F1 cars to see at the 2025 Festival of Speed

McLaren MP4/2B

McLaren is bringing five Championship-winning cars to the 2025 Festival of Speed, starting with Alain Prost’s 1985 Championship winner, the MP4/2B. As the name suggests, it was an updated model of the equally successful MP4/2 which Niki Lauda drove to Championship glory a year prior.

The MP4/2B sported redesigned wings and cleaner aerodynamics compared to its predecessor, while the Porsche TAG engine was also improved with more power and better fuel consumption.  It didn’t matter that it wasn’t always on pole, Prost won six Grands Prix that year to achieve his first Drivers’ Title, while McLaren retained its hold on the Constructors’ Championship. This year the car will be driven on the Hill by Bruno Senna and Rob Garofall.

McLaren MP4/4

Until very recently, the McLaren MP4/4 was the ultimate F1 car. Nothing had ever proven so dominant as the car that Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost drove to 15 wins from 16 races in 1988. Senna was three laps from completing the clean sweep at Monza, only to be taken out by a backmarker.

The MP4/4 was a perfect storm of engineering prowess, the chassis design was faultless and the engine was both powerful and hugely reliable. On paper nothing could touch it, and that fact was only magnified by the two drivers behind the wheel. Senna took the Championship in ’88 with eight wins, but his team-mate Prost, who will drive the car at the Festival of Speed, came a very close second with seven wins.

McLaren M23

In a year of firsts, 1974 saw McLaren have its first taste of Championship success with the M23, which also delivered Emerson Fittipaldi to his second World Title. Fittipaldi’s arrival from Lotus gave McLaren an edge with its ‘74 contender, and four wins that year, three for Fittipaldi and one for Denny Hulme were enough to win both Championships.

There were 13 chassis built overall (numbered one-14, missing out the number 13), but it will be a 15^th chassis that will run up the Hill this year. A brand-new M23 has been built by apprentices using manufacturing techniques of the era, and it will be Senna and McLaren F1’s Chief Operating Officer Piers Thynne who will share the honour of driving it.  

McLaren MCL38

The 2024 season saw McLaren reclaim the Constructors’ title for the first time since 1998, ending a 26-year drought with the MCL38. Though five races were run before a first victory would be earned, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both took their maiden F1 victories as McLaren scored six wins and 21 podiums.

The title was confirmed at the final race in Abu Dhabi, McLaren ultimately beating Ferrari to the Constructors’ Championship by 14 points. At the 2025 Festival of Speed you’ll be able to get a close up look at the car for yourself while it’s on static display in the Formula 1 paddock.

McLaren MP4/23

While Constructors’ glory has been joyously received back in Woking, the last McLaren car to win a Drivers’ Championship was the MP4-23, which Lewis Hamilton drove to the first of seven world titles in memorable fashion in 2008.

His final-lap pass on Timo Glock at the Brazilian Grand Prix for fifth place meant he pipped home-hero Felipe Massa to the Championship by a single point to become the sport’s then-youngest World Champion at the age of 23. The MP4-23 won six Grands Prix overall, five with Hamilton and one courtesy of his team-mate, Keikki Kovalainen, to finish second to Ferrari in that year’s Constructors’ battle, and you can find it at the 2025 Festival of Speed on static display alongside the MCL38.

Haas VF-16

The four cars that the Haas F1 team is bringing to the Festival of Speed for the team’s first visit to Goodwood will give those in attendance a rare chance to see contemporary machinery in action on the Hill. We don’t often get the chance to see the latest F1 cars running outside of a Grand Prix weekend, such are the strict regulations surrounding testing mileage set by the FIA, but Haas will be bucking that trend in 2025.

First on the list is the Haas VF-16, the team’s first F1 car, and the one that saw Haas burst onto the scene with Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez, as Grosjean stormed to an incredible sixth place finish at the team’s first race, following that up with a fifth place in race two. Overall the car scored 28 points in 2016, which was enough for an eighth-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship.

 

Haas VF-23

Next we have the Haas VF-23, which is far from the most successful car on this list, but it was driven to the extent of its capabilities throughout the 2023 F1 season by veterans Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. The pair claimed four top ten finishes between them, scoring 12 points, which was only good enough for tenth in the Championship.

Haas VF-24

The Haas VF-24 was a more successful entrant for the team. Hulkenberg, Magnussen and team debutant Ollie Bearman brought home 58 points in 2024, as the Hulk took five top ten finishes in the final seven races of the season. He also scored the VF-24’s best result with a pair of sixth places at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone.

When it heads away from the start line for the first time at this year’s Festival of Speed, it will become the most modern F1 car to grace the famous Goodwood Hill, a chance for us to experience what these cars are capable of first hand.

Haas VF-25

Although not running on the Hill, the Haas VF-25 is the team’s current F1 contender, and a real racing version of that car will be on static display at the 2025 Festival of Speed between the British and Belgian Grands Prix.

It has so far proven competitive, with drivers Bearman and Esteban Ocon scoring 20 points to sit sixth in the Constructors’ Championship after seven races. Ocon claimed the team’s best result to date with a fifth-place finish at the Chinese Grand Prix. This will be one of very few opportunities for you to see a current 2025 F1 car in the metal if you aren’t planning to attend a race this year.

Lotus 79

Mario Andretti drove to the 1978 World Championship at the wheel of one of the most innovative cars in F1 history. Ground effect was a new concept in motorsport, and Lotus was the first team to successfully implement it with the 79.

The car was introduced mid-way through the ’78 season and won six of the 11 races it entered, as Andretti stormed to a dominant Championship triumph ahead of his team-mate Ronnie Peterson. Such a distinct shape will be difficult to miss on the Hill, especially when it’s accompanied by the unmistakable roar of its Cosworth DFV.

Williams FW11

The Williams FW11 was a hugely successful car, it won the Constructors’ Championship in 1986 with nine victories shared between Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet courtesy of its superior Honda V6 turbo engine. It also played a substantial role in one of F1’s most heart-breaking moments, as Mansell lost out certain victory in the Drivers’ Championship courtesy of a dramatic tyre failure at the final round of the season in Adelaide.

The FW11 was the rocket that sent Mansell’s career into the stratosphere and introduced him to the big leagues as a title contender for the first time. We can’t wait to see him back behind the wheel of this car at the Festival of Speed.

Williams FW14B

If Mansell was successful in the FW11, we’ll need to think of a different word to describe his performance in the FW14B. Still regarded as one of the most technically advanced F1 cars of all time, the Williams FW14B was a hive of innovation. Among its game-changing features were active suspension, traction control, semi-automatic transmission and anti-lock brakes, while the aerodynamics were penned by Adrian Newey.

It’s hardly surprising that this car absolutely obliterated the opposition in 1992. Overall, the FW14B won ten races, with Mansell taking a then-record nine wins in a single season after claiming five in a row at the start of the year. Second place in Hungary was enough to see the Brit finally crowned Champion, at the wheel of a car that he will once again demonstrate on the Hill at the 2025 Festival of Speed.

The 2025 Festival of Speed takes place on 10^th-13^th July. Friday and Saturday tickets are now sold out, but Thursday and limited Sunday tickets are still available.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.