Spice Girls and 5 Other Extravagant F1 Car Launches
Eighteen years ago, the Spice Girls joined Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard onstage at the Alexandra Palace in London to launch McLaren's MP4-12 car.
The British pop singers had recently released their smash-hit album Spice and were one of the biggest bands in the world. No doubt it was not a cheap night for McLaren.
In the last few years, though, as teams have tightened their belts, live car launches have slowly disappeared. This season, some launches merely consisted of the teams posting photos on Twitter, while Ferrari at least spent some time creating a nice website to launch the SF15-T.
In fact, Force India was the only team to attempt anything resembling a live launch event—and all they were launching was a modified version of their 2014 car with the 2015 livery. But at least they went to Mexico to do it!
In honour of the anniversary of the McLaren/Spice Girls launch, here are five of the most extravagant launches in Formula One history, in chronological order.
1979 Lotus
1 of 5
In 1979, Lotus was sponsored by the Essex oil company and its American owner, David Thieme. The car was launched at a Paris nightclub, Paradis du Latin, at a party that F1i.com's Eric Silbermann noted, "is only talked about in hushed tones when no kids are around."
Writing for grandprix.com, Joe Saward relayed that journalists were given rooms at a luxury hotel and driven to the event in limousines. Then, at the climax of the evening "after dinner and an exhibition of feathered ladies dancing around, a Lotus painted in Essex colors suddenly began to descend from the roof, with a terrified Mario Andretti, clad in a dinner jacket, clinging to the car as it floated gradually to earth."
It is no surprise that there is no video, nor even photos, commemorating the event, but ESPN F1's Maurice Hamilton wrote that "The hangover scale the following morning indicated that this had been a very grand launch indeed."
1981 March
2 of 5
Following a three-year absence, March returned to F1 in 1981—and they did so with a splash. Irishman Derek Daly was signed from Tyrrell and the team rented out the Guinness brewery in Dublin for a launch party.
ESPN F1's Maurice Hamilton remembered "walking into the reception room and seeing the bar completely black with pints of Guinness; massed ranks of the stuff, poured and ready. I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. And half of Dublin clearly seemed to think the same."
The event proceeded about exactly how you would expect with a bunch of journalists given access to an open bar.
As the Guinness continued to flow, Hamilton wrote that "the hapless organisers of the launch struggled to persuade guests to leave the bar and view the car, waiting just beyond a glazed partition barely 10 metres away."
Eventually, everyone piled onto a plane and were flown back to Heathrow that night. At least no one had to drive!
2001 Benetton
3 of 5
The Benetton team, run for much of its history by the flamboyant Flavio Briatore, was never known for understatement.
In 2001, the team's last year before being renamed Renault, they went all-out for their launch, taking over St. Mark's Square in Venice. Jenson Button joined the team that year—his second in F1—partnering Giancarlo Fisichella.
Although the car ultimately proved to be a disappointment, finishing seventh in the constructors' standings, the launch was not.
Autosport noted that the car was revealed from behind a massive fish tank—as if the epic setting of the massive public square was not enough—although Briatore rightly downplayed expectations, saying, "I don't expect anything for this year."
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2004 Renault
4 of 5
As mentioned, Renault became the successor to Benetton on the track. They also continued the team's penchant for extravagant car launches.
In 2004, Renault rented out the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Sicily—the largest opera house in Italy—to launch the R24. According to the official F1 website, 650 journalists and guests were in attendance as Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso unveiled the car.
After the festivities in the opera house, per motorsport.com, "the attention shifted to the nearby Piazza Castelnuovo, where first Trulli and then Alonso thrilled the massed crowds with runs of the car on the streets. The roar of the engine was shattering in such close quarters and judging by the roars of approval from the crowd, Palermo was happy to welcome the team to its city."
This year, in contrast, most teams were still building their cars right up until the moments before the first test at Jerez—no time for show runs for the fans!
2007 McLaren
5 of 5
In 2007, reigning world champion Fernando Alonso was signed by McLaren and matched with F1 rookie Lewis Hamilton. In a nod to their new Spanish driver, McLaren travelled to Valencia to launch the MP4-22.
Autosport's Alan Baldwin reported that 100,000 fans showed up to watch Alonso and Hamilton race their cars around the streets.
Afterwards, Cirque de Soleil performed for the crowd, along with a fireworks display, before the evening was brought to a close by renowned violinist Vanessa-Mae.
Certainly a far cry from this year's McLaren launch, which was an online-only event. Oh, the good old days!
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