Red Bull and its fans have plenty to be excited about heading into this weekend’s Japanese GP. For starters, the team’s lineup has changed once again, with Liam Lawson being demoted to Racing Bulls and Yuki Tsunoda set to make his Red Bull debut in front of his home fans. But there’s another element fans have been eagerly anticipating—a nostalgic throwback that adds to the excitement.
As a tribute to Honda, their long-time sponsors and engine partners, Red Bull has unveiled a special all-white livery for the RB21, which they will run throughout the weekend. This marks the first time Red Bull will sport an all-white car since the 2021 Turkish GP—a design that was widely popular among fans.
️ “This livery is a tribute to Honda’s success in #F1 and the final year of, what has been a thoroughly enjoyable partnership.”
Look back at our championship-winning journey with @HondaRacingGLB so far
— Oracle Red Bull Racing | オラクル・レッドブルレーシング (@redbullracing) April 1, 2025
Majority of the fans loved the new look RB21. But a few keen-eyed enthusiasts have noticed something off with the design.
A fan on Reddit shared a close-up of the RB21’s nose, highlighting key details such as the Honda logo, the RBR logo, and a special commemorative emblem celebrating Honda’s first F1 victory with the RA272 in 1965.
However, upon closer inspection, it’s clear that the RBR logo isn’t properly aligned with Honda’s—an odd oversight on an otherwise meticulously designed livery.
Here we go again. The RBR badge is off-center on the new Red Bull white Japanese GP livery. An homage to Mercedes?
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Fans quickly swarmed the post, sharing hilarious reactions and poking fun at Red Bull’s design team for overlooking such an obvious detail. One of the most popular comments read, “Newey would have noticed this.”—and it’s hard to argue with that.
Newey was there when Red Bull gained attention for what was perceived by many as a dig at Mercedes. The RB20 of 2024 had Mercedes-inspired sidepods and engine covers which was first seen in the pre-season testing in Bahrain.
However, team principal Christian Horner claimed last year that Red Bull did not intentionally look to copy Mercedes, with Newey being the mastermind of that car which made them end up third in the 2024 Constructors Championship.
“It’s not tactical, it’s based on performance and what we’re seeing through our simulation tools. The car looks quite visibly different in certain areas compared to last year.
“Only the stopwatch will tell, but in the virtual world we wouldn’t have committed to the design if we didn’t feel it was better,” Horner said in an interview with RacingNews365.
Unfortunately for Red Bull, Newey is no longer with the team. The legendary aerodynamicist has now joined Aston Martin—the very team Honda will partner with starting in 2026.
Other fans took the joke even further, linking the RB21’s inherent performance issues to the misaligned logo. One fan quipped, “Car balance absolutely destroyed,” while another responded, “Sloppy decal symmetry work is the real reason Lawson and Perez struggled.”
Tsunoda’s Red Bull debut has also been a major talking point, but this design mishap gave fans another reason to poke fun at the #22 driver. The original contributor of the picture jokingly commented, “Yuki is gonna get a grid penalty for this.”
Hopefully, for the hometown hero, the race will be remembered for more than just this design blunder.
