Williams celebrate

[ArrowsFA1]

The Williams team will unveil six different liveries during winter testing to commemorate a sequence of landmarks that will take place during the 2008 season.
Williams unveiled their first livery at Jerez, where the car included references to the company's 30th year of racing and their 500th entry in a Grand Prix, a milestone that will be recorded at the Turkish Grand Prix this season.
In addition to that, Williams will record their 50,000 racing lap during the year, and the Monaco Grand Prix will mark Frank Williams' 600th Grand Prix.
The second livery will be released at the Valencia test next week, which is also scheduled to be the first run for the team's 2008 race car, the FW30.
The remaining liveries will be used during the remaining tests in Spain.


http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/64663

[samuratt]

http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/64663

This should be done more often. The livery isn't the most expensive part of the car so changing it for different races provide a more colourful grid at no serious expense for the teams.

[leopard]

The idea was great I don't think using the different color during the race-not only preseason tests-would be a problem, this raises more compliment if only they didn't divorce with BMW.
They are known better a BMW powered team rather than Toyota, toyota on the other hand are identified more as Panasonic Toyota.

[SGWilko]

The idea was great I don't think using the different color during the race-not only preseason tests-would be a problem, this raises more compliment if only they didn't divorce with BMW.
They are known better a BMW powered team rather than Toyota, toyota on the other hand are identified more as Panasonic Toyota.

Look at the issues BAR had with trying to run one Lucky Strike car and one 555 car. They ending up with a mickey mouse zip up job.

So, there will likely be no livery changes throughout the season (except for sponsor additions if applicable).

[ArrowsFA1]

I loved the livery Williams ran with last winter (I think it was) which reflected the colours FW's cars had when he first entered F1.

This latest idea just highlights what a remarkable career FW & his team have had in F1 :cool:

[Osella]

Meh, I think it's pretty pointless.
Why don't they run these tribute liveries during the season instead? It's not like the car is chock-full of sponsors exactly. Red Bull/Jaguar and Ferrari have run unique liveries at Monaco recently, so why not do this in the races, instead of just testing..?

[JasonD]

Look at the issues BAR had with trying to run one Lucky Strike car and one 555 car. They ending up with a mickey mouse zip up job.

So, there will likely be no livery changes throughout the season (except for sponsor additions if applicable).

Different cicrumstances. BAR wanted to have one car in 555 livery and the other in Lucky Strike livery. The FIA stipulates that both cars must have the same livery, whether or not they can change the livery throughout the season is different.

[inimitablestoo]

There's something in the FIA rules - somebody out there will no doubt point me to the right one - that states the livery must remain "substantially the same" for the whole season. So, no NASCAR-style one-off paint jobs, which is a bit of a shame.

Personally, I quite liked the BAR split livery, although that may have been due to its "two fingers to the FIA" nature :) Then again, I also liked the abstract Gitanes Ligier Martin Brundle drove in Japan (and Australia?) in 1993, which nobody else seemed to.

[ChrisS]

Changing liveries mid-season is not allowed. IIRC Spyker had this problem when they bought midland and had to be given permission by the FIA to change their livery.

[Osella]

'Back in the day' it used to be more common. Larrousse had two desgns they raced with in 1994 (Kronenbourg and Tourtel), and Forti changed like Spyker when they were taken over in 1996. Then there was the Ligier 'Art car'. I think there is probably not a lot in the F1 regs, and more to do with Bernie's influence that we can't do this so much these days.

But if the livery stays the same, why not just add/remove the special tribute logos for different races. Jordan ran with a myriad of engine cover designs in their final season after all. And all tobacco sponsored teams changed numerous times, especially Renault in 2006! So these minor changes are permissable, and I think it would surely be more noticable and attention-grabbing on race weekends, rather than during testng where few know or care...

[ShiftingGears]

I loved the livery Williams ran with last winter (I think it was) which reflected the colours FW's cars had when he first entered F1.

That was a good livery :up:

[Hawkmoon]

They aren't allowed to change their livery throughout the season so we won't see a return of the Saudi Air green/white livery, the Canon/Camel yellow/blue/white livery or the Rothmans blue/white livery.

