So after this, we’ll have reached the top ten. For that reason, I won’t be posting one tomorrow – instead, I’ll post one of the final ten on each of the weekdays for the next fortnight, starting next Monday. Expect the articles to be a little bit longer, with a few more images, too. But in the meantime – what’s this at number 11…?
Yes, as it turns out, Renault are indeed going with their hideous yellow/white/orange/blue monstrosity once again this year.
Some people claimed this livery grew on them as 2007 wore on. I’m not one of them. I still think it’s an utterly demented piece of design work. The fact that Renault used to have one of the all-time great colour schemes (the yellow/black/white of the early ’80s) that they could easily call on just makes it more insulting. And those uniforms really do make the drivers look like pillocks. Ah well.
Right, potentially busy day today, so let’s get cracking first of all with this. Is it the 2008 Williams livery?
I’m going stick my neck out and say that yes, I think it probably is. Those pictures look like PR photos for sponsorship/marketing purposes, and it was pictures from exactly the same kind of shoot that leaked the ’07 livery so early last year. It doesn’t look like any kind of photoshop job, either – nor does it look like one of the special commemorative liveries the team are supposed to be running in testing (sadly, we’ve yet to see pics of any more of those).
First impressions, then… well, it’s an interesting mix of the last two cars, basically. I prefer it to ’07, but don’t like it as much as ’06 – a return to the turqoise-ish trim would have been nice, I think, rather than the grey that’s used. Still, kudos to the team for toning down the white, which seems to suggest they’re actually paying attention to the rest of the grid. Just as usual with Williams, it’s simple, smart and effective. Thumbs up from me.
UPDATE 05.02.08 : According to F1 Fanatic, Williams have denied that this is the “final” livery. If this is the case, that’s a shame, because the more I see it (see the new picture below), the more I like it. On the other hand… they said exactly the same thing about the leaked livery last year, those not-so-wily cats, so I’m still saying you can lay pretty safe money on this being “the one”.
Oh, Honda. Honda, Honda. This is almost a great livery. It successfully mixes your corporate colours with the “Earth dream” gubbins you were on about last year. In truth, in fact, it’s probably how your car should have looked last year. The stripes on the nose are a little off-putting, and light green and white is a curious colour scheme not really seen in F1 before, but it’s daring enough to almost get away with it. You nearly had this one in the bag.
But did you have to make it look quite so much like the BMW? Didn’t you get the memo? There are too many white cars on the grid. Never mind…
Still, it’s probably just about the best ’08 livery so far. Even if the uniforms are a bit crap.
Cor, we’re rattling through these, now, aren’t we? Well, after the no-brainers of the last few days (although I bet some suspected the Macca would be higher), here’s something a bit more out of left field…
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