Ferrari announces Miami F1 livery change to mark US anniversary

The Scuderia is set to unveil a one-off look for the Miami Grand Prix which will make reference to the heritage of the manufacturer in a contemporary manner, with two shades of blue being brought back from the pages of history - Azzurro La Plata and Azzurro Dino.

The change will be made to honour Ferrari’s historical place in the US motorsport environment, marking the manufacturer’s 70th anniversary in the American marketplace.

In 1964, this breakthrough was marked with a special US white and blue livery, which featured in the final two races of that season. The cars ran in the North American Racing Team colours as part of a protest, by order of Enzo Ferrari.

The former colour, Azzurro La Plata, is a light shade of blue and is the national racing colour of Argentina. It is also a similar shade to that worn by two-time champion Alberto Ascari, with the Italian often wearing a jersey in the colour as well as a matching helmet.

Further Ferrari connections to this colour comes through the racing overalls of the 1960s, with the likes of John Surtees and Chris Amon racing in blue, as did Niki Lauda in his maiden season with the team.

Azzurro Dino is a darker shade, which was worn last in 1974, most recently by Clay Regazzoni before the iconic red colouring became the norm for race suits.

Photo by: Ferrari

It has so far been confirmed that the special livery will be revealed directly in Florida. Although a date has not been confirmed for this launch, there is an extensive array of events celebrating the Prancing Horse starting on 28 April which will come to a climax at the Miami Grand Prix, with a pair of blue 296 GTSs set to lead a parade of Ferrari machinery around the track.

Last year, Ferrari ran a special livery for the Italian Grand Prix, featuring yellow, with the design paying tribute to the Le Mans 24 Hours winning 499P. The team also ran a burgundy look to celebrate its 1000th race at the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello.

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