Formula One steps in amid 2025 season launch ticket controversy
After people deliberately purchased tickets for Formula One's 75th anniversary launch event to resell them at extortionate price points, the sport has now stepped in to urge fans not to purchase the 'fake' tickets as they will not be able to enter the event.
For the first time in Formula 1 history, all 10 teams - Alpine, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Haas, Kick Sauber, McLaren, Mercedes, Racing Bulls, Red Bull, and Williams – their drivers and Team Principals will come together with fans for a special night to launch the new season, reveal their 2025 liveries, and mark the start of the sport’s 75th anniversary year.
This event will take place on 18 February 2025 between 8pm and 10pm at London’s The O2 and is being brought to life by creative visionary Brian Burke of BrianBurkeCreative, Stufish Entertainment Architects, DX7 Design, and production company 1826.
BrianBurkeCreative was also responsible for delivering the opening and closing ceremonies for the last year's inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. Burke is an International Emmy Nominated creative producer has created global music tours and worldwide live television series and events in recent years.
Formula One promises that "the incredible evening will see fans immersed in the drama and spectacle that is Formula 1, as they join the teams to unveil their 2025 liveries and the upcoming season’s driver line-ups."
During the interactive event, there will be interviews with the key figures from the sport, including drivers and Team Principals, as well as top entertainment and special guest presenters.
Formula One started to sell tickets for the event on Friday morning, but fans needed to wait a long while due to the high demand. Despite the huge capacity of the O2 Arena, the tickets were fully sold out in less than an hour, leaving many fans desperate to search for tickets.
However, almost immediately, thousands of tickets reappeared on resale sites. While the price range of the original tickets were between £58-£113 plus booking fee, the price of the tickets on the resale sites were significantly higher, three or four times of the original prices.
It suggested that some people did not have any intention to attend the event at all, but they only wanted to gain themselves through the resale of the tickets.
Formula One has now cautioned fans who missed out on a ticket to the 2025 season launch event will not be able to enter using passes purchased through a resale website.
A statement issued by Formula One read: "We are aware that a few tickets for our season launch event at The O2 have been listed on unofficial resale websites.
"We can confirm that this is against the terms and conditions of sale and that any tickets bought through an unofficial resale platform are not valid for entry.
"Working with The O2 we have also identified that a number of the listings are fraudulent. We advise all our fans to only buy tickets through theo2.co.uk or via AXS Official Resale."
