The world of Formula 1 was set alight on Friday morning as tickets went on sale for the F1 teams' collective launch event for the 2025 season, in honor of the sport's 75th anniversary, to be held on February 18 in London.
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Hundreds of thousands of Formula 1 fans sat in online queues hoping to land a place to experience the historic event up close. Unfortunately only a limited number of people were able to obtain these tickets. Additionally, high demand quickly led to speculative resale of seats at exorbitant prices, pushing Formula 1 to intervene.
Indeed, the 20,000 places available to attend this historic evening, where the 10 F1 teams will unveil their new liveries in the presence of all the drivers, were snapped up in barely 40 minutes. Tickets initially sold between €66 and €128 (reservation fees included). However, while some fans were still waiting for their turn online, precious tickets were already reappearing on resale platforms, sometimes at completely outrageous prices. Some tickets were thus offered for up to €2,240, a dizzying increase of almost 20 times compared to the lowest price set by the organizers.
In a statement, F1 acknowledged the existence of this problem, “We are aware that a few tickets for our season launch event at the O2 have been listed on unofficial resale sites. We can confirm that this is against the Terms of Sale and any tickets purchased via an unofficial resale platform will not be valid for entry. » More bad news for supporters who were still hoping to be able to obtain a ticket through other means, especially since at present they are sold out on official circuits.
Many fans had taken to social media to express their frustrations at not being able to get their entry tickets despite waiting hours. So a fan wrote on Twitter “I waited over an hour for F1 75 event tickets, but was told they were sold out”. Another, who had waited about 40 minutes in the virtual queue, was surprised that, after just 4 minutes, other fans were already reporting that the tickets were sold out.
Although the resale of tickets at higher prices is not illegal in itself, the strong stance of Formula 1 and the O2 Arena should deter fans from turning to these unofficial channels, particularly to avoid becoming victims. of scam.
Indeed, Formula 1 also reports dubious advertisements which offered places which simply did not exist, “We are working with the O2 and we have also identified that many of the adverts are fraudulent. We advise all our fans to only purchase tickets via theo2.co.uk or via the official AXS resale platform”she says in the press release.
Spectators who will be present on February 18 will experience an unforgettable evening. As well as seeing their favorite drivers up close, they will also witness interviews with key motorsport figures, special presentations and even surprise guests. A real show not to be missed for the most loyal fans.
However, for those who were not lucky enough to secure a ticket, Formula 1 plans to broadcast the event live, although details of this broadcast have not yet been communicated at this time.
