P1 with Matt and Tommy - Our 2025 F1 livery ratings

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

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Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. Yes. Livery ratings time. The absolute pinnacle of Formula One content has arrived where we give our opinions on what colors we like and how they've put the colors on the car. Tommy, you are a livery nerd. You love it. You literally think about liveries as you're falling asleep most nights. So are you looking forward to giving your washed opinions?

I am. Yeah. If people got angry about drive ratings, wait till we give our opinion on colours. And styles, because there's correct answers to this, aren't there? So what we're going to do, now that we've seen all 10 F1 liveries at this F-175 event, we're going to give our opinion, and we're going to grade them out of 10. So it goes from zero. We can give a zero, can't me, Tommy, all the way through to a 10.

I don't think anyone's going to get a zero today, spoiler alert. Just similarly to how we do with driver ratings. We've also got a fan rating to share as well, which you wonderful people voted on. So look forward to that. We're going to begin with Sauba. The green fade into black livery. I've gone for a six out of ten. I am, look, I think they drove really well at the F-175 event.

I think that they put down a good performance in qualifying, but the problem for me was the race. and the drummers, the drummers really lacked a lot of emph for me personally. But no, back to the livery itself. It's one of those liveries, right? Well, you look at it for me anyway. And I go, oh, cool, that's like, you know, really bright green. But I feel like I could have made that on an F1 livery designer.

Like literally just fade to black. I don't mind it as a livery design, but I don't think there's too, there's not enough to get, to wet the taste buds for me here, I think when we first saw the salber, I was like, oh, that looks quite cool, I like the fade. But as the other teams came out, I was like, I then looking back at this car that was launched first, I was like, it's okay. So that's why I've gone for a six. I have gone for a six out of ten for the salver.

We will disagree at some point. It's like, it's okay. It's not horrendously bad. I like the fact that it is the crazy bright green from the front angle. that kind of looks all green. So when we see it on track and kind of like driving towards you, which is, let's be honest, most of the angle you see as a Formula One car when you're watching it on TV a lot of the time,

it will look all green. But yeah, the fade is a little bit weird. And actually, if you look at the F-175 event, I don't know if they'll fix this, but if you actually look at the car, I don't know if it's just the way the lights were on. They hadn't faded it properly. It looks quite good in the renders,

but it kind of cut off where you can clearly, before it becomes black and becomes, real carbon, which is clearly why they've done this fade, so they can have lots of carbon on it. It's not actually black, so the fade is, like, quite jarring. It's all right. It's all right, says Tommy. The fans say it's slightly more than all right. A seven out of ten from the fans.

Let's go to Williams. Williams, I've gone for a seven out of ten. It's better, of course, than the Salba, in my opinion. that's why I've given it a higher grade. It's not wowed me. They've done a gradient a bit better because, again, teams are loving this kind of new,

I don't know if this is just like a livery trend that seems to be where they want their card to look completely different at the front than the side angle, because Williams have done this as well where you look at it from the front, it's dark blue, and look at it from the side,

it's a light blue. And yeah, it's kind of quite simplicity. but I think that is quite a good thing. Dura cell, bangor as always. That is just a classic thing now. And yeah, it's pretty good, but it hasn't wowed me.

It's not really changed too much compared to previous years. I think they maybe could do a bit more interesting. Williams have not wowed the artiste that is Tom Bellingham. I was slightly more wowed. I went for an 8 out of 10.

I like delivery. I don't think there's too much wrong with it. The juror sell, as you say, is a banger, and I'm glad that that's still there. It's just, it's such an incredible inclusion of a brand that's, yeah, whoever came up with that deserves a big old raise.

But no, I like it. There's, again, I think you will see with my ratings. The more carbon that is shown, the lower the grade. So the fact that there isn't really any carbon on show from what I can see, at least, you know, they might have got some hidden parts. But in terms of the display,

the side profile and the front profile, I'm liking it a lot. So that's what I've gone for an 8 out of 10 for Williams. Congratulations. The fans also gave Williams and eight. V-Carb, Visa Cashap Racing Bulls

or whatever, you know, that whole video about making sure that we say it correctly. 10 out of 10! Just, oh! Oh, they have cooked. They have really cooked, have V-Cab. The problem for them

is they are very much committed to not putting or scraping away the paintwork at any point this season. I wonder what their renders are for like, right, we're going to roll out preseason testing. If we are really slow, we go to phase two, where we scrape away the bit where it's the visa and it's the white bit there. Then we get rid of the white hit.

