Neon signs flicker as young fans gaze up at the enlarged posters of Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. There’s a sharp chill in the air but for thousands of F1 diehards, there’s nowhere they’d rather be.

Attending the championship’s first event of its type, they’re desperate to get a glimpse of their heroes and the racing cars’ new liveries, all packaged up in one glitzy show at London’s O2: F1 75.

Celebrating 75 years of the world championship, each team is given a seven-minute slot to show off their new car colour-scheme, do some brand promotion and give sponsors their money’s worth. There will be live music too at the 15,000-capacity event; it’s all a long way from taking the covers off a new car in the Silverstone pitlane.

The crowd erupts as the first team is revealed by virtue of being last year’s slowest. No one’s ever been this excited about Sauber before. With your £9.50 pint shaking to each thunderous intro tune, retinas burning and head swimming as LED lights fire all around you, each presentation is an assault on the senses. It all appeared to be too much for some of the dignitaries: a table of champions featuring Sir Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi and David Coulthard looked unimpressed.

But the shift in F1 demographic is eye-opening. It’s largely those in the 16-24 age group bouncing down the Dome concourse, some accompanied by parents. Suddenly it seems cool to wear a cap emblazoned with ‘Moneygram’ or ‘Visa Cash App’.

The evening is hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall, and he has a decent stab at puncturing F1’s pomposity. “Have you kissed and made up?” he asks George Russell and Max Verstappen. Faces beamed onto the huge video screens suggest not.

Sauber’s light show proves to be one of the better presentations. The energy dips as the crowd struggles to remember why it cares about Haas or Racing Bulls. Things pick up as we get to the bigger teams. Alpine goes for a rousing long DJ segment to accompany it’s blue-again car, while Aston has a slightly fudged Bond-meets-motor-sport animation.

Boos rain down on antiheroes Red Bull, Max Verstappen and particularly Christian Horner. Amusingly, the principal is almost lost for words. Red Bull are the only team to give no driver interviews – too scared?

In contrast, the wild crowd reaction to Lewis Hamilton emerging in Ferrari red emphasises he’s probably more popular than the rest of the grid combined.

McLaren celebrates by bringing five of its most significant title-winning cars on stage, before Take That serenades the mums and dads ahead of the grand finale – which sees the whole grid of cars and drivers presented.

It’s clear what F1’s trying to do. Just like its touring exhibition, the series wants to bring the world of grand prix racing to those who aren’t attending races – and elevate itself to become a fun, lifestyle brand.

In the most unlikely turn of events, F1 has transformed itself from a niche interest to arguably the fastest-growing sport on the planet. The world championship has finally mastered the art of showing just how exciting it is – and that can only be a good thing.