Two olds and a young rank the 2024 F1 liveries
With the unveiling of Red Bull’s RB20, their challenger for the 2024 Formula 1 season, all ten teams have now shown the world their look for the upcoming campaign.
Now in true sports media fashion, it is time to rank them.
However, we wanted to do something more than “here is one person’s opinion on the liveries.” So we dusted off one of our favorite formats here at SB Nation.
“Two olds and a young.”
Representing the younger set? JP Acosta, who we have famously needed to explain things like “Bon Jovi” to in the past. JP is a newer F1 fan and is now looking for a team to support this season and beyond, so pitch him on your favorite team in the comments or on social media.
Our two olds? James Dator — who is hoping that Charles Leclerc can return Ferrari to glory — and Mark Schofield, who just hopes everyone has fun and will truly miss Guenther Steiner.
Here are the rankings, as voted on by the trio.
10. Red Bull
Red Bull has certainly leaned into the idea of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
I mean, look at the above photo, of this year’s RB20, and now look at this photo comparing the RB18 to the RB19 thanks to The Race:
Even Max Verstappen himself knew the car was going to look the same, as he teased during a recent livestream.
However, if the RB20 is as fast as its predecessors, Verstappen and the rest of Red Bull will not care if the livery is the same. — Mark
9. Haas
If you thought the dismissal of Guenther Steiner would lead to a new livery design for Haas, you thought wrong. Their 2024 scheme is very similar to what we have seen in recent years from F1’s sole American-based team, heavy on black carbon fiber.
If anything, the VF-24 is a step back from the VF-23, which featured more white in the livery. This year’s design truly leans into the F1 trend of bare carbon fiber.
Perhaps that will mean better performance on the track? — Mark
8. Alpine
In many ways, Alpine perhaps fell victim to their own social media success.
In the days leading up to the launch of the A524, the team teased a pink livery scheme on their social media channels. That built up a ton of excitement in the days ahead of the launch, as fans dreamed of an entirely pink challenger, perhaps a pink camouflage paint scheme.
When Alpine introduced the A524 to the world, many were left wondering: “Where is all the pink?”
If you set those expectations aside, however, this is a solid scheme. The pink and white touches visible from above, especially on the airbox and air intake, are really striking. Yet it was a bit of a letdown when you were expecting a lot more pink.
However, their social media team — which does tremendous work — made the most of it:
Bravo. — Mark
7. Williams
This is … a solid design from Williams. The FW46 pays tribute to their history, including a red and white pinstripe around the nose and sidepods which harkens back to the Williams teams of the 1980s and the 1990s, including the FW19 which Jacques Villeneuve powered to a title in 1997.
It also contains one of the more distinctive features on the entire grid, the Duracell airbox and air intake painted to look like a battery. This is a brilliant bit of marketing, albeit one that we have seen for a few seasons now.
In all, a good effort from Williams, but some teams impressed us — both the young and the olds — a bit more. — Mark
6. Aston Martin
In an era dominated by black, bare carbon fiber Aston Martin deserve credit for going in a different direction. Since Aston Martin returned to the grid for the 2021 F1 season, their distinctive “British Racing Green” was featured on the AMR21, and on every challenger since.
Still, there is a layer of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” similar to what we discussed earlier with Red Bull. So while Aston Martin gets points for being different than the rest, some other teams did impress us more. — Mark
5. Visa Cash App RB F1 Team
From where I sit, this is the most stunning result.
In the interest of full disclosure, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team (the VCARB acronym is truly growing on me) produced the second-best livery this season, behind only Ferrari. Color is a huge feature here, and the silver “VISA” alongside the sidepods as well as the overall livery harkens back to the team’s roots, when they first competed in F1 as Toro Rosso.
I, for one, love this design. — Mark
4. McLaren
The people love papaya orange.
For many, one of the greatest looks in F1 history is the chrome scheme used by McLaren from 2006 until 2014. That distinctive look is one of the many reasons the team’s partnership with Google Chrome makes complete sense.
But there is a love for their distinctive papaya orange, which is again the predominant feature of the MCL38. Portions of bare carbon fiber are offset with chrome lettering, such as the Google Chrome logo on the airbox as well as the OKX along the sidepods, with the chrome numbers also helping to pay tribute to that iconic livery from seasons ago.
Add in the Google Chrome logo on the wheels, and you have another great effort from McLaren. — Mark
3. Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber
Full credit to Sauber for being perhaps the only team this season to go in a completely new and bold direction with their 2024 challenger. That is likely due to their self-described vision of being the “freshest” team on the grid.
As a result the C44, the team’s challenger for the 2024 campaign, is a massive departure from last year’s C43, which competed under the AlfaRomeo banner. Last year’s car was filled with red, white, and bare carbon fiber. This year’s challenger goes in a bright new direction, featuring a lot of bright neon green.
In an era dominated by black, bare carbon fiber, Sauber deserves a ton of credit for trying something new. — Mark
2. Ferrari
It goes without saying that red defines Ferrari, but if you had to pick another it would be yellow. The 2023 iteration of the livery leaned way too heavily into black as its accent and it ended up just not feeling … special.
Those issues go away in 2024. Not only has Ferrari toned back the amount of black in its livery to add more yellow, but it just all feels more iconic, more reverent to history, more — well, Ferrari.
The yellow and white pinstripe is beautiful. Moving to a more romantic number font, and away from something modern and computer-esque was the right call. They also embraced what many teams did this year, which was move away from the boring, all-too common design aesthetic of too much exposed carbon fiber. We’re left with a livery that feels classic and modern at the same time — and it’s perfect. — James
1. Mercedes
There’s just something about a sleek, jet black F1 car that looks so badass. Mercedes knocks this one out of the park once again with an F1 car that looks like it’s straight out of a movie. The green stripe down the middle is big, but not big enough to be bulky and overbearing, and the car doesn’t look too busy with jumbled up advertisements and things of that nature.
The flecks of silver in between the jet black and green are perfect additions, and it really does make the car look like a superhero car. In 2024, Mercedes hit a home run with their livery. — JP