You've got to wonder what the stages of weight reduction are going to be like, because, of course, this is not a particularly weight-saving car. But that being said, as a livery, we like it a lot. They have really cooked. I saw us well on our TikTok where we were praising this car. Visa themselves replied, saying, that they were, I can't remember what they said, but they were getting involved with the hype.

Of course they are. You know, this is the talked about livery. So big up to them, and I look forward to seeing it on track, because I think it will look really nice as well. Yes, there's been a picture actually on track of it. It looks very nice indeed, which is always good. I've gone for a 10 out of 10 as well. Really, really cool.

Did you choose not to win the race? Huh? Just the fact that we're like grading teams and stuff. I'm now like in my head imagining what's happened for V-Cup. for V-CAP. They've had a great season. It's so nice. I think the fact that last year they did the whole Toro-Rosso thing, but it was a Torosso, in my opinion, that had too much going on, where clearly they were trying to do too much by having like silver and white and green. Initially, though, when we first saw it, we had a very similar reaction to this, did we not, where we were

like, wow, oh, it's old-school Toro vibes kind of thing, but it sort of, it went downhill from there. True, but I have seen this car on track now and it does look just as good, which is always nice, because renders can bait you. I guess that's a good thing about F-175 is we've actually seen it on a car, so we now know what it looks like, because renders can make or break livers, I think it was Mercedes a few years ago that baited us with a render that nothing like the actual car and we kind of went, that doesn't look like that. But the fact that, essentially, it is the throwback to the 2021

Turkey livery that they did as like the Japan special that Red Bull used, Red Bull Racing that is. But it actually looks even better in my opinion. They've smartened it up. And I love the little kind of

fade of the blue where they've made it the Red Bull logo at the back, which is very cool. It's like a ball and then a bigger ball than a bigger ball, isn't it? Yeah. And it's not just you know, this is, makes sense, but just to explain, it's a 10 because I literally wouldn't change anything.

It is spot on. I can't think normally, normally you look at liveries and go, oh, I personally, I like it or love it, but I wouldn't do that. Whereas this, I literally wouldn't change a thing. I think it's bang on. Wow. Well, Tomo's going to struggle when he does his redesign of each delivery on the grid, isn't it? Yeah.

Okay, the fans, no surprise, also gave Vicar a 10 out 10. 51% of you voted a 10, which means 49% of you are wrong. So let's go to HASS. I have gone for a six out of 10 for the Hasse. It's not a bad livery. I just don't think it's that interesting. It's kind of smart in places. And, you know, it's a kind of colour scheme that a lot of the time you can't really get

wrong. I think that the only thing that annoys me on it is I think that the HASS on the side pod should be written in red to match the rest of the livery. But apart from that, yeah, very similar to last year, but not wowed me really,

but decent enough. Okay, I have gone for a five out of ten for Hasse, mainly because I'm very underwhelmed by it. And I think there's only so much you can do with black and white, but V-Carb has shown what you can do with white, and I just, as you say, it's not particularly different to last year, but it's just not really, it's not doing anything for me.

I don't really like where the white is placed on the front wing in particular. I don't know, it's just something about it that doesn't click with me as obviously a eye for detail designer that I am. Yeah, it's just not one that I particularly enjoy, but the fans enjoy it a lot more than me. Seven out of ten for Hass. Alpine. I have gone for an eight out of ten for Alpine. I think we are, we're, they've cooked slightly. They've kind of, they've left it on simmer for this, for this livery.

