Still the most popular article – or, rather, series of articles – on this site, back in 2008 I did a countdown of my 25 favourite F1 liveries of all time. As you can probably imagine, it inspired – and continues to inspire – plenty of debate! I still pretty much entirely stand by my choices, though, although one or two of the 2010 cars (the Lotus, the Renault and probably even the Virgin too) would have a decent chance of getting in there if I did it nowadays. Anyway, here’s a handy run-down of the full list – click on any car to be taken to the individual article…
Purely just my opinion, but I think that the Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes, Red Bull and Toro Rosso should have a place in the top 25 liveries.
I think you are dreaming haha
I like the McLaren design, chrome and red is an unconventional and striking combination. But look at this photoshop and see how nice it could be if they replaced the red with black…
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii14/defjam99b/silvermac.jpg
I think the 2006 variant of the chrome was way better than the later ones. The red served as a contrasting color, but you still had the awesome black-chrome shades. I can’t stand the chrome-red combination of 2007 and onwards.
Hi! First of all I want to congratulate Seb Patrick for the great idea and this nice site. So here is my top 25! I’ve limited my range to 1990-today because of too few liveries of the 70′s and 80′s making my list. Interesting fact is even if I dig mostly the early 90′s and I prefer green and blue cars, we have only 5 commons cars in our list.
25. Footwork 1994
Quite a strange choice, but I always liked this design with the blocks falling appart.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1024/5183786249_764c366ecf.jpg
24. Stewart 1999
The best of the 3 stewarts in my opinion. Less of the scotich stripes and more clean white. Better with the green 17 of Herbert.
http://www.f1wolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/stewart-1999.jpg
23. Williams 2006
Great combination of dark blue and white.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Alexander_Wurz_2006_Williams.jpg
22. Jaquar 2004
I prefer this last one with only the big HSBC logo, but the 2000 one came close too.
http://www.grandprix.com/jpeg/jaguar04launch1-lg.jpg
21. Lotus 1993
Always liked the castrol colors, and that’s the closest an F1 car looked like it, I think…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2166/2171942826_87b8a6ee08.jpg
20. Williams 2000
I didn’t liked it when it came out but now it’s my favorite from that year. I love the “almost black” blue.
http://www.v12.ch/Parts/parts_pic/2000JapanRalfSchumacher.jpg
19. McLaren 1998
The West Mclaren were all very similar but this one have a little something more.
http://f1colours.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/mclaren98-pic1.jpg
18. Arrows 1998
Great black car, stand out from the others Arrows. Is it just me or it looked like it tasted good?
http://speedracing.50webs.com/raridades/r_arrows_1998_pedro_paulo_diniz_monte_carlo_monaco.jpg
17. BAR 1999
For it’s originality. I prefer the blue side and would have been better if it was 2 distinctive cars like it was planned (first picture)
http://a21.idata.over-blog.com/0/07/27/45/formule-1/bar-1999.jpg
http://www.gptotal.com.br/2005/Leitores/Pergunte/Img/dezembro/20051213/04.jpg
16. Lotus 2010
Lovely green car! Like Seb I agree it’s the best of the 21th century so far.
http://www.f1wolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Heikki-Kovalainen2.jpg
15. Minardi 1993
Always liked this white Minardi. It’s clean and simple with the black and yellow bits who fits perfectly. Great with the Fittipaldi helmet.
http://www.clubbarrakudas.es/html/imagenes/1993-Minardi-M193.jpg
14. Jordan 1998
Best of the yellow Jordan. But ’97 and 2000 came close too. And the ’96 gold was great too.
http://didier.andlauer.free.fr/F1/saison_1998/voitures_1998/jordan_1998.jpg
13. Williams 1996
1996 was not a great year for livery but this one stand out as the best Rothmans for me. ’94 is close too!
http://media.legrandclub.rds.ca/images/userpics/photo/0000/1992/img0011_thumb.jpg
12. Benetton 1992
Yellow and green fits so well in this one who gived benetton an identity for 2 years before switching to Mild Seven and their too busy liveries.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3395/3317945306_037bab854c.jpg
11. Jordan 1994
Many colours but surprisingly fits really well. The turquoise and green lines on the sides and the bright red top of nose really stand out. Remind me of GP2.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/4990258231_f53d0f1e41.jpg
10. Dallara 1993
Top 10! Not a very popular one I think, but I remember that in real life the orange and yellow were really flashy and the car itself very eye-catching. It’s a shame it was so slow!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4645140443_9c6f4ae434_z.jpg
9. Footwork 1992
Quite simple, but there’s something about de red stripes on white that work so well.
http://www.f1wolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/1992-footwork.jpg
8. Sauber 1994
The Broker one. Very nice look due in part by the pretty shape of that car. 93′ one came close.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45342000/jpg/_45342000_sauber1994416.jpg
7. Mclaren 1994
Really hard to choose between the 92-93-94-95 Marlboro but this one stand a little above mainly due to his beautiful lines.
http://shop.simonlewis.com/ekmps/shops/simonlewis/images/martin-brundle-mclaren-photo-1994-british-gp-1744-p.jpg
6. Larrousse 1993
May look a little childish but I found the 4 colors make it really colorfull in a good way.
http://www.tomorrownewsf1.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/1993-larrousse.jpg
5. Benetton 1998
Top 5! Greatest Mild Seven Benetton. The 2 shades of blue go along perfectly, the sponsors, the lines. Perfect!
http://www.f1wolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/1998-benetton.jpeg
4. Ferrari 1995
My favorite Ferrari, beautiful lines and I love the black and Yellow wings.
http://terminalundersteer.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/jean_alesi_ferrari_1995.jpg
3. Sauber 1998
I think the mix of Red Bull and Petronas has never been as successful as this one.
http://www.f1wolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/1998-sauber.jpeg
2. Jordan 1992
Underrated! I know the ’91 is a masterpiece but his follower came really close in my opinion. I love that light blue mixed with red and blue. And I prefer the one with no Barkley on the side (3rd picture)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5008423553_ed6bd59d79.jpg
http://didier.andlauer.free.fr/F1/saison_1992/voitures_1992/jordan_1992.jpg
http://www.mcdb.biz/collection/minichamps/402109192_n.jpg
1. Jordan 1991
Surprise! Everything have been said about it. A classic from nose to rear wing.
http://www.f120th.com/_Media/jordan_191_spa_francorchamp.jpg
Thank you and long live F1 colors!
Excellent stuff Alex! Bet this took you a long time to do as well. Actually, I tend to agree more with your list than Seb’s, although it’s a matter of taste. There are more colourful choice, and I like colour!
haha thanks! Yes it took a couple of hours… but with this site it’s easier: http://www.f1-legend.fr/voitures.htm
They have almost all models from side view. you should do yours too!
Wow, that site is awesome. Thanks for the link.
On a side note, I think the JPS livery from the Lotus 98T will always be my favorite.
Why has noone mentioned the benson and hedges Jordan of 1996 gold livery was amazing!
I’m delighted looking back that they didn’t allow BAR to run with 2 separate liveries! The cars would have looked good but most teams would now be running with 2 separate liveries like they do in Indycar if they’d allowed that.
i like the Jordan Mugen Honda series the most