Ranking The Best Looking Liveries On The 2021 F1 Grid

The start of a new Formula One season is always a thing of excitement as teams unveil their new challengers for the upcoming season. What grabs even more eyeballs is liveries as a showcase of the varying artistic identities of each team. While the 2021 season was meant to be a carryover year ahead of the big 2022 regulation change, teams did manage to unveil some fresh looks to their 2021 challengers. Since it's Holi, here’s our take on the best looking liveries on the 2021 grid.

10. Haas VF-21

 

Kicking off the list is Haas which caused controversy when it took the wraps off its VF-21. You’d think the red, white and blue color combo represents the American team’s nationality. But actually, it represents its Russian sponsor Uralkali, that’s owned by driver Nikita Mazepin’s father. Even if it's a Russian sponsor, Haas could’ve played around with the way the colours are placed on the car instead of it looking pretty much like the Russian flag. Keep in mind that the Russian drivers cannot compete under their nationality due to the country being banned from competing  in major sporting events after a doping scandal. Nonetheless, it's a pretty weird looking livery for the 2021 season.

9. Red Bull RB16B

Since 2016, Red Bull have sported a livery that had a matte blue shade, red streaks and yellow accents on the nose and airbox, which was a refreshing change at the time. But it's 2021, and the team have barely altered that colour scheme. Yes, companies should have an identity that everyone recognises, but a little change wouldn’t hurt now would it? Red Bull soldiering on with this livery is surprising considering they’ve showcased amazing liveries during testing over the past couple of years.

8. Ferrari SF21

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The prancing horse’s latest challenger continues with its well known scarlet red body shade. But once you head rearwards, the red fades into burgundy which was the same one-off colour used for Ferrari’s 1000th race at Mugello in 2020. Unfortunately, that blend doesn’t really gel that well. The team's also bizarre chosen to incorporate a green Mission Winnow logo on the engine cover which definitely looks out of place. Maybe incorporating the colours of the Italian flag on the logo could’ve done it some justice.

7. Mercedes W12

Since 2020, the reigning champions had switched colour scheme to a black arrows theme in support for its fight against racism, which was a nice change from the traditional silver arrows. This year is more of the same, but they’ve reincorporated a nice silver shade on the engine cover. This livery would’ve ranked higher were it not for the barrage of AMG logos all over the engine cover, which kinda ruined the silver addition.

6.McLaren MCL35M

McLaren returning to its papaya-coloured roots since 2018 was a welcome move and since then have nicely added a bit of blue to the mix as well, giving it a very distinctive look on the grid. But in 2021, they kept the livery virtually the same as last season. Sure why fix something that isn’t broken, but we expected some form of change since McLaren has changed engine supplier and gone back to Mercedes. 

5. Williams FW43B

With Williams entering a new era under the ownership of Dorilton capital, the FW43B clearly signified that change. While the front end scheme was a bit too basic, the varying shades of blue separated by streaks all the way to the rear were cool additions. There’s also orange accents that pay a nice homage to the 1992 championship winning FW14B.

4. AlphaTauri AT02

AlphaTauri, or formerly named Toro Rosso, have always had a knack for producing some cool looking liveries on the grid. This year, they switched up from a predominantly white livery in 2020 to a predominantly blue livery. In studio shots it seemed like a step back from last year’s livery. But on track, it certainly looks like a mean machine.

3. Aston Martin AMR21

The ‘pink’ Mercedes became the ‘green’ Mercedes, with Aston Martin’s return to Formula One after a 61 year. And it returned in style with its iconic and elegant British racing metallic green body shade. A color not seen in the sport for quite some time. This is complemented by pink accents down the body, which might actually have been lime green were it not for its last-minute BWT sponsorship deal. Funnily enough the dark colour scheme under the lights would almost make you mistake it as the Mercedes W12. 

2. Alfa Romeo C41

The Alfa Romeo squad has always come out with some striking liveries, and this year is no different. What we’re particularly fond of is the switching up of the red and white colour combo, with the former dominating the lower half of the car and the latter making up the upper portion. Even the pinstripes running along the nose, the red halo and the striped rear wing endplates make it simple, yet sleek. 

1. Alpine A521 

At the top of the list undoubtedly has to go to the Renault team, now rebranded as Alpine. It gets a metallic light blue shade, that looks absolutely gorgeous in the day as well as under the lights. Alpine also managed to incorporate is French roots perfectly with a nice pattern at the back. The red accents and black front and rear-wing together combine make it stand out as the best looking car on the grid for us. 

What do you think of the 2021 F1 cars? Which livery in your opinion was the standout showstopper? Drop a comment down below.