I do, I do genuinely like it so much more than what they did previously, where it was just Carbon City. They've, I think the inclusion of the pink is, could be. improved somewhat. I'm not a massive fan of the Alpine logo in pink at the back and how it kind of doesn't. It's just literally a cut of pink and then it goes into the blue. But that's why or how I would probably improve it to a nine or a ten. But I like the BWT. I like that in pink. And the pink accents on the front wing as well and the halo. So yeah, it's a nice, it's a nice livery and it's going to look very colourful until they scrape it all off in preseason testing. I've got for an 8 out of 10 for Alpine as well

almost a 9 but yeah it's very nice this is what would you change Tommy what would I change maybe it's difficult to say because overall

I think I really like the fact that it's very pink from the front blue from the side I think this is what they should have done in the first place when Alpine got announced. Obviously, we had that beautiful Alpine livery, didn't we, in 2021. Everyone loved. It was really cool. They bought the kind of shimmery blue that they've got back again, which is very nice.

And then as soon as BWT came in, it kind of ruined the livery. And a lot of people will still think that because at the end of the day, it's a very garish colour scheme that is going to divide opinion. but the fact that it looks like an Alpine and still has the BWT pink I think is a massive bonus and really good. I love I love, I've always loved the pink BWT livery

but I don't want it to just be an absolute carbon copy of the racing point. It kind of needs its own identity, if you like. So I think that's what they've done here. So yeah, it's a good job from Alpine. I'm impressed. And BWT don't pay enough to have a car the whole year, the pink either. So there you go.

Racing Point will not be cloned. The fans gave Alpine an 8 as well. We are in complete agreement. Let's go to Aston Martin. I've gone for a 7 out of 10 for Aston Martin. Still a great-looking livery to a point, but basically a downgrade. I think this will get onto later. Maybe this is a bit of a spoiler for later.

But this is a lesson for certain teams that don't change the livery, that that might actually be quite a good idea, because if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And this, to me, screams, well, when it screams Adrian Newey's gone, get rid of as much paint as possible. But it does just show that liverys don't need to be complicated. And when it was just all British racing green, Aston Martin, it looked its best. And now it's got kind of the a REMCO on the rear wing in colour. You've got the white airbox. You've got the black.

And it's just, it's getting busier and busier. And it is just downgrading each time a little bit. Still looks very nice. And it is such a great colour scheme to have that British Racing Green. They're always going to go with that. It's their brand identity. But I feel like it's just getting a little bit worse each year as they try and change things. And maybe it's a case of they don't need to change what ain't broke.

Correct. I have gone for a seven as well for Aston Martin. This is, you know, it's a seven now, but it was a 10. And I think that's kind of highlighting what you were saying in the fact that when it was British Racing Green across the entire car, it was sex on wheels. It really was. So now it kind of reminds me of when Ferrari just had that random black box on their side pod and it's kind of what Aster Martin have now done with the side bit where it says a Ramco. It's what we feared every team would do again. It's almost like this is what you'd expect last year, right? Some of them were like, well, we'll just do what the car's actually going to look like on tracks. Some other teams have gone, well, no, we've got to paint it for F-175. It's got to look its best. So I am still slightly hesitant, as you may well have gathered from this podcast about what the cars are going to look like come round one.

But yeah, it's a 7-out-10. It's still a good-looking livery, but it is a downgrade from what we've seen in previous years. The fans, not happy at all, six out of ten. Mercedes up next. It's a seven out of ten as well for Mercedes. They're not hitting the heights of a few years ago with their livery for me. And yeah, it's just, I don't really like how some of the colours merge on the side pod. Once again, you know, it's literally just personal.

opinion, but for me, it doesn't excite me like some of the cars that they have rolled out previously. Yeah, not much more to say about Mercedes. It just doesn't really excite me. It's a good livery, similar to Astor Martin, but no more than a seven. I've gone for a six out of ten for Mercedes. I think they're suffering a bit, almost like an identity crisis with their livery. Like they're trying to be silver because that's their iconic colour. They're trying to keep the black, which obviously became the iconic colour when they were winning the championships. They've got the turquoise still from Petronus, and it can get all a little bit messy.

But one thing that's quite interesting, which is livery-based but into the wider sphere of Mercedes, is that there's a lot of theories going around that Ineos, who own one-third of the Mercedes team, along with Mercedes and Toad. have basically going to pull back their partnership or sell it on or or sell their kind of shares of it. And I thought it was quite interesting that it is basically the same as last year's livery, but where the INEOS was on the airbox is now just been painted in plain silver.

