Top ten best F1 liveries – ever

F1

F1 has seen a myriad of liveries through its 75 years, but which are the best? James Elson ranks the top 10

Ronnie Peterson Lotus 1978 Italian GP Paul Ricard

What tops the best F1 liveries?

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The F1 75 livery reveal event at London’s Millennium Dome looks set to be a contest between how much bare carbon fibre grand prix teams can get away with as they unveil their new colour schemes to celebrate the anniversary of the world championship.

It’s now de rigeur to try and shave off as much paint as possible in a bid to save weight, but it wasn’t always like this.

In years gone by teams would have laughed in the face of an exposed carbon weave – surely those few thousandths of a second aren’t worth getting rid of a pukka livery?

Quite right. And so here are the ten best F1 liveries, from John Player Special to Skoal Bandit and more.


10. Guinness-Rizla March 811 (1981)

1981 March 811

March 811 manages to promote smoking and drinking all in one

Some say that F1 cars go as fast as they look.

Having spent way too much time watching Duke video season review highlights and scrolling through Motor Sport archives, we can tell you that simply isn’t true.

Behold, the Guinness-Rizla March 811. What sounded like an advertisement for a great night out in the ’80s amounted to total rubbish on track, as poor Derek Daly and Eliseo Salazar managed to qualify for just one race between them in the first seven rounds of the 1981 season.

A seventh for Daly at Silverstone was its best result, the Irishman’s F1 season turning into a campaign to associate the beverage of his homeland with terrible grand prix cars.


9. Skoal Bandit RAM 03  (1985)

Manfred-WInkelhock-1985-F1-RAM.jpg

1985 Ram looking like a very expensive advertisement for your local newsagent wares

Grand Prix Photo

Racing green never went so slow – but at least RAM regularly tumbled out of pre-qualifying in style throughout 1985.

Another hopeless ’80s F1 effort, its best finish was ninth for Philippe Alliot in Brazil.


8. Rothmans March 821 (1982)

Jochen Mass March F1 1982

March 821 looked great, went less well

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March makes it in again. The team might have fallen from grace (in F1 at least) throughout the first part of the ’80s, but the cars and their liveries were lookers.

Its highest finish was seventh for Jochen Mass in Detroit. The German took the sponsorship with him to the Porsche Group C cars that same season – creating an iconic look for the 956s and 962s. Wise move.


7. Benson & Hedges Jordan 198 (1998)

Jordan 198 of Damon Hill in 1998 Belgian Grand Prix

Hill races to victory at Spa – in a sensational colour scheme

Michael Cooper/Allsport

The inimitable deal maker Eddie Jordan seems a man who’s kissed the Blarney Stone several times over, and it shows in the numerous high profile commercial deals – complete with eye-catching liveries – his team managed over the years.

His Benson & Hedges Jordan 198 started the 1998 season terribly, but a technical rejig saw it famously become a winner in the hands of Damon Hill at Spa.

Yellow F1 cars: every world championship needs a couple.


6. Benetton B186 (1986)

Gerhard Berger Benetton 1986 Monaco GP

Colourful Benetton lit up the ’80s

Grand Prix Photo

Any car with multi-coloured wheels (sadly not featured in our archive shot above) makes it into this article.

Benetton wanted to make a splash when it entered F1 in 1986 as a team, and it did so with this BMW-powered brute and Gerhard Berger at the wheel at Mexico ’86.


5. Marlboro McLaren M23 (1976)

McLaren of James Hunt at the 1976 Monaco Grand Prix

McLaren plus Marlboro plus Hunt = vintage grand prix magic

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Emerson Fittipaldi took Marlboro and Texaco to McLaren in 1974, but that was in the air box era when F1 cars essentially looked like 200mph teapots.

These were banned in ’76, giving the cars a lower, meaner look. No more so than that year’s champion Hunt with his black crash helmet in the M23. Glorious.


4. 7Up Jordan 191 (1991)

Michael Schumacher 1991 Jordan

Sparks flew from the off with Jordan

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Michael Jackson sets his hair on fire. His Pepsi-sponsored tour gets cancelled. The company has to spend the money somewhere, so gives it to Ireland’s first F1 team – which goes on to have one of the most-celebrated debut years in grand prix history.

And the car looks great too. Makes sense.


3. McLaren MP4/21 (2006)

Kimi Raikkonen mclaren 2006 San Marino gp imola

McLaren’s silver star

Getty Images / Clive Mason

Adrian Newey’s last F1 car for McLaren had a splendid chrome livery. The 1998 MP4/13 was pretty good too, but no car which has any elements of grey in it is allowed on this list.


2. Ferrari 312T (1976)

Niki Lauda 1976 Ferrari

Lauda’s ’76 livery was a Scuderia masterpiece

Nothing says ‘reigning Ferrari F1 champion’ like Niki Lauda in his ’76 312T. A livery for the ages.


1. JPS Lotus 79 (1978)

Ronnie Peterson Lotus 1978 French GP Paul Ricard

Peterson in the celebrated black and gold of the JPS Lotus 79

Getty Images / Paul-Henri Cahier

Lotus went through a number of brilliant colour schemes. After starting off in classic British Racing Green (adorned with those recognisable yellow wobbly wheels), a move to the red of Gold Leaf tobacco was followed by the black and gold of John Player Special.

Others would catch the eye, including the green of Martini and blue-silver of the slightly suspect David Thieme’s Essex Overseas Petroleum brand – but none can beat JPS.

Paired with the free-flowing tendencies of Ronnie Peterson and his classic helmet design, this is the greatest F1 livery of all time.