Editor Ruben Zimmermann thought Alpine’s idea of presenting the new car design on a ship was fundamentally sound—but not its execution.
I admit it: the launches before a new Formula 1 season are not necessarily among my highlights of the year. Too much talk, too little substance, and often the cars on display (apart from the paintwork) don’t have much to do with what we actually see on the track at the first race of the season.
But what Alpine did on Friday pushed the boundaries of insanity a little further.
Formula 1 fans from all over the world who were waiting for the unveiling of the A526 design were first presented with an advertisement for cruise ships in the livestream on the official Alpine YouTube channel.
First of all, I think the idea of hosting the launch on a ship is actually pretty cool. However, it becomes problematic when the first guest on stage is not a team representative or driver, but the CEO of the host cruise company.
Of course, partners and sponsors have a place in Formula 1. After all, someone has to pay for the whole thing. But giving someone who has nothing to do with the car, which is supposed to be the focus of the event, more than five minutes on stage at the beginning is borderline unacceptable.
Especially since every other guest on stage later had to mention how great and “historic” (quote from Colapinto) the launch on the ship was. If something like this had been broadcast on TV here in Germany, the entire show would almost certainly have had to be labeled as a commercial break.
Paradoxically, the atmosphere on the ship didn’t even come across as such. Because they decided to hold the launch in the cruise ship’s theater, it could have been any stage in any other location.
Perhaps that’s why they had to keep mentioning that it was a ship.
Once the biggest part of the advertising was over at the beginning, it was a typical Formula 1 launch: a lot of blah blah blah, a barely comprehensible Flavio Briatore, poor sound mixing, and then finally the car was revealed – or rather, the paint job, which is hardly any different from last year’s.
To be clear: I’m not explicitly blaming Alpine for any of this, because we’ve probably seen something similar from almost every Formula 1 team in the past. But maybe next time, Enstone should think twice about whether it’s such a smart idea to use a launch as a cover for a big advertising show for one of its partners.
That’s not a problem either, by the way; you can do whatever you want. But then you shouldn’t be surprised if I, as a spectator, feel slightly taken for a ride.