And there's a lot of theories that that was basically a very last minute decision of quick, we need to get rid of the INEOS because it looks quite weird that there's no sponsor or anything on there. And just to add to that, that kind of backs up the theory even more, that Mercedes were the only team not to post any kind of renders or any pictures of their car, which would also back up the theory that this is a very last minute thing that happened, that they had to change. So just speculation, of course, but heavily reported and rumoured. But yeah, I just think maybe it's, you know, time to commit to,

have something iconic. Like Mercedes is iconic for being, you know, like the silver arrows or if you're going to go for the black. I'd love for you to just enter a Mercedes board meeting with all of the sponsors, Toto Wolf there, all that sort of stuff. Tommy just, I think it's time for some identity, guys. And then like, Tommy, do you understand the sponsor crisis we're in currently? No, no, just get the identity back, guys.

And then we'll work back from that. Just have silver. That's what Mercedes is. Okay, dokey. The fans gave Mercedes a seven. Next up, Red Bull. It's a nine out of ten for Red Bull. This is just copy and paste any Tom Bellingham conversation about the Red Bull from the last many, many years. This, as we mentioned earlier with the Aston Martin, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

And Red Bull don't change anything. And if they did, there's a reason that they keep it very simple. The Red Bull is an iconic brand. an iconic livery in Formula One, you look at things like JPS and the Marlborough McLaren and things like that. They're not complicated liveries. It is literally just the sponsor plonked on and a couple of colours and that's it and it's done.

And that's what Red Bull are doing. They're keeping it just simple and it is almost like hilarious and to the point where it's a bit of a banter every single season that, oh, they've not changed it. but there's a reason because it just it just slaps and there's nothing like really that you'd change on it. It's just, it's just spot on. So it slaps, says Tom Bellingham. I've gone for an eight out of ten for Red Bull. It is an iconic livery and it's a very good looking one. We're kind of glad as we've seen with other teams that they haven't start to change things and maybe they just look at it and go, how do we make this better? Because that's sort of...

I see so many concept liveries where people are like, here's, we're going to mix it up and they put like the Red Bull logo on the side pod instead of the roll hoop. And it just doesn't work. It just, that is the Red Bull. And yeah, kind of it just, it's, it, that's how it is. And we're so used to it that it would look weird otherwise. Exactly. And I'm trying to rate the actual livery rather than the fact that. The fact that. that they haven't changed it, which I know some fan ratings have absolutely been steered towards,

oh, it's the same one again, rubbish. But yeah, I'm going to give it an 8 out of 10. It doesn't excite me. And maybe there is a seasoning of, okay,

well, you haven't changed it, so I can't give you a 10. So that's why I've gone for an 8. Still a very good grade. The fans gave them a 5. They are devastated. And by the amount of booze,

they gave at the F-175 launch event. Maybe they'd made their mind up before the car had even rolled out. So yes, five out of ten from the fans. Ferrari now, we go to Ferrari. Oh, Lord. Okay, Ferrari. Ferrari, seven out of ten.

Seven out of ten. It was going to be a six. I changed it literally last second to a seven because I couldn't do them like that. Because when I look at the car, all I'm looking at is that white striped. I know that people have said, Oh, it's a throwback to the Marlbredays and that sort of stuff.

Let's be honest. Is it really? No, it's not. No, because that one actually was nicely blended into the car in ways, whereas this very much feels like, oh, it's a Ferrari, it's a Ferrari, okay, we're up to the cockpit and the Halo, it's still a Ferrari. Oh, where's the Ferrari? Why is there a massive white stripe with an HP logo? HP, obviously, have brought a huge amount of money. It's clear to see by the fact that Ferrari have lost.

maybe 20% of their identity on their car via this white stripe and then also the white on the rear wing which I don't mind as much but yeah it's just it's so aggressive for me and that's why I'm still going to give it a 7 because I like

this is how I'm grading it right I would probably give it a 9 but there's 20% of the car I don't like so I'm going to scale it back 2 there you go the other bit you like because it's Ferrari yeah because the rest of it just looks so good, but then we get to the HP logo.

