F1 2022 Liveries

Formula 1’s launch season is almost upon us. The ten teams are set to unveil their all-new-for-2022 cars which in themselves will force each and every one of them to update their livery to fit the newly-shaped machines.

There’s a lot of change on the way for F1 fans, including to a sprinkling of beloved, iconic liveries.

After Formula 1’s 2022 mule car was officially unveiled at the British Grand Prix last year, F1 posted conceptual mock-ups of the base 2022 car adorned with each teams’ 2021 livery, which I have included throughout the article.

Mercedes

Having raced in a black colour scheme for two seasons, the traditionally silver arrows are set to revert back to silver for the championship’s new era, according to reports.

Petronas continues with the team in the same capacity as before, thus expect a similarly shaped livery around the emerald green title sponsor decals on the front wing, sidepods and rear wing. Shareholder Ineos also stays at the team with the burgundy roll-hoop branding expected to remain too, therefore the 2022 Mercedes should simply be an evolution (but in silver) of the 2021 design.

Red Bull

The departure of Honda leaves an empty space on the nose, engine cover and rear wing of the Red Bull. Whether that space is filled by Red Bull Powertrains branding, an existing sponsor, a new title sponsor, or a mixture of a small Honda nose logo and something different on the rest of the car remains to be seen.

Intriguingly, Red Bull’s new KTM MotoGP team livery features the Red Bull logo on a white background, much like it was in F1 prior to 2016.

However Red Bull is certainly not one for drastic livery re-designs in F1, so don’t expect a great deal to change.

Ferrari

Ferrari’s refusal to participate in Formula 1’s mule car livery concept project is certainly peculiar. Whether that means Ferrari wanted to build-up anticipation for the real launch, or were unhappy showing a future concept with current sponsors on, is of little consequence though.

What we do know is that the Italian team has two substantial new sponsors in Santander and Velas, who replace former title sponsors Mission Winnow.

The team formerly had a long term partnership with Santander, which famously featured on a white background. Nevertheless the new livery is set to feature more prominent elements of black – seen in a promotional video on a team’s truck.

A backdrop of a darker shade of red, similar to the burgundy 2020 Tuscan GP one-off design, is expected to top-off a drastic re-design of the historic Ferrari design.

McLaren

Papaya has been *the* colour for McLaren since 2018, and that is absolutely set to remain for 2022.

However the presence of the blue accents, which have had increasing prominence since their introduction in 2018, has been put into question by the team’s papaya and grey car launch date content on social media, which exhibits an unmistakable absence of blue.

The fact that all four of McLaren Racing’s liveries are to be unveiled together points to an aligning of the Extreme E, Shadow, IndyCar and Formula 1 liveries, perhaps more akin to the current Arrow McLaren IndyCar design.

Alpine

The fate of Alpine’s already patriotic blue, white and red livery seems to be resting on the shoulders of former Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer, who departed the British team earlier this year. Soon afterwards long standing Team Silverstone partner BWT also left the outfit in the wake of a sole season in a relatively underwhelming role on the Aston Martin livery.

The anticipated arrival of Szafnauer to Enstone is likely to bring with it a title sponsor deal with BWT, with a promise of greater visibility for the water treatment brand.

How the pink would be incorporated into the attractive tricolore colours would be interesting, but some fan concepts of the colour scheme did turn out better than expected.

AlphaTauri

The AlphaTauri name’s third season in the championship promises a continuation of the dark blue and white theme which the team inaugurated in 2020, and reconfigured in 2021.

Honda branding will no doubt disappear from the car in a similar fashion to the Red Bull, opening up sponsor space on the rear portions of the car. Expect further free space on the car as Randstad, Edifice Casio, myWorld and RDS have all disappeared from the team’s partners list.

Aston Martin

Last season Aston Martin announced it was seeking ways to improve the British racing green livery’s presence on TV before the end of 2021, but the fact it never came to fruition must mean a tweaked green colour is on its way for 2022.

The loss of BWT leaves many expecting the ‘return’ of Aston Martin Racing lime green, which was originally incorporated into last season’s design before BWT re-signed with the group.

Williams

After more than 40 years under the stewardship of the Williams family, the team was sold in 2020 to investment firm Dorilton Capital. For the new owners’ first new car in 2021, an eye-catching blue, yellow and white design was unveiled which was said to capture the spirit of the team’s past.

Whether the new owners seek to maintain long-term Red Bull-style continuity in their livery, or follow the lead of the likes of Haas in changing up the design each season is unknown, but expect the historic blue and white colours to stay in some form.

Alfa Romeo

The Italian team’s one-off design for its home race at Monza last year featured a splash of green on the roll hoop and engine cover, which could make its way into the 2022 livery if the outfit follows the lead of Ferrari – who added a segment of Tuscan GP burgundy to their 2021 scheme.

Alfa Romeo will doubtless continue its white and dark red for at least the next two years, following the famous name committing to its tie-up with Sauber.

Haas

There are two trains of thought when predicting Haas’ 2022 livery. One of which is focused on the title partnership with Russian Dmitry Mazepin’s Uralkali group, who in 2021 brought with them a white, red and blue design which raised the eyebrows of the World Anti-Doping Agency for its connections with the banned Russian flag. Therefore it might be changed or at least adapted to lessen the connections with the flag.

Haas have also never continued with the exact same design for more than a season in its short history in F1. However, a title sponsorship deal is a title sponsorship deal which may not leave too much leeway for the team’s design department to make significant changes.

Team Principal Guenther Steiner has promised that F1 fans will see the new car at the beginning of February, before Aston Martin’s on the 10 February, and hinted that there’s a surprise in store.

Author: Danny Herbert