Formula 1

Is Red Bull suggesting a modification to its livery for the 2023 F1 season?

Published

2 months ago

27/01/2023

Red Bull has hinted that they may change their livery for the 2023 Formula 1 season, but past experience suggests fans should not get too excited as it may not happen.

Red Bull tweeted an image of what appeared to be a basic version of their Formula 1 car, which was mostly white with a blue Red Bull logo on the engine cover.

Red Bull will be holding their 2023 launch event in New York next Friday. It is unclear if they will unveil the new RB19 car at the event or just show a new color scheme on a show car or 2022 model. Last year, Red Bull’s launch event featured a basic version of what would later become the RB18.

Sister team AlphaTauri has already announced that their launch event in New York on February 11th will showcase the 2023 livery, which includes new sponsor Orlen. The livery will be on an old car at the event, but new car images will be released online at the same time.

Red Bull’s recent tweet may indicate that they are planning a change in their livery, which has remained relatively unchanged throughout their Formula 1 history. It could also be a hint that they have a special pre-season testing livery planned, or it may simply be a playful social media tease ahead of the launch season.

In the past, Red Bull has hinted at changes to its color scheme, but those changes have not been reflected on the car that was used in the grand prix races.

Red Bull has a long history with the Sauber team, where it served as the title sponsor for several years and even held a stake in the team for a period of time. In late 2004, Red Bull acquired the Jaguar team.

When Red Bull entered Formula 1 in 2004, many people expected their car to have the same colors as their energy drink cans, but they took it a step further by designing the car based on the can’s design.

If Red Bull wants to signify its transition from sponsor to full-fledged team owner in Formula 1 with a new identity, it could use its drink can design as a basis for a new livery.

It may seem obvious, but Red Bull has never actually raced a car in the colors of its drink cans.

The only time we have seen a Red Bull car with the colors of its drink cans was during the winter of 2004-2005, when it quickly rebranded the inherited Jaguars for testing purposes.

When the definitive 2005 Red Bull car was revealed, it had a design that could be traced back to the 1995 Sauber car.

Red Bull’s 2015 car was revealed at testing in a mock-camouflage livery, similar to the one that you would see on a prototype road car when it’s being tested on the Nordschleife before release.

Red Bull created a buzz by suggesting that the mock-camouflage livery of its 2015 car during testing was an attempt to conceal its secrets, but it was ultimately a strategic marketing move to generate interest.

The inspiration for the mock-camouflage livery on Red Bull’s 2015 car came from a crash helmet Sebastian Vettel used at the Italian Grand Prix in 2014, however, Vettel left the team before he could drive with the livery.

Team boss Christian Horner promised that those who wanted the team to race with the camouflage livery would not be disappointed when they saw the final version of Red Bull’s 2015 car. However, whatever the team had planned for that season seems to have been lost from its servers.

All Red Bull did with its regular design was to add its own name to the side of the car’s chassis.

Red Bull has repeated this strategy a couple of times since then, by running new cars for the first time in special liveries during their shakedowns in 2018 and 2019.

But on both occasions, it switched back to its traditional colors when official testing began.