With defending champions at Red Bull unveiling their RB20 just last Thursday, we’ve collected the last piece of the puzzle of teams’ presentations. Some of them had nearly identical looks to last year, some others were radically different – so let’s go through the liveries that are about to hit the track for the 2024 season.
McLaren
The team based in Woking was the first to show its new colors, launching the 2024 livery on January 16th. Compared to its predecessor, the MCL60, McLaren’s new challenger has even more of the iconic papaya color, with anthracite on the middle portion of the car creating quite a captivating contrast. The light blue
that was part of the McLaren colors in 2022 and 2023 has been removed. An interesting novelty comes from the racing numbers, which are now chromed both at the front and back of the car.
Haas
The livery of the VF-24 gives Formula 1’s American team its darkest appearance since 2019, with more black added on the front wing, the nose and the sidepods. The Halo stays fully white as it was in 2023 and the rear wing remains unchanged too, maintaining its red tint from last year.
Williams and Kick Sauber
Despite launching their liveries on the same day, Williams and Kick Sauber’s trajectories couldn’t have been more different from one another. The team led by James Vowles continues on the path of the navy blue that they’ve been exploring since 2022, albeit with slightly darker shades. As for the Swiss team – that’s a completely different story. Having signed a new title sponsorship with online casino Stake, the white and dark red of former partner Alfa Romeo have been replaced by a stunning combination of black and fluorescent green, one that will be impossible to miss on track.
Alpine
Yet another contribution to the ever-growing list of black-dominant liveries. The highlight in the A524’s stripped-down look is a striped motif that runs from the roll hoop to the engine cover and includes various shades of blue, plus white and pink. As part of Alpine’s deal with title sponsor BWT, the blue parts of the livery, like the aforementioned stripes or the edges of the nose, will be replaced by pink at 8 out of 24 Grand Prix weekends this year.
Racing Bulls
New year, new name, somewhat familiar colors for Red Bull’s sister team. With its blue body and red stripes, the livery of the VCARB 01 bears a striking resemblance to the Toro Rosso looks from 2017 to 2019 – a throwback that has been welcomed very positively by fans. The new design retains some of the white from the previous AlphaTauri color scheme, but otherwise it represents a significant departure from its predecessor, in line with the start of a new era for the Faenza team.
Aston Martin
The AMR24 might be “very different in many ways”, as team principal Mike Knack said during its presentation, but the livery is not one of them. The shade of green being used is deeper than the teal color of the AMR23, and now there’s more unpainted surface on the bottom part of the car; but the differences end there, and it’s testament to the fact that having an established look and sticking to it is often a much better strategy than having your car changing its appearance constantly.
Ferrari
Where other teams add black to their liveries, Ferrari comes in and removes it. Everything is more red on the SF-24: the Halo, the wings, even the wheels. Two longitudinal stripes mark the biggest change from 2023’s looks: the white one recalls the special livery used by the Scuderia for their first Las Vegas Grand Prix last November. The yellow one is an homage to both the city of Modena and the 499P Hypercar prototype, which claimed a famous win on Ferrari’s return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023.
Mercedes
Silver is back. In celebration of the 90th anniversary of the legendary Silver Arrows, the iconic Mercedes color makes its return, covering the nose section of Brackley’s latest challenger, the W15. Black stays as the livery’s primary color, having been used almost uninterruptedly since 2020, with minimal touches of the Petronas turquoise enriching the design. Lastly, the Ineos red – peculiarly named “Toto Rosso” – has a bigger presence on the car compared to the W14, appearing on the roll hoop, the wings, and in other small areas.
Red Bull
And finally, the reigning champions. Spot-the-difference enthusiasts will be excited to tackle their hardest challenge yet, as the look of Red Bull’s previous two single-seaters is carried over to their new RB20. Very much a case of not fixing things that aren’t broken for the Milton Keynes squad, further consolidating their reputation as “the Repsol Honda of Formula 1”.
The first chance to see all the new liveries on track comes in one week time, as Formula 1 heads at the Bahrain International Circuit for three days of pre-season testing from the 21st to the 23rd of February.