I've gone for a four out of ten. There's the only livery I actively dislike, and it's a big shame because I was really hyped for this livery. It's terrible, actually. It's really annoying because I don't understand Ferrari's obsession in recent years of doing anything other than just making it red. We mentioned about the Aston Martin, right? And the Aston Mine looked best when it was just green.

like it's very simple that's your identity you make it green Ferrari just make your car red you don't even you don't need to hire a livery designer just make it red that is that is your livery and the HP logo is the thing that really bothers me is because I don't actually think the HP logo on a red background it doesn't look great for sure but the fact that they've tried to almost maybe maybe it's HP wanting this and it also wouldn't surprise me because it stands out and everyone's talking about it. Because they are the title sponsors and the ones paying the big money.

But it doesn't need to be on a white background. Just on the race overalls they have the, which I think is an absolutely stunning shade of red and they've clearly like done that on the car. It's a great shade of red. Just make the whole car red. That is literally that simple. That's the whole thing. We wouldn't be talking about the HP logo.

They want to... Yeah, we would because they did the whole... Yeah, yeah, but what I'm saying is the... I still think the car from 2022... Yeah, 2022. It's one of the best-looking Formula-on cars we've ever seen. You look at the Ferrari from the 90s, in my opinion, that some of, if not the best-looking Formula cars ever.

And they are literally just read. And there's been a weird obsession with Ferrari recently that's like, oh, let's put like a bit of a burgundy, de-gradient in in 2021. Let's put some yellow and white stripes on it last year that they did. They don't need to do anything. They're in a very kind of, that is the icon of Ferrari is that it is just red. And I don't think they need to, and this is what I really don't like about it, is that some of the, particularly the rear angle, it's got a blue rear wing, it's got so much white on the side, and Farah should just be as red as possible.

It's really that simple, in my opinion. It's really that simple. HP would disagree with the amount of money they've spent. But they can still slap their big blue logo on the side. Yeah, but this is absolutely, in my opinion, a decision by HP. To have that Ferrari. Oh, I love that slash of white. There's no chance in it.

This is HP. They're like printers and stuff, aren't they? And technology and they're like white paper boom. There's a, I just, I just, I just saw, I already saw a meme of someone who'd put a printer on the air box and then the white paper is coming out of the so it's it is a shame when it comes to the overall look of this car for sure I am in agreement that it that is well it's the only problem for me is the HP part I think our role now as Formula One fans if we have an opportunity to colour it in

in the paddock then we have to so if we can just get that shade of red in our bags Ironically, I'd rather it be carbon because it would blend in a lot more to the red. It's very true. It's very true. But once again, HP want to be talked about and this is the way that they've gone about things, even if it might be in a slightly negative way

because they've kind of ruined the look of the car. I do love the comments on Twitter that, like, I'm never buying a HP printer because they've ruined the Ferrari. It's just not a thing. I've got a printer down here. Is it HP? If it is, it's going in the bin. I'm checking it right now.

It's fun. is not sponsored by HP. No, it's definitely not sponsored by HP. Where's the plan? I think I've got a H. Is it HP? It's HP. Wait, I've got a printer.

Let me just check. No, no, no, no. Right, you're coming with me. Oh my God. Yeah. They're doing something right. It's been an absolute pleasure, but you've ruined the Ferrari.

Also, you've ruined the Ferrari you five minutes ago. Seven out of seven. No, I like, because I like, 80% of the car and I am trying to ignore it as much as possible and I love Ferrari so I can't give any more. The thing about the blue HP Lego as well is one thing to add. If you look at any Ferrari from like the 90s, they had a big blue Fiat logo on the side and it looked fine. I just think, I just think like it's a sponsor. I personally find it quite unoffensive when I know a lot of

people really didn't like it when it first came on the car last year. It doesn't look great and it doesn't match the car like we used to, but I think it looks fine enough, but clearly, it is clear to me that they've obviously wanted some kind of get their logo really in your face, because they're the total sponsor and boys are in your face. It's all I can look at. Anyway, after all of that, the fans gave it seven, so there you go. All of that was completely pointless because they all have HP printers. Okay, finally, McLaren. I've gone for a nine out of ten for McLaren. It's an awesome livery. It was my favourite last year. Only slight downgrade is, I think they've got some weird blue around the cockpit, which I don't like.

