Wrong colors and scantily clad women: the craziest Formula 1 stickers of all time

A Formula 1 Ferrari is always red! No reason, because in 1964 the Scuderia started in Mexico and the US with a blue-white color scheme and under the name “North American Racing Team”. Legendary team boss Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) wanted to protest against the homologation frenzy at the Italo Association over a sports car.

In 1977, four drivers tried their luck with the English Hesketh racing team. With moderate success (only 13th place in the constructors’ championship). The fact that the team was still in the spotlight was thanks to their sponsor Penthouse, who decorated the cars with scantily clad women.

Well done, Shadow! Drivers Jan Lammers and Elio de Angelis had lion heads on their cars in 1979, the trademark of a cigarette brand. But the team was not really sharp and only finished tenth in the constructors’ championship.

The EuroBrun 1989 was not fast, but visually it was certainly an eye-catcher. He owed this to his sponsor Jägermeister and the orange color. By the way, the racing team around team boss Walter Brun and his two drivers Gregor Foitek and Oscar Larrauri did not even manage to qualify for a GP in 1989.

As is often the case, there was a sponsor behind this design. Ligier driver Martin Brundle took part in two races in 1993 in a cigarette manufacturer’s special livery designed by artist Hugo Pratt.

In 1999, BAR conquered Formula 1 and immediately caused many problems. Since the team wanted to promote two different cigarette brands, they wanted to paint both cars differently. But the FIA ​​banned this. The argument is that the vehicles should look uniform. That’s why BAR decided to design the cars in two colors: red and white on the left and blue on the right.

At first glance, this car is only recognizable as a Red Bull thanks to the bull. But behind this at Silverstone 2007 there was no PR stunt or a sponsor, but something good. For a certain donation amount, which went to the ‘Wings for Life’ foundation, fans could immortalize themselves with a photo on the racing car. 30,000 people participated in this campaign. The result: a unique Red Bull.

For once there is no sponsor behind this special design. When Red Bull tested their new car in Jerez in 2015, they camouflaged it with this pattern. In the hope that the competition will not discover the new genius traits of design guru Adrian Newey.