Why it's time for F1 to hold its own "throwback" livery race
OPINION: They don't make them like they used to. With MotoGP encouraging a quasi retro-round with historic liveries to mark the 75th anniversary of the championship and various other series implementing the idea from time to time, it seems like the moment is finally here for Formula 1 to get in on the act and embrace its colourful, and often very attractive, history
Everyone loves a hit of nostalgia. There's an easy comfort to being reunited with an old memory, or the unearthing of a mental time capsule of fondly remembered halcyon days, particularly among motorsport fans. It's why the Goodwood Revival draws such huge attendances, flat-capped and fascinator-topped, to take in the audio-visual entertainment of vintage Porsche 911s and Ford Cortinas assaulting all five senses.
In the US, the feast of nostalgia is heartily tapped into through NASCAR's throwback weekend; the cars might not be anything like the Chrysler 300 or the Plymouth Superbird today, but the rose-tinted memories are encapsulated through livery design to evoke the championship's storied history.
The brainchild of then-Darlington Raceway president Chip Wile, now working for NASCAR itself, the first throwback event was held at the South Carolina venue in 2015. Wile had pitched the idea of enrobing Darlington Raceway in a retro aesthetic and selling period-appropriate snacks at the concession stands, and the teams fully bought into the idea by wrapping their oval-bothering machinery in suitable garments.
There were NASCAR Cup liveries in tribute to the championship's former stars: Richard Petty's 1972 STP-liveried car was reborn for his team's entry, Brad Keselowski's Penske-run Ford evoked Bobby Allison's early-1980s Miller-sponsored Buick, and Roush Fenway dipped into its back catalogue to recreate Mark Martin's 1998 Valvoline scheme. The throwbacks have since continued every year at Darlington, with not only NASCAR's most iconic schemes throughout the eras recreated, but tributes to other motorsport categories too: everything from Mario Andretti's Le Mans Porsche 962C, to various sprint car and midget car schemes run by drivers in their formative years. It's open season, really, and that's what makes it so varied every year.
Given the depth and breadth of Formula 1's history, perhaps it's time for it to do the same. There appears to be a growing interest among the teams to introduce special liveries for different races, albeit bound by the restrictions on livery swaps that keeps the cars wearing largely the same hues from race to race. NASCAR, which often has teams selling sponsorship space on a race-by-race basis, entertains livery-swapping on a regular basis.
In recent seasons, McLaren has been the most eager team to engage in surprising its fanbase with one-off liveries - particularly at Monaco. Its Gulf-themed 2021 car was not a particular throwback to its own F1 history, but rather its past exploits in sportscar racing; the oil company first partnered with the team in Can-Am racing in 1968, and three decades later the revered duck-egg blue and orange found its way onto its McLaren F1 GTR in 1997. That livery had barely existed in F1 circles, save for the Scuderia Rondini privateer entry in 1976, so it was pleasing to many students of classic motorsport that it finally made its appearance - and at Monaco, no less.
McLaren's Gulf livery introduced for Monaco 2021 was well-received
The Woking squad also put together a three-in-one livery for the 2023 edition of the Monaco Grand Prix, each element hailing an individual element of motorsport's "Triple Crown". The front, decked in black, paid homage to the F1 GTR's 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours triumph, the middle in deference to its Marlboro scheme (the team noting Alain Prost's 1984 Monaco GP win in particular), and the rear kept orange to denote Johnny Rutherford's 1974 Indianapolis 500 win in McLaren's M16 chassis.
Ferrari has also indulged in the sphere of classic colour pairings, adding yellow to its SF-23 challenger at last year's Monza round. Although this was in deference to its Le Mans victory earlier that year, the red-and-yellow scheme brushed onto the 499P itself harkened back to the Prancing Horse's former endurance exploits in the 1960s and 1970s, which culminated in the 312P's near-miss win at Le Mans' 1973 event.
Perhaps the blue in Ferrari's Miami paint scheme could be generously linked to its North American Racing Team entries in the 1960s but, fittingly for its new HP sponsorship, it looked as though the yellow ink had run out and the printer defaulted to cyan instead. And, given this writer's experience of the brand's Instant Ink subscription, running out of one colour apparently does not warrant the delivery of a new cartridge...
Ferrari is the only team on the grid that can trace its F1 roots to the first race, but that's not to say that the other outfits don't have a litany of options either
With 75 years of history to draw upon, there's plenty of archive material for the teams to work with. Ferrari is the only team on the grid that can trace its F1 roots to the first race, but that's not to say that the other outfits don't have a litany of options either: be it through their links to other categories, or through their history under different guises and ownership, there's plenty of history to be pleasingly unearthed.
The marketing possibilities effectively write themselves: McLaren's Triple Crown livery reveal last year commanded almost one million views on one X (formerly Twitter) post alone, and Ferrari's short Miami reveal video collected 1.8 million. If F1 can coordinate its reveal days with the teams to ensure everyone receives their moment to bask in the sunlight of engagement-based traffic (rather than the February launch-season free-for-all that can lead to teams piling up their events on one day) and double-dip in the process, it benefits everyone.
Like McLaren's Gulf deal, marketing partners from seasons past could be enticed back into the F1 arena - or, should a team wish to reimagine a classic design from another series, this could bring new sponsors into the fold too. Come for the special liveries, stay for the hospitality grub and chance to rub shoulders with fellow money-havers.
