F1 teams have got a new contagious habit about their car liveries in 2024. With five teams having launched their 2024 car/liveries, there is an extensive usage of black in their color schemes. This black color is nothing but exposed carbon fiber. While it is a weight-saving measure, given paint on a car can add weight and make the car a bit slower, fans do not like the exposed carbon fiber look. Now, even Charles Leclerc has joined this bandwagon as teams’ cars look unfinished with so much black carbon fiber visible.
An Instagram meme account @f1troll posted a video mocking the “carbon fiber” liveries so far launched. These teams mainly include Haas, Alpine, and Sauber. The video shows an engineer repeatedly showing carbon fiber parts of a race car with the caption saying, “F1 teams unveiling their liveries”.
Fans on X (formerly Twitter) have shrewdly spotted Charles Leclerc liking this video. The Monegasque perhaps also does not like seeing so many black and dull liveries on the grid, given he races in the bright Scarlet Red Ferrari. He would ideally hope that Ferrari don’t employ this route to gain pace as the iconic red car of the brand is the soul of the F1 grid.
Naturally, an F1 livery brings shine to the grid and is a sign of the identity of the team. However, what Alpine has done for its A524, its 2024 car, is anything but to show its identity. From having a shining blue livery with the French flag colors in accents, the Enstone team has left huge parts of their livery exposed as black on this year’s car.
Should teams take extreme measures and sacrifice their livery colors for better lap time?
Usually, the paint job of an F1 car livery can add up to the weight of the car. Every kilogram of weight costs up to 0.03 seconds according to The Race. Thus, over a 60-lap race, it can add up to 1.8 seconds of race time. In F1, as teams aim to shave off every millisecond wherever possible, it is a big deal certainly.
However, will having a car with some exposed carbon fiber look good on the F1 grid? While racing is more important than the aesthetic, car liveries have become a part of the fans’ experience for decades now.
Especially for teams like Alpine and Ferrari, who represent their countries and their brands’ identities, the livery being of the right color is as important as their performance. So, while there is lap time to gain on the table by shedding off paint, should it be done at the cost of losing the team’s identity?
Alpine’s 2024 livery certainly looks unfinished and does not seem like a car from a French team. While many teams like McLaren are trying to inculcate some black element in their livery since 2023, it hasn’t been this extreme.
Sauber or Stake F1 have got a good pivot as part of their rebrand to go for a black and neon green livery. Although, with Audi coming in and Sauber not having a specific color scheme, it perhaps doesn’t matter much to their fans. On the other hand, if teams like Ferrari and Aston Martin go as extreme as Alpine, that just may be a deal-breaker for fans.
