As far as racing liveries go, it’s usually pretty hard to get excited about Red Bull’s F1 schemes. We get why, year in, year out, they stick with the blue, red and yellow colour scheme that makes winning F1 championships synonymous with drinking over-caffeinated liquids from a can – but we still wish they’d get a bit more inventive. It’s why this year’s paint job sits middle of the pack in our rankings.
Fortunately, the team does occasionally give itself some free reign with one-off specials. It ran a fan-designed pink-and-pastel blue-infused scheme at the 2023 Miami GP, the 2012 British GP Wings for Life livery made up of pictures of charity donors and of course, the white livery David Coulthard ran in his final race, the 2008 Brazilian GP.
Red Bull Racing RB16, 2021 Turkish Grand Prix
The coolest of the lot could be making a comeback at this weekend’s Japanese GP, though, as reported by our sister site Crash.net.
Red Bull is set to run in Honda Championship white at Suzuka, honouring their partnership with the Japanese manufacturer, which has supplied its engines since 2019.
That’s resulted in all four of Max Verstappen’s World Drivers’ Championships and two Constructors’ titles for the Milton Keynes-based constructor.
It’ll be the last time Red Bull runs a Honda-developed engine (which, for complicated reasons, is self-branded) in Japan before it begins working with Ford in 2026. Meanwhile, Honda will begin supplying the Aston Martin team.
Red Bull Racing RB16, 2021 Turkish Grand Prix
Red Bull last ran a white livery to celebrate its relationship with Honda at the 2021 Turkish GP, when it took a double podium. It’ll be hoping to mirror that success, although that could prove an uphill struggle given the pace of McLaren.
All eyes will be on the team regardless of the livery choice, given the decision to switch out Liam Lawson for Yuki Tsunoda in the second car ahead of just the third race of the season and the Japanese driver’s home race.