But I totally understand why they have gone for exactly the same livery as last year. They've fine-tuned it the last couple of years with the papaya in black. And I said it last year that they'd finally nailed it. So the fact that they won the Constructors Championship in it, to go into a new season, trying to make this their new kind of, you know, they did a brilliant launch where they put the iconic cars, didn't they on the grid where they had the Vodafone McLaren,

they had the Marlborough McLaren. And those liveries were iconic because they were, they used them year after year and won multiple championships in them. So, so, you know, a lot of these kind of, as much as we love and it's clear, clear from the gradings that you want to see a new livery every year,

the ones that stick in your mind and the iconic ones are the ones that do get used year after year. And that's clearly what McLaren I think are trying to do with this. It's really, really nice. Tommy loves an icon as, yeah, I agree, because I've gone for an eight out of ten for McLaren. It's a very good looking car. It's not a 10, it's not a V car, but they're not changing the game. But as you say, they are going down this route of this is what the car looks like. I still would prefer more papaya on the car personally,

but again, they are chroming it up, not croming it up. I just read the literal box of chrome. I meant carbon, but there was chrome on the side of the car, and I said that instead. Maybe they will chrome it up for Silverstone again. Fingers crossed, that would be good to see. But yeah, it's 8 out of 10. It's a great looking car,

and well-don McLaren for not just screwing it up and going for something different. The fans gave it a 7. And that is it. We're done. We're dusted. That is livery ratings. In the bag, I am sure we are all going to wholeheartedly agree with every single one of these cars.

I can't wait. It kind of just kicks things off, doesn't it? It really sort of wets the taste buds of what's to come in terms of disagreements between Formula One fans. And why not start with how the cars look and people being right and wrong about this? Yeah. And then we go at least when cars get on track for testing, we can all speculate and pretend we know what's going to happened based on times that we don't know that. Watch this guys, everybody listening, okay, because Tommy is going to refine that four out of ten to a six out of ten when he sees the

Ferrari out on track. Easy, easy, easy done. Then by round one, eight out of ten. Okay. All right, well, you look awful. So how about that? How about those apples? Would you prefer me if I lashed out, I apologize. What are you doing? Why are you grabbing? What's going on? I said, would you prefer me if I had two HP leg goes here? I hardly heard what you said, and I literally just looked at your video. I was like, this has gone very sound. So yeah, we'll put the HP logos there, interesting. And that is it. Tommy, I'm sorry for the abuse right at the end. I love you dearly.

Let us know your thoughts, of course, in the comments and your grades and everything else in between. And can't wait for testing. It's going to be great fun. We'll be live, as we mentioned, multi-streaming on Twitch and YouTube this year. So look forward to that. Thank you to people that have become a YouTube member as well. Seeing some of you in the chat from last night. And Tommy, what are your final thoughts?

Final thoughts? loved the stream last night and feeling like we're back into Formula One and you can't wait for testing to see cars on track and then it will really feel like F1 is just around the corner and then it will be a whole other month okay thank you everybody we'll see you very first actually no three weeks maybe three weeks

two and a half week two weeks I think after test see you soon lots of love take care three dreams bye bye goodbye I'm going to sneeze maybe no I didn't no I held it I held it Oh, no, that's the worst feeling. It's the worst feeling, I know. Actually, the worst feeling is you giving Ferrari four out of ten.

So now that you're still here, audio is still going. Yeah, we're still rolling. We're still going. I ran out of chores four podcasts ago, I think. So Tommy, come up with one. Thank you. As we're talking about liveries, paint the kind of marks on the wall. Oh, yeah.

Oh, what marks? What marks we work with? Have you got some marks on the wall that you could be doing? Just, you know, like general scuffs and things? Yeah. I occasionally rock my suitcase against a white wall, and I'm like, literally, this rage I never feel, usually when I just look at my wall and I'm like, oh my God,

I'm going to have to sort that at some point. Yeah, it's not good. White walls disaster. I also have literally like a small hole in the wall at one point where something fell off. And have I done anything about it? No, because why does it affect my life? But you've changed the light bulb No, I've changed the light bulb now

It's done Go change the light bulb If you haven't changed your light bulb Don't let it flash Who lets people Who lets people flash? Okay, right Bye

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