Following the finale of the 2017 Formula One World Championship in Abu Dhabi, Formula One launched a brand new logo.
After an amazing season ? a new #F1 era awaits
Our greatest races are ahead of us
#Unleash2018 pic.twitter.com/1g0KSjeVhj? Formula 1 (@F1) 26 November 2017
In a rather awkward ceremony of sorts former Formula One drivers and now pundits Martin Brundle and David Coulthard introduced the new logo on the podium alongside race winner Valterri Bottas and four-time Formula One World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
Lights out in Melbourne in 120 days…
Roll on 2018! #F1 pic.twitter.com/pwKmTyGIt5
? Formula 1 (@F1) 26 November 2017
After the video had run, the logo appeared on the podium, with some rather cheap baseball caps emblazoned with the logo handed out.
‘What we wanted to do was provide a fresh energy to the sport and I think we have a lot of plans for the future, a lot of things we want to do and we thought the logo was a good way to emphasise the excitement, fresh energy and a new day to take the sport to a new place,’ F1 chairman Chase Carey told Sky Sports.
‘That’s respecting what the sport has been. We’re not looking to change the sport, we’re looking to provide a fresh innovation and energy to a great sport that we can enhance in a number of ways.’
However it hasn’t gone down well with many Formula One supporters and drivers who much preferred the old logo which had been in use for the past 30 years.
HAM and BOT puzzled during press conference over need to change F1 logo. BOTT: ‘I liked the old one’. HAM: ‘You wouldn’t see Mercedes or Ferrari changing theirs.’ Probably not what Liberty wants to hear… #F1 #AbuDhabiGP
? Maurice Hamilton (@MauriceHamilton) 26 November 2017
It?s like replacing Ayrton Senna with Pastor Maldonado #F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/XWONYbt5SE
? Georgina (@gina_maggie) 26 November 2017