2024 F1 cars and liveries | McLaren's radical Senna celebration | GRR (2024)

With several teams clearly struggling to keep the weight of their cars down, the amount of carbon-fibre on show is substantial once again, but there are at least a handful of challengers that have been graced with a complete livery to ensure there will be plenty of colour out on track.

We've been through them all and ranked our favourites from worst to best, but here you can take a good look at each of these new liveries and really pour over the details.

Updated: Wednesday 21 May. McLaren will run a spectacular yellow-and-green livery at the Monaco Grand Prix to pay tribute to the master of Monaco, Ayrton Senna. The livery, which goes beyond just tweaking the traditional McLaren colours and instead totally overhauls the car, is in the yellow and green of the Brazilian flag, with a little blue thrown in.

While Imola is the place Senna lost his life, and teh closest Grand Prix to the anniversary this year, McLaren has chosen Monaco for this commemoration because it is the circuit with which Senna was most closely associated.

As well as the brand new colour scheme, the MCL38 also bears the famous S logo of Senna's charity on the nose in addition to his name in stylised writing on the front wing.

Updated: Thursday 2^nd May. We can't help but feel Ferrari has been shown up slightly here. After week of hype surrounding Maranello's own special livery for the Miami Grand Prix, the Visa Cash App RB team has unveiled its own special livery that Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo will race this weekend.

It's a burst of colour, that's for sure, with a splash of pink and orange covering the nose and sidepods, while the usual red trim has been replaced with a bold sky blue. To us it screams beach holiday vibes, which is perfect for a race in the sunshine state. Ricciardo will be hoping it'll bring him some much needed points come the end of the weekend.

Updated: Wednesday 1st May. The blues aren’t all that blue it seems as Ferