Top 10 worst F1 liveries ever – does Ferrari make it?

Formula 1 is a showcase of speed, technology, and, sometimes, questionable taste.

Ferrari’s one-off Miami GP livery – in deference to title sponsor HP – has largely been given the thumbs down by fans, due to its ham-fisted marrying of Scuderia red and ink jet printer blue.

While some colour schemes become instant classics, others leave fans scratching their heads, wondering how such eyesores ever made it onto the grid as sponsor identities take preference over aesthetics.

Here’s a look at the ugliest paint-jobs in F1 history.

10. 2018 Racing Point/Force India VJM11

It’s not easy to pick the ugliest of the pink liveries that Force India/Racing Point used throughout its pre-Aston Martin history, but the 2021 paint scheme edges ahead of the rest.

As it’s often the case, the colour was dictated by money, in this case Austrian water technology company BWT, the team’s name sponsor and whose corporate identity was mostly pink.

The Silverstone-based team stayed with the colour from 2017 to 2020, before Aston took over (for the sake of everyone’s retinas).

9. 1997 Lola T97/30

Lola’s efforts in F1 lasted one full grand prix weekend before the team lost its sponsors and withdrew from the championship having failed to qualify for its only race.

The team was 12 seconds off the pace for the 1997 Australian GP qualifying and would not even show up in the next race in Brazil.

Despite that, its colour scheme remains vivid in the memories of all the fans and Mastercard will probably be pleased to still be getting free publicity from a livery that was designed around its corporate colours (in spite of being associated with arguably F1’s worst ever car).

8. 1979 Shadow DN9

Shadow’s main sponsor in 1979 – Dutch tobacco company Samson – not only dictated its colour scheme, but also one of its drivers, as Jan Lammers was picked to partner Elio de Angelis.

Samson’s logo was a lion, which was proudly emblazoned across the front of the car.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was the ’70s, after all.

7. 2012 Sauber C31

You could argue Sauber’s 2012 paint scheme was not that ugly, as grey and white are not such a terrible combination (if you’re a filing cabinet).

What it did look like, however, was a very low-effort job that could have been designed with the Microsoft Paint.

In Sauber’s defence, with the ugly design of the noses that year, it was a big challenge to make any car look pretty.

6. 2021 Williams FW43

There isn’t a rule in design that says you shouldn’t paint strips that are perpendicular to the direction that a car is travelling in – but there probably should be.

The 2021 Williams design tried a little too hard to fill the big gaps not covered with sponsor stickers after having finished dead last with zero points the previous season.

The end result wasn’t very visually pleasing, and it didn’t help the team score points that year either.

5. 1991 Coloni C4

Coloni never appeared to try too hard in its three years in F1, and its final livery was an accurate reflection of its lacklustre grand prix history.

In similar fashion to the Sauber above, the Coloni paint scheme wasn’t necessarily too ugly. It just looked like a very basic design done by someone whose actual job was something completely different.

4. 1976 Hesketh 308D

The Hesketh paintjob is one of the few (or maybe the only?) that featured the body of a real person, as adult magazine Penthouse was the team’s main sponsor that year.

Penthouse Pet Suzanne Turner featured on the front of the car, and while there’s nothing to be said against the model, the car livery was not quite a masterpiece.

3. 1992 Brabham BT60B

Force India could have learned from the 1992 Brabham livery that pink is not a great look for a car.

The pink front end – sponsored by Japanese heavy metal band Seikima-II – was combined with a blue rear that didn’t really work well, to say the least.

The car wasn’t very often on TV though, as it only qualified for a handful of races. Not very rock & roll.

2. 1999 BAR 001

The first BAR Formula 1 car could have been a good-looking machine had the team not opted for the radical dual livery. If you look at it from one side, it’s not too bad.

The livery was the result of the FIA not allowing BAR to run two different paintjobs on their cars, as it wanted to please British American Tobacco by having a Lucky Strike and a 555 car – which it managed, kind of.

In the end you could argue the team got away with it, but the result was not pleasing for the eyes.

1. 2008 Honda RA108

In fairness to Honda, its intentions were good when it presented its ‘Earth car’ design to the world in 2007.

In practice, however, it was a terrible execution of a plan to highlight the issue of climate change.

The livery set a (low) standard that will be hard to surpass.

Bonus entry: 2025 Ferrari SF-25 (Miami GP)

Ferrari’s special livery for the 2025 Miami GP gets a notable mention as an example of what not to do with a paintjob.

Yes, money talks, and in this case, the team argued that the HP was a technological marvel, as it was significantly lighted than the previous year’s.

From a design points of view, however, it just hurts the eyes. Very much not belissima.