F1's best (and worst) team launches

Perhaps the most well-known F1 team launch of all time, when the Spice Girls came to party with McLaren at London's Alexandra Palace. When we say play, we mean take over. The MP4-12 and the new-look West livery took a backseat role as Mika Hakkinen was almost stripped by the Spice Girls as the world's biggest pop band made sure it was a PR stunt for the history books.

When unusual and eye-catching F1 team launches were all the fashion, Jordan was at the forefront and 2002 was a masterstroke of branding cohesion (plus a lot of top models to gain more attention). Held in an airport hangar in Brussels, Jordan took delivery from a DHL logistics plane which opened up to reveal Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato to pull the sheets off the EJ12 and its new title sponsor.

A slightly more sedated affair but a mark of the new-look Force India team's ambition in F1. Metaphorically opening the gates of India for F1, with indifferent success given the longevity of the Indian Grand Prix, but that day a new F1 star was launched with a stunning backdrop.

Why only have one main sponsor and car livery when you can two? It was initially a PR masterstroke with two big sponsors for BAR but it soon became a democratic nightmare when the FIA stepped in - banning the use of two car liveries per team. The issue went all the way up to the European Commission but Craig Pollock's team backed down and ran a half-and-half livery for 1999 to get around the ban.

Honda had the best intentions in mind but practicality, and crucially performance and speed, went missing with its 'Earth car' in 2007. Honda revealed a car with a map of the world rather than sponsors at London's National History Museum in the hope of brands donating to environmental causes to become associated with the team. Sadly the team sunk like a stone in 2007 and Honda withdrew as a constructor two years later.

As long as you launch before the first race of the season it doesn't really matter when, right? Well, no team in F1 history has ever left it so late than Minardi in 2001. The team unveiled its car on 28th February with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix starting on 1st March. Rookie Fernando Alonso and Tarso Marques revealed one of the cars in front of Melbourne state parliament while the sister car was being frantically put together in the garage at Albert Park.

Another PR score for McLaren who supposedly built their 2011 F1 car in Berlin's Potsdamer Platz in front of the public before superstar line-up Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button arrived to put in the final touches with the help of special guests. A revised exhaust and development gains saw the MP4-26 claim six race wins that year but couldn't keep up with the pace of Red Bull.

The combination of the elements for Benetton's launch might sound like a romantic European getaway but for any F1 lovers it was a must-see. With Jenson Button and Giancarlo Fisichella for company, plus a mighty security presence to ensure no F1 cars were dropped into canals, the final Benetton-branded car was revealed at St. Mark's square with no expense spared thanks to new owners Renault.

This launch was not remembered so much for what happened but what it actually revealed. Forever informally known as 'The Walrus', the FW26 displayed a very unconventional front nose design. Sadly the ugly duckling never fulfilled its potential and the car was given a nose job midway through the season for a more conventional approach.