It would be good to see those liveries in testing though. I know they can't use the sponsors names but they could paint the cars with the appropriate colours and use the current sponsors names.

[cos]

Changing liveries mid-season is not allowed. IIRC Spyker had this problem when they bought midland and had to be given permission by the FIA to change their livery.

Honda changed theirs to a 555-branded livery for the Chinese GP in 2006 without any problems?

[Hawkmoon]

Honda changed theirs to a 555-branded livery for the Chinese GP in 2006 without any problems?

They did but the car stayed predominatly white. They swapped the Lucky Strike logos for 555 ones. Teams are allowed to tinker with their liveries but they can't make wholesale changes. Ferrari painted the nose of their F2001s black after 9-11 which was OK. They wouldn't have been allowed to paint the whole car black without the permission, I think, of all the Concorde Agreement signatories.

[Roamy]

Look at the issues BAR had with trying to run one Lucky Strike car and one 555 car. They ending up with a mickey mouse zip up job.

So, there will likely be no livery changes throughout the season (except for sponsor additions if applicable).


mickey mouse = actually it was brilliant. But the advertising was caused by the stupid FIA who said both cars have to look alike. Sponsors money runs F1 and this is just another stupid rule by stupid people who think they are worth something because sponsors pay so much money!!

[leopard]

They aren't allowed to change their livery throughout the season so we won't see a return of the Saudi Air ...

Don't worry, you can see Abu Dhabi dominantly painted on Ford.

[cos]

They did but the car stayed predominatly white. They swapped the Lucky Strike logos for 555 ones.

...and changed most of the red on the car for blue.


Teams are allowed to tinker with their liveries but they can't make wholesale changes. Ferrari painted the nose of their F2001s black after 9-11 which was OK. They wouldn't have been allowed to paint the whole car black without the permission, I think, of all the Concorde Agreement signatories.

Signatures of the F1 Commission - six team, five promoters and (usually) Max and Bernie.

[wmcot]

This should be done more often. The livery isn't the most expensive part of the car so changing it for different races provide a more colourful grid at no serious expense for the teams.

Maybe they could invent a livery that changes during a race - for example, the whole car could be covered with something similar to the visor tear-offs. At each pitstop, a layer of livery could be removed in one big tear-off. The car could have 2 or 3 different looks during the race!

(Never happen, but it would be neat - Imagine RedBull pulling off their "Clark Kent livery" to reveal their "Superman livery" at Monaco (a few years back) in the middle of the race!)

[SGWilko]

Maybe they could invent a livery that changes during a race - for example, the whole car could be covered with something similar to the visor tear-offs. At each pitstop, a layer of livery could be removed in one big tear-off. The car could have 2 or 3 different looks during the race!

(Never happen, but it would be neat - Imagine RedBull pulling off their "Clark Kent livery" to reveal their "Superman livery" at Monaco (a few years back) in the middle of the race!)

There was an idea bandied round a while back whereby all the cars would be painted the same colour, and sponsors decals would be superimposed on them for the TV audience (in a similar vein to how the weather map is supermposed on a green background in a TV studio).

Not much fun for the trackside viewer which tells you why it never happened.

I think the idea behind the thinking was in rection to ever tightening 'bacco laws.....

[leopard]

The idea of changing layer of color in each pitstop wouldn't be suitable for Renault whose the lap times half of second slower than others. :)

[AndyRAC]

What a stupid rule?? Does it really matter if the liverys change from race to race? I really give up with the FIA.

[ioan]

Honestly if it has 4 wheels and goes very fast I do not care what color is painted!
What's all this hysteria about liveries? We are watching races not an art show!

[Ranger]

We are watching races not an art show!

Racing happens in F1?? Preposterous!!

F1 is actually a show... and there's many aspects that contribute to the show.

[ioan]

Racing happens in F1?? Preposterous!!

F1 is actually a show... and there's many aspects that contribute to the show.

Well, I watch it only for the cars and for the racing. Maybe I'm too old fashioned. :s

[Ranger]

Well, I watch it only for the cars and for the racing. Maybe I'm too old fashioned. :s

Must be! :p :

But then again there isn't a definitive reason why people like F1 and discuss it on forums like these, so I don't really see the problem with discussing this issue.