It’s a fresh look for this year,” said Gasly, whose new teammate, Jack Doohan, also played along with the joke.
“Me and Pierre have synced in together with those bald heads,” said Doohan.
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Since Gasly’s sudden hairstyle change was so perplexing, many wondered about the reason behind it. When Lando Norris was asked for his thoughts on the Alpine driver’s possible motivation, he admitted he had no idea.
“Did they do it for weight?” the McLaren driver joked on The Fast and the Curious podcast. “I don’t know, but I’ve got a head full of hair, so there’s no reason to shave it.”
While the conversation remained lighthearted up to this point, one of the hosts then posed an uncomfortable question. When asked if Gasly had possibly undergone a hair transplant, a surprised Norris responded, “I have no idea, ask him yourself. You can’t accuse people of that.”
In the end, Gasly’s haircut gave fans at least one major talking point about Alpine.