Mercedes made an effort to celebrate its 125th anniversary of competing in motorsport at the 2019 German GP
There are further upsides, especially if the current parsimonious attitude towards paint continues. If F1 could strong-arm the teams into putting some effort in, the grid might actually look somewhat impressive instead of the box of carbon-fibre off-cuts it currently resembles. Teams have the opportunity to make special edition merchandise, and the trackside personnel could even take their work clothes to the level that Mercedes did at the 2019 German Grand Prix, when the marque celebrated its 125th anniversary of competing in motorsport.
Not only did it incorporate the urban legend of how Mercedes adopted silver with its livery, the white flashes apparently peeling away as per the story of its paint-scraping attempt to save weight in the 1930s, but the key personnel also dressed up for the occasion. Team principal and CEO Toto Wolff sported a trilby and braces to evoke a nondescript era of starch-confined retro fashion, but the Revival-esque fashion ended up looking rather ludicrous as the team endured a miserable race.
In reality, the only real downside comes if a team makes an absolute hash of their livery and phones it in. In the NASCAR throwbacks, most - but not all - indulge in the festivities. And of those who do, there are often a few disappointing attempts that have been clearly hamstrung by a sponsor's demands. That'll be a stumbling block for the artists to navigate rather than complete creative control but, if the endeavour guarantees that a sponsor might get a bit more attention from the added marketing efforts, they might have cause to ignore the lengthy brand guidelines dossier for one race only.
Good, we're all agreed that it's an excellent idea. But where to host it?
Monaco appears like the obvious choice thanks to the principality's canonised status on the F1 calendar, owing to its near-100-year history in hosting races. McLaren appears to agree, thanks to its 2021 and 2023 livery efforts, but there's a sense that Monaco might just be a little too on-the-nose.
Like MotoGP's plan to encourage heritage efforts later this year, the British Grand Prix would work nicely: after all, Silverstone hosted the first Formula 1 world championship grand prix, and the idea of merging the race's festival-like atmosphere with a retro theme lends a certain lustre. Spa-Francorchamps and Monza would be the other options with neat historical ties.
Thinking cynically, however, it's likely that F1 might prefer to bolster attention on one of its newer markets. If that's the case, then the 'retro round' might be more suited to something with a bit more bluster - Las Vegas makes the most sense from that standpoint. The Sin City race, despite its detractors, is clearly an event with massive value to F1 - and to the city itself, which reported an economic benefit of $1.5 billion thanks to the grand prix's impact.
MotoGP is encouraging teams to run former liveries later this season, and there could be some incredible throwbacks
The perception of Vegas, one of neon-tinged gaudiness and roulette-table iconography, might juxtapose slightly against the staidness of the motorsport heritage scene. Yet the imagery of 1950s Americana links the two, and this could offer a motif for this theoretical clash of cultures to unite behind.
Lastly, which liveries should the teams select?
Everyone will have their own opinion on this, since beauty remains firmly in the eye of the beholder, and there will inevitably be dissatisfaction from some small corners of a team's fandom depending on what they'd pick. Since this writer has done an entire column on this, here are the 10 that we'd like to put forward.
When Red Bull bought up Jaguar, it began testing at the end of 2004 in a livery that closely resembled one of its drinks cans. It'd certainly offset the matte blue that has become customary in recent years
Photo by: Lyndon McNeil
If we're doing the Ferrari in the USA thing, let's do this properly with the NART livery. Ferrari raced this in 1964 after an argument with Italian motorsport body ACI, ditching the Italian rosso corsa in protest
Silver and black schemes permeate Mercedes' history. The first choice was its black/silver DTM livery from the early 1990s but, since it clashes with another pick, let's be unimaginative and go for a W196-adjacent livery
Photo by: LAT Photographic
The return to its early papaya colours has underlined McLaren's willingness to keep in touch with history, but the Yardley colours are oft-forgotten. Why not honour the likes of Peter Revson and Denny Hulme?
Having been through more changes of identity than The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, Aston Martin could honour its Team Silverstone roots with a rendition of Jordan's much-loved 7Up livery. It's green, after all...
It'd be quite an easy one for RB to honour its roots, and celebrate 40 years since its predecessor Minardi entered F1. Pierluigi Martini isn't given his flowers nearly enough these days
Haas doesn't have much from its F1 history to choose from, so why not recreate the Haas CNC Racing's first NASCAR livery from 2002? Here's Kurt Busch's 2015 throwback representation of the white, red, and silver theme
Alpine seems less beholden to its past than most, but a recreation of its Mild Seven Renault liveries would brighten the place up significantly. Let's take the 2005-06 version, as the cars were considerably nicer with the dark blue accents
Williams has a long and storied history to pick a contender from. As much as I'd like to suggest 1999's Winfield livery, I might get torn to shreds - so let's play it safe with the FW14B
Sauber's 1994 Tissot livery - complete with giant watch sticker - seems like a fun fit for this. The only issue is that F1's only Swiss team doesn't appear to have a watch partner as it stands...
Jake studied engineering at university, as his original ambition was to design racing cars. He was bad at that, and thus decided to write about them instead with an equally limited skillset. The above article is a demonstration of that. In his spare time, Jake enjoys people, places, and things.
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