If you bothered to click on this then thank you, I know I am nearly 2 weeks too late, shame on me, but they say better late than never and that’s how I felt after Alpine finally revealed their car after that horrible DJ set. I nearly didn’t post this because I thought any later, and we’ll be on lap 41 of the Australian Grand Prix. Here we are though, and I can assure you that it is definitely worth the read. I watched the F175 event still bitter from not being able to get tickets to go because they would rather have a large part of their audience not know what F1 is actually about, rather than have people who are fans of the sport. Yep, I still don’t think I’m over it, am I? Haha. Anyways one good thing about being so late to the livery party, meant I got to see the cars out in testing, which I’ll admit hasn’t had too much impact on where I’ve placed everyone, so probably a completely pointless statement. Anyways I’m forever apologizing for waffling, but here are my favourite liveries for the 2025 season starting off with the worst..
10. McLaren
First of all, what I will say is I did like the McLaren heritage display presented on stage, I felt that was a nice touch. The Woking-based team is one of the very few with an unchanged driver pairing, and an unchanged driver pairing comes with an unchanged car. CTRL C + CTRL V. Apart from Mastercard being plastered everywhere, there are really no changes. I think they have really missed a trick, though. One of McLaren’s partners is Google Chrome, and to work that within the car more, they could have easily added in some chrome. It didn’t have to be a lot, but if they took away some of the papaya and added a little bit of chrome, I think the car would have been more of a hit. They could have even given us the camo design they ran with in Silverstone, and it would have been better than this travesty. I know it’s to pay homage, but I hate the bits of blue on the side mirrors too. They stand out in a very bad way. They really left the worst car to be revealed till last.
9. Aston Martin
You can throw a James Bond themed entrance, a live orchestra and a performance from Grammy winner Tems daddy Stroll, it still won’t distract us from the fact that your son doesn’t belong in a F1 car. Alonso said that we had seen the best car of the night now bless him. He deserves so much better, especially when the car reveal was as underwhelming as the response to it by Lance. To be honest, I liked the orchestra as it made everything quite classy and elegant, but I wish they didn’t have Tems and the cheesy taking off the helmets by Alonso and Stroll. Anyways, we are here to talk about the car and as I said it’s quite boring. We have the traditional racing green with more exposed carbon on the sidepod area. I think I would have liked to see them go a little further with the hint of yellow. The look is probably the least of their problems though, as with a few management changes, it will be interesting to see if they can give a good performance on track rather than just the O2 arena stage.
8. Red Bull
Well, that reception was as frosty as my nan’s side-eye when I took another yorkshire pudding. I actually felt quite sorry for Christian. I do feel that it doesn’t matter what that team does. We will always have 2021 haters. There is a well-known quote that reads, “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” It kills me to place them in seventh place, and I’m being generous for even placing them that high. Obviously, I love Red Bull. They are my team, but that performance was an introverts worst nightmare, I don’t think they could have made Max look any more uncomfortable if they tried. Not to mention, we barely got to see the car because of some chav posse surrounding it. Despite a different sponsor on the rear wing, and I think maybe a darker or deeper shade of blue, there really isn’t much change. As much as I do like the look of Red Bull, a change would have been nice compared to the same livery year after year.
7. Ferrari
Ferrari didn’t mess about with their reveal, a bit of smoke, and an entrance from Lewis announcing, “tonight Matthew, I’m going to be a Ferrari driver.” To start off with, I thought we were in for another boring reveal, but upon closer inspection, there are actually differences from last years livery. So lets talk about that rather nasty looking HP logo, I mean it really does not blend in well with the rest of the car, and I’m guessing that’s why they’ve decided to add in the white, which reminds me of the old-school Ferrari. They have also taken of the Ferrari on the rear wing and again replaced it with more white and more HP. The car is now sporting a deeper colour red, which I must admit is quite nice. They have also taken off the white and yellow stripe along the sidepods and because of that the Shell logo is no longer as stretched, so yes, a lot more noticeable changes compared to some of the other teams and also some rather nice looking race suits.
6. Mercedes
Well, I think it’s fair to say that the car is definitely looking more plain due to fewer sponsors, I imagine something that happened due to Lewis’ departure from the German team. I was a little disappointed not to see Lewis featured in the pre car reveal footage as much. I’m not his biggest fan, but he did a lot for the team, and some acknowledgement of that would have been the least they could do. Moving on to the car itself, I am glad to see the removal of the INEOS red as it didn’t fit well with the car however I know there is a lot of questions surrounding a potential exit. I was pleased to see they decided to keep the silver mini arrows, a feature I loved previously. The overall look is more defined and polished, and I love the silver metallic look, but let’s talk about the real star moment of the show. What was going on with that front right tyre change?! *laughs* For that cringefest and the fact that he’s so dreamy George Russell (please can I have no more dreams of him?!) was giving main character energy, and I had to place them in eighth place. After Mercedes revealing the full car, I had to move them up a few places. It’s really nice.
