Written by: Ashleigh McGregor, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
The Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix is notably one of the best night races on the calendar. Extreme temperatures, neon lights, and an additional fourth DRS (drag reduction system) zone between turns 14 and 16 are among the biggest highlights heading into the weekend.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit is used to drivers debuting exciting new helmet designs and teams creating special liveries. This year, a few teams have risen to meet the fan expectations for these liveries, while some have opted against the prospects of special liveries.
Mercedes
Mercedes has presented their special livery for the Singapore grand prix on Instagram, with pictures and a video showcasing the detailing done to the car. They have also included a special edition cap for sale to go along with the new livery.
The livery is dedicated to the partnership between Mercedes and its title and technical sponsor since 2010, Petronas. Petronas, the popular Malaysian oil and gas conglomerate, are celebrating their 50th anniversary.
To honour this achievement, the W15 has undergone a slight transformation. The silver arrow has turned emerald green, while the differences are evident on the nose of the car and a new 50 years Petronas logo. With no Formula One races in Malaysia, this is the closest the title partner gets to a home grand prix.
RB
The RB Formula 1 team fully immersed their socials in this weekend's new livery theme; denim. Their partner Hugo; a well-established fashion retailer, is the collaborator for the livery.
The VCARB 01 is fully decked in light blue denim wrap covering the nose, side pods, and the sides of the front wing. At the very front of the car’s front wing is a patch decal of the RB team’s logo, styled similarly to the one you would see on the back of a pair of jeans. Dark blue denim accents and frayed details are incorporated into the designs too, at that.
One of the most striking designs of this livery is the massive zipper decal going around the sides of the car. It starts zipped, and then wraps around, unzipping to then show the other side of the car, in a striking tribute to the team’s fashion retail venture.
McLaren
McLaren teased their livery for this weekend's race via Instagram, with a very short clip, with the hashtag: ‘Legend Reborn’ in the caption. Revealed at 10 am BST (5 pm Singapore time), their latest special livery pays homage to the MP4 era of F1 cars that saw McLaren rise to the fore in the 1980s and 1990s.
The side-pods feature a dose of white paint blending with the papaya orange, in a fusion of the team’s past with the present day’s colours.
Aside from this, the design pays tribute to legendary McLaren racers such as Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, and Niki Lauda, apart from featuring the names of 13 McLaren icons during the era integrated into the cockpit.
The livery is a collaboration with their partner OKX; a cryptocurrency exchange company. The official reveal is set for Thursday, September 19, 2024, by both drivers at an event in Singapore.
Red Bull Cancel Fan Livery
The RB20’s days of total dominance have fallen away in the second half of 2024. Max Verstappen has not won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix, and Sergio Perez has yet to win one this season.
Verstappen was no longer winning, but the team has still sustained performance, leading Red Bull to not look into the car for issues. As of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Red Bull lost the lead in the constructors’ championship to McLaren, who are now 20 points ahead.
Red Bull has now figured out that the issue does in fact lie within the car, and not on the drivers. With the constructors championship lead taken, and the driver championship under threat by Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
Red Bull need all the race pace they can get. This led to a unanimous decision to pull the plug on the special liveries for both the Singapore Grand Prix and the upcoming race in Austin. The reasoning- the paint adds too much weight to the car.
REBL CUSTMS held a competition for fans to design liveries for three races this season — Silverstone, Singapore, and Austin. Winners of the competition will no longer get to see their design race down the streets of Singapore, or the sweeping corners of the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
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