F1 livery Power Rankings: The best and worst looks of 2024

It's been an eventful February in Formula 1. There was the announcement that Madrid would join the calendar in 2026, then the series rejected Andretti's bid to join the grid in 2025 or 2026. Oh, and then he It has been announced that Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes to join Ferrari after the 2024 season.

Amidst all of this, it's easy to forget that February is usually reserved for teams unveiling their cars for the new season. While F1 is full of explosive news, the 10 teams have still found time to launch their new liveries for 2024.

Now that the event spaces that hosted all those launch parties have been swept clean, ESPN's Laurence Edmondson, Nate Saunders and Austin Lindberg are examining photos from those parties to determine which new look is the most eye-catching. Here is the power ranking of the 2024 Formula 1 liveries:

10. Alpine

This car was revealed alongside Alpine's new WEC entry at the launch at Enstone. All I'll say is Google “Alpine A424” and you'll see what the livery should look like. -Edmondson

Waste. I could have done better on Microsoft Paint. Alpine has struggled to forge a meaningful identity in F1 since 2021, and this indescribable livery only reinforces that feeling. I still don't know what this team or this brand stands for. -Saunders

This had so, so much potential. I love the way the different shades of pink and blue overlap, in these angular shapes reminiscent of the “A” in the Alpine logo. It's so disappointing that we see so little because someone with a calculator at Enstone determined that each brush stroke would cost the team eight millionths of a second over the course of a race. -Lindberg

9. Williams

Smart, professional, a little boring. There are a lot of complaints about the amount of carbon fiber we see on the grille, but no one is complaining about the amount of blue. Regardless, the Duracell airbox always makes me smile. -Edmondson

Neither great nor terrible. A bit disappointing for a team like Williams. I agree about the Duracell airbox, but otherwise this livery makes me want to know more. -Saunders

I like the bright blue on the top of the nose and the rear half of the sidepods, but there's a lot of navy blue on this car that I'm not sure will show up when it's not under the studio lights and in front of bright blue. LCD screens. -Lindberg

8. Sauber

That's a lot of exposed carbon fiber, even by 2024 standards, and it's broken up by… randomly conceptualized lines of neon green? Am I supposed to think of a circuit board? Is Stake moving to Formula E? -Lindberg

Yes, there's a lot of black, but it's a striking color that we haven't had on the grid in a long time. I love the NFL Color Rush kits and I loved the fluorescent flashes on the Brawn GP car in 2009. I feel like there are parts of both concepts at play here and it works for a team that try to think outside the box a little. It could be better, but the palette of cars on the grid gets more and more bland every year, so overall it's a welcome new addition. -Saunders

I don't hate it, I really don't. This team wanted a unique identity on the grid and the bright green achieves that. Also let them have some fun before the Audi personalities arrive and start having six-hour meetings about the size and location of their four rings. -Edmondson

7. Haas

At least Haas' cars featured varying shades of black and gray before F1's fashionable regime of exposed carbon fiber. However, I'm not sure this is the kind of trend anyone should be too proud of. -Lindberg

Controversial opinion horn: What's wrong with carbon fiber? On a road car, you would pay huge amounts of money to see so much. Done well, like Haas did it with a contrast of white and red, I think it looks sharp. -Edmondson

I agree. “Sharp” is the perfect word. It's not a mess of colors like some of the other cars on the grid. I like the use of the front and rear wing to proudly and prominently wear the red associated with the team logo. The flashes of white are also a nice touch. -Saunders

6. McLaren

I wish they would fully embrace the papaya shade of orange of Bruce McLaren's early cars made famous as they did in other series, like the car Fernando Alonso first raced in at the 'Indy 500 in 2017. Maybe that's too much to ask for in F1 at the moment. It's pretty close for now. -Saunders

I'm glad they ditched the blue, but the Google colors on the wheels still clash with an otherwise sleek livery. Extra points for the chevron design where the two colors meet, which I can only assume is an intentional nod to the Marlboro McLarens of the 1980s and 1990s. -Edmondson

It's a bit of a shame that the most striking part of this livery is CEO Zak Brown's ability to sell sponsorship real estate, but okay, Laurence, the nod to the liveries of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna is a very nice touch. -Lindberg

5.RB

There's a lot to like, a good mix of colors and almost no exposed carbon fiber. Fans are rightly annoyed by the team's absurd name, but it's at least a return to something of Red Bull's racing heritage. It passes the “will it look good on the track” test. -Saunders

Toro Rosso, back from the dead. -Lindberg

If the Buffalo Bills had sponsored Toro Rosso between 2017 and 2019, this is what the car would have looked like – and I completely agree. More importantly, this livery sees the return of a rare thing in F1: gloss paint. These days everyone seems to use a matte finish, which tends to make all liveries look flat. -Edmondson

4. Ferrari

I had two nagging feelings about this car. First, it looks more like a billboard than most, with sponsors awkwardly scattered throughout. Second, if you told me that the white and yellow lines were added at the last second as an afterthought, I would believe you. It just looks a little messy, but Ferrari red still looks good. It is, however, an uphill battle for those in Maranello; for me, Michael Schumacher's cars (red with white undertones) from the early 2000s were perfect. Difficult to get close to it. -Saunders

I grew up in the 1990s, so for me the perfect Ferrari livery is simple: deep, shiny red on the body, black fenders, optional gold rims. This is probably a controversial opinion, but I preferred last year's design. -Edmondson

Ferrari has a bad habit of defining a seasonal car by an awkwardly shaped accent line or an awkward geometric shape, but not this year. The yellow and white lines look completely natural and perfectly accentuate what every racing Ferrari, outside of October 1964, should be: a sea of ​​red. -Lindberg

3. Red Bull

Copy, paste, win the title, repeat. I have respect for the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach. -Edmondson

Same. I've always loved this iteration of the Red Bull livery. This look also has an aura after being a main character in the incredible 2021 season and then the two dominant seasons that followed. -Saunders

This will be the ninth consecutive season in which the livery, apart from the reshuffling of a few sponsors, will be identical. I'm old enough to remember Red Bull's mission when it launched its F1 program in 2005: “Win and do it differently.” -Lindberg

2.Mercedes

A nice mix of old and new. Fittingly (but also unknowingly) for Hamilton's final season, he will race in a car that looks like a mix of different race-winning cars from the last 10 years. It may not be the most attractive or inspiring color, but if your name is Silver Arrows, you'll get by. Seen from the front, especially, this car is superb. -Saunders

This seems like a compromise solution between fans who wanted all silver back and fans who believe the W11 (the first all-black livery in 2020) will never be improved. Like all good compromises, neither party will likely be satisfied. -Edmondson

I don't know, Laurence, I'm quite happy with the fact that Mercedes managed to marry the silver and black design concepts. It's a perfect livery for Hamilton's farewell season at Brackley. -Lindberg

1. Aston Martin

If you can't make British racing green look good, you're doing something wrong. A point lost for the carbon fiber exposed on the pontoons, otherwise it is an asset. -Saunders

It still remains one of the most beautiful cars on the grid. Points are lost for the contrasting Aramco green on the rear wing and the seemingly unnecessary addition of more exposed carbon fiber to the sidepods. -Edmondson

I like Aston's neon accent color, but taking it down a notch is probably more appropriate for the brand. Let that British racing green sing. -Lindberg