5. Williams
Who needs drummer boys when you have swag and a strut like James. He owned that stage and was probably my favourite presentation out of them all! Not to mention how good Sainz looks in the Williams racing suit. Everything seemed to just work, not to mention I just love James as a team principal, despite his selfie taking struggles. As for the car, it’s great to see that they are gaining more sponsors. I think this is the most polished the car has looked in a long time. One thing I really like is the dark blue to medium blue gradient through the car that celebrates the partnership of two titans of their industries. I am also pleased to see that they have kept the Duracell on the roll hoop air box. The sponsors aren’t the only thing the team has gained with the workforce said to have increased from 700 to 1,000. There’s a lot of positives going into the 2025 season, and I honestly can’t wait to see Sainz wipe the floor of Albon and show what that car can really do.
4. Sauber
Well, Sauber did start off their reveal with drummer boys, probably the most upbeat thing we’ve heard from them after that disappointing performance in 2024 season. I wasn’t actually that bothered about seeing their reveal, seeing as it’s the last time they’ll be Sauber before their identity is taken away from them, but I was pleasantly surprised by the car. I rather like the more toned down version of the neon green and the fade gradient that transitions into a naked carbon at the rear. Whether that was intentional or they ran out of paint, I don’t know, but I am here for it, although not so popular with others I’ve seen. According to Binotto it is said that the squad have made significant advancements in aerodynamics, efficiency, and overall balance, so it will be interesting to see if they can score a point this season, especially with a complete new set of drivers. With Hulkenberg as one of those drivers, I think they can and it will be interesting to see if the car really was as bad as it was last season or if part of that was down to the drivers.
3. Haas
I think it’s fair to say that Haas have come a long way since their debut in 2016, and it does really show. My favourite part of the design is the revised colour scheme. We still have the black, white, and red, but I really love that they have made the predominant colour white, and it really has brightened and freshened the car up so much. Sticking with the white, I also think the bold Haas logo looks smart against the sidepods and just gives this perfect blend of tones. We can also see some slight changes to the car, for example, the changes to the sidepods, the ‘cannons’ of the engine cover, along with an adjustment at the wing end plate. They have claimed to mainly focus on the rear end of the car but have said that their aim has been to produce a car that can adapt to different circuits. Haas are another team to have a brand new set of drivers, and I actually think this could work well. Bearman proved more than enough that he deserves a seat this season, and it will be interesting to see how far he can go in the drivers championship.
2. Alpine
Can we get a 10-second stop and go penalty for that DJ because I thought at one point we was never going to get to see the car. I don’t know who’s idea the DJ was, but it went down like a cat with two left paws. Now that’s out of the way, I LOVE this car. Whoever decided on the colours of this beauty should have been in charge of deciding the DJ, too! The colours are so nice and remind me of bubblegum, haha. I love the metallic blue accompanied by pink and incorporates some new sponsors, including Italian oil giant Eni and Uruguay-based commerce company Mercado Libre. The team have said to be keeping their attention close on the regulation changes for 2026 and developing that package but if the car performs as good as it looks, then I think it promises for a successful season for Alpine. Both Gasly and new driver Doohan will be keen to grab as many points as they can this season, and honestly, it would be nice to see more podiums for Gasly. I do have a soft spot for him.
1. VCARB
I still absolutely hate the name of this team. It still sounds like something I should be including in my diet, but at least we have got somewhere with the car now. I LOVE this look! So so much better than that blue livery. The white now makes them look competitive and down for business. I like the hints of the Redbull, especially on the nose of the car. It pops more and a lot better than the silver version of the logo that was featured on their 2024 car. Slightly copying Mercedes, but another feature I love is the little mini blue bulls. They’ve definitely got the contrast of the blue right this season. Something I didn’t like? How long it took getting the cover pulled off to reveal the car, did they run out of budget? They’re pre reveal video though was funny and showed that even they could make fun out of themselves regarding the fact that no one knew what to call the team last season. This is the cleanest looking car on the grid, and the sponsors stand out more without looking tacky. Amazing!
What are your favourite liveries of this season?
Amy x
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