Ferrari pays homage to its F1 US history with special Las Vegas livery

The Italian outfit has revealed a brand-new look for its SF-23, which features a white rear wing, splashes on its engine cover, and a white circular number board – which are reminiscent of previous cars that have strong links to the United States.

The switch to an entirely red-and-white livery has had to get approval from all of Ferrari’s sponsor partners, and will be matched by new overalls for drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

The decision to adopt an all red-and-white livery is a hark back to Ferrari’s past and some of the most iconic moments it has enjoyed during the previous boom years F1 had in the United States in the 1970's.

The colours are near identical to the Ferrari 312B that Mario Andretti used in 1971, and took to his maiden F1 victory at that year’s South African Grand Prix.

Ferrari also retained a lot of white throughout the 1970s, including its championship winning campaigns with Niki Lauda in 1975 and 1977.

The white extended just beyond the wings though, with the engine covers frequently painted white and incorporating the red and green of the Italian national flag.

The team eased back on using white after 1978, however, although it did return briefly in 1993.

Photo by: Ferrari

Ferrari SF-23, Las Vegas GP livery

However, a difficult campaign for Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger in the tricky F93A, which proved both uncompetitive and unreliable, meant Ferrari reverted to all-red for 1994.

In 2016, however, Ferrari tried again to incorporate white in its livery as it revealed its SF-16H with the colours.

However, a difficult campaign, with the car failing to secure a race victory as Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel took the team to third place in the constructors’ championship saw the white ditched once again.

F1 has invested heavily in the return of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and teams are hoping that the event will fuel huge interest in both the United States and around the world to further improve the championship’s popularity.

The race will take place at night and the new track runs down the famous Las Vegas strip.