I’ve made no secret that I’m a very new fan of Formula One. In fact, it was days after the Apple-produced movie had come out that my interest was piqued. I had to learn more — as much as I could, as fast as I could.
Thanks to already having a media job, and it being the offseason, I consumed as much content as humanly possible — watching all seven seasons of Drive to Survive, the Brawn series, subscribing to F1 TV, and more. A quick study, I suddenly was watching the movie Rush, noting that Daniel Brühl was an accurate portrayal of Niki Lauda — having not known a week previous that Lauda existed.
So, I’m a newbie. But I seem to have a good feel of the sport and much of everything that surrounds it. From the racing itself, to the tech and engineering, to the drama, plots, and storylines, if nothing else, I have a rudimentary understanding of modern-day F1. Thus, I thought it would be fun to cause some controversy at the most superficial level.
By ranking the liveries for all 2025 teams.
While the discussion of what the cars look like and their colors seems very frou frou to some degree, that’s kind of part of car culture. It’s why the base Ferrari is red. Or why you often see orange Dodge Challengers, or electric blue Chevelles. So yes, I am ranking the look of each car — something that may or may not appeal to you. (At some point, I’ll write something about Adrian Newey’s latest innovation or the newest engineering marvel — but that day is not today.)
Without further ado, from worst to first.
10. Alpine
What’s shocking to me is that Alpine adopted the exact style of Force India and Racing Point while being a completely different team. Perhaps I’m ignorant and there’s some kind of thruline that I’m unaware of, and maybe BWT has some requirement that if it’s a sponsor, the livery must be ugly blue and pink.
Perhaps it’s also the drivers (though I adore Pierre Gasly), but unless Max Verstappen was driving this car (and maybe not even then), I cannot take it seriously.
This car is by far the worst on the grid and requires a massive overhaul in terms of look. Maybe even going from glossy to matte would help, but honestly, anything would at this point. The black look in 2024 — which was also somehow still quite hideous — would be a major improvement over this.
9. Aston Martin
Give Lawrence Stroll credit, changing from Racing Point to Aston Martin is a major accomplishment, one that comes with a ton of prestige. That said, while I get what they’re going for, with the old school “England green,” harkening back to the old days of F1 racing, I see this livery and I’m like, ‘meh.’ Again, a matte look over glossy with the green, or a more muted green, would look better.
The matte black trim is an upgrade over the previous iterations, but there’s something about this that’s still quite mundane — which shouldn’t be the case for a brand with the luxurious notoriety of Aston Martin.
8. Williams
You’d think a racing blue car would be beautiful, but somehow, much like the namesake ‘Williams,’ this is just boring. Now, Williams itself has a rich history in the sport, but this livery might as well be called Smith or Jones — it’s the Ann Veal of cars (that’s an Arrested Development reference, folks).
Even so, the ad placement feels like it was done by a sixth-grader who got hold of Photoshop for the first time. What this car needs is either more of a two-tone look, or more of an electric blue that gives it a 1970s feel. But as it is, I can’t pick out a Williams on the grid from a lineup of one (another Arrested Development reference!).
7. KICK Sauber
I might be in the minority, but I actually don’t hate this. I like the two-tone look, the matte black mixing it up with the near-neon green, and the Stake logo prominently featured. The look is edgy, youthful, and is what a race car should look like. The only holdback is maybe it’s a little too youthful, like it’s trying to be a Monster Energy drink in automobile form.
6. Haas
So, when I started watching Drive to Survive, that 2019 iteration of Haas was one of my top two liveries — and it might not have been two. Since, there’s been some tinkering, and in theory, I should love everything about the 2025 car. Yet, for some reason, it doesn’t stand out from the pack.
White and black with red accents is a winning formula as far as color combinations go, but for some reason, this just doesn’t quite rise to the level that it could or should. It perhaps would be better if it had more of a white look with black and red accents instead of incorporating so much black. It’s still good, but could be better.
5. Scuderia Ferrari
I’ll dodge your tifosi tomatoes on this one, because while I get the tradition of the Scuderia, the flagship vehicle of Formula One is kinda bland.
There’s no way to fix it, in my opinion. It just is. It looks good, but not great. I tried to make Ferrari my team, but I just couldn’t — and this was one of the reasons. It’s OK. It looks like a sauce I would include on my pasta. And that’s fine.
4. Racing Bulls
This is still a very good look but it used to be better when it was Toro Rosso or AlphaTauri. The blue-on-white look was incredible, among the best in all of F1. This isn’t too far behind, honestly, but going with the official Red Bull color scheme on white, for some reason, doesn’t have as satisfying a look. Yet, it’s still good enough to be in the upper-third of the pack — perhaps too good for the Red Bull B-team.
3. Mercedes
This might be sacrilege, but I wish Mercedes would ditch the silver nose and just go all-black and teal. Yes, I know Mercedes is known as a silver car with a silver emblem, but the black is just so satisfying. The emblem diamond-plate look on the back is about as sharp as it gets. And honestly, even without my critique, this car is pretty close to flawless. It’s classy, it’s emblematic, it’s iconic. I’m merely quibbling.
2. Red Bull
I originally had Red Bull as the No. 1 car until I realized they really downplayed the once-oversized Red Bull text logo on the back. This is still probably my favorite car, honestly. The matte dark blue, with the logo, the product placement — all of it is pretty incredible. Yes, it’s loud — it’s supposed to be. That’s kind of Red Bull’s brand. And despite it still taking me some time to come around on Max Verstappen (and I am coming around), I can’t help but be filled with wonder when I see this car out on the grid.
1. McLaren
The current Constructor’s leader, I can’t help but note that this livery has come a long, long way. I liked it when it was just orange, but I love it now that it has so much prominent black compared to the original 2017 redesign. The product placement also gets me — from the OKX on the side and tail, to the Google Chrome logo on the wheels, to the (not pictured) MasterCard logo on the front wing. This livery is a thing of perfection — perhaps tied in my mind with Red Bull, but No. 1 overall on this list.
What are your thoughts? What are your favorite liveries?
