Does the car make the livery, or livery make the car?
More F1 teams debut their 2023 livery
How often do you see a model smiling on the runway during a catwalk?
Seldom to never.
The reason behind this is that the models are not allowed to smile. The designers specifically instruct their models to not smile for the camera on the runway.
Maybe, it is because the designers want nothing to steal the attention from their clothes or designs – even the model’s smile.
Whatever the reason it seems the Red Bull designer had the same approach in debuting their 2023 car. I’m pretty sure the livery designer hit copy and paste, deleted a few logos, then called it a day.
The event was really boring considering this same brand that pulled out the marketing stunt, “Space Jump”.
The only stunt going on was a glorified PR announcement.
Ford CEO Jim Farley joined Christian Horner along with the Red Bull drivers on stage to formally introduce the new Red Bull Ford Powertrains partnership for 2026.
Ford is a company that lost $2 Billion last year, and currently has 9.8 million recalls on their vehicles. It’s so bad that car dealers have taken to social media to complain.
I’m not a CEO of a public company by any means, but it seems to me Jim’s focus should be making money and providing a quality product for his customers, not marketing yourself in F1, albeit 3 years from now.
The partnership between Red Bull and Ford wasn’t outlined in detail, but most have summed it up as a “badging deal” with Ford’s technical staff helping Red Bull Powertrains develop the MGU-H and battery technology alongside the sponsorship monies.
This much I know, Red Bull Powertrains will still be running the show, not Ford.
So why announce the deal in 2023? We just need to follow the money.
First, Ford is eager to jump on the F1 growth bandwagon for sake of sales and brand recognition worldwide, regardless of the company’s performance.
Secondly, Red Bull can take advantage of the new special arrangements for new power unit (PU) suppliers. The 2026 regulations contain a provision for suppliers to be considered partially new.
They state: "If, following a review of the requested documentation, the FIA determines that a PU manufacturer does not fully satisfy the necessary conditions, the FIA reserves the right, at its absolute discretion, to grant the PU manufacturer a partial new PU manufacturer status.
"Partial new PU manufacturer status will give rise to a reduction of the additional rights accorded to new PU manufacturers by the technical, sporting and financial regulations."
Basically, this means new suppliers can spend an extra $10m in 2023, $10m in 2024, and $5m in 2025 within the areas covered by the cost cap. They can also deploy an additional $15m in capital expenditure over that period.
“Red Bull-Ford Powertrains” is understood to have been granted only partial new Formula 1 engine supplier status for 2026 by the FIA, and will thus receive only 90% of these financial benefits.
You really have to commend Horner and his team for taking advantage of this loophole in the regulations.
It will be interesting to see if this partnership comes to full fruition. I’m hopeful, but not sold.
What we did get to see what Danial Riccardo’s smiling face on stage. I’m happy to see him back in Red Bull colors.
Meanwhile, Williams Racing’s 2023 debut was spectacular.
First of all the car was shown almost immediately. No wait or build-up.
Will Buxton did a solid job on the mic.
The livery was well received with fans & media immediately drawn to the slick placement of the Duracell battery.
I think these same fans must have been asleep during the 2022 Miami GP race because this is where Williams initially showed off this creativity.
Personally, I love the shades of blue and how they contrast each other.
Speaking of blues, that’s how the Williams Racing 2023 season might be summed up.
The team is a hot mess right now.
They lost their team principal in December of last year, and a bunch of technical people have exited including their chief technical engineer.
Combine this with the fact that the team will be WAY under the budget cap this year along with employing young drivers, one being a rookie, and it doesn’t look promising. There’s a lot more, but I think you get the point.
It’s a sad state for a team that used to dominate F1. To the point that they were often the technical leader of the sport. Williams always had new tricks to produce wins, now they just produce great livery.
The Star of the Week was Alpha
Alpha Romeo had everyone gawking at the F1 Fashion Show this week. The jaw-dropping, kind of gawking.
I loved that they went old school; both drivers pulled back the car cover on stage after a quick speech to reveal the C43 in show car form. Simple and upfront, even if it wasn’t the real car.
Just look at that floor. I said last week that we will see some crazy development in that area. Here is proof of the rendering released by Alpha.
Oddly, the real Alfa Romeo C43 appeared today without the radical serrated edge floor when it made its track debut in Barcelona at Alpha’s “Film day”. Early speculation leads to the team still refining the new floor.
My question is will competitors want to get close to Bottas or Zhou on track and risk shredding their tires if they touch?
My personal favorite rendering was the back view. The fully exposed carbon fiber is slick looking, but that wasn’t the point.
With F1 cars being so heavy teams are deleting graphics/paint in order to reduce weight. The minimum weight for an F1 car is 2kg lighter than in 2022; a welcomed change for F1 teams, but not so easy to execute.
Regardless, the soon to be Audi team, did not disappoint.
The next week will be jam-packed with debuts including many of the front-running teams. Then on the 24th, Netflix presents the new season of “Drive to Survive”, recapping last season’s wild moments, followed by pre-season testing and the opening Grand Prix in Bahrain.
It’s funny, most of my friends get a little sad after Superbowl weekend because football is over. Meanwhile, I have a Cheshire grin on my face knowing the racing season is here.
Hope you learned something,
🏁Brent🏁
PS Enjoy the Superbowl and if you need a team to root for my Chiefs need all the love they can get. MVPat
Let's go Chiefs!