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Brown says F1 should consider one-off liveries

Published on 27 Sep 2018 10:05
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By: Fergal Walsh

McLaren CEO Zak Brown thinks that Formula 1 should look at the possibility of allowing one-off liveries in the future. Under the current regulations, teams must run the same livery across both of its cars for the entire season.

In 1999, BAR attempted to run different tobacco sponsors on its two cars, but was blocked from doing so. In 2008, Red Bull ran a white livery at the Brazilian Grand Prix for David Coulthard's final race in the sport. And Brown thinks that a rethink of the rules would be positive for F1.

"I think what you could see and what I would be supportive of, and it's not currently allowed, is – and IndyCar does this, as does NASCAR – is changing paint schemes throughout the year," he said at the Motorsports Leaders Business Forum.

"I still think I'd like to see it as two cars, but if you were going to Monaco and you have a big programme going with one your partners, and for that weekend you wanted to turn it in to a Dell Technologies car or whatever the case may be, but both would be the same [you could do that].

"So the fans still knew that's McLaren, that's Ferrari, whoever the team may be. I think that might be a new innovation with partnerships in Formula 1 that's not quite to the extreme of seeing different cars in totally different liveries, because I think those fans are more focused on the driver."

However, Brown does believe that restrictions would need to be put in place to prevent all twenty cars running different liveries, stating that a fan should be able to recognise the team, rather than the driver.

"I think [it doesn't happen in] Formula 1 because each team is so recognisable by its livery," he said. "I think if you had 20 different liveries out there it might start to get confusing as to who is who, whereas in NASCAR the fans tend to be more driver-centric, so they'll recognise Jimmie Johnson in the Lowes car, whereas they recognise Fernando Alonso in a McLaren. So I think the sport is different."

f1ski

Posts: 726

20+ race season allow different livery. make the number more prominent.Let Teams have permanent numbers and have the campion have a uniquely panted engine cover or wing. The number can then be associated with the team and the livery less important.

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Sep 27 2018 - 14:30

F1 News Fernando Alonso Ferrari McLaren BAR

Replies (8)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Nice idea, but I think it wouldnt work well in practice, unlike they are very similar ho their usual liveries. Otherwise it'd be hard for crowds to differentiate between the teams.
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- Sep 27 2018 - 11:54
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  I think it would be great, it's a great marketing opportunity that could bring additional funding to teams. I agree that it should still allow the car to be recognizable, but again, in the interest of marketing, I don't see why a team would want a car that is not recognizable.
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  Sep 27 2018 - 22:19
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  The problem as I see it is that if they arent restricted, they could go haywire with the special liveries to the point that the car gets unrecognizable. Such a thing could actually happen if its in a sponsor's interest (imagine if Red Bull were to turn orange and blue at the belgian GP for an example, the colours associated with Max but also McLaren's current colours). So they would need to regulate it pretty heavily for this to work, or just allow parts of the cars to be recoloured or whatever, while the base livery is retained. I agree with other sentiments here that we need bigger more clearly marked numbers to further identify the drivers, and I like the idea of the champion (maybe even the top 3?) having a special detail on their car.
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  Sep 27 2018 - 22:42
xoya

Posts: 583
I am all for one-off liveries once a year. For a retiring driver. Nothing else.
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- Sep 27 2018 - 13:38
f1ski

Posts: 726
20+ race season allow different livery. make the number more prominent.Let Teams have permanent numbers and have the campion have a uniquely panted engine cover or wing. The number can then be associated with the team and the livery less important.
- + 1
- Sep 27 2018 - 14:30
kngrthr

Posts: 203
i wouldn't mind something like the yellow jersey in the tour de france.

could have a yellow engine cover or part for championship leader.

maybe red for the reigning champ.

something for pole etc

and of course those could be sponsored
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- Sep 27 2018 - 15:06
f1dave

Posts: 782
Because new fans aren't confused enough by the current rules.
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- Sep 27 2018 - 16:01
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Exactly, though as long as the differences are minimal it could work. Though I doubt thats what they want.
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  Sep 27 2018 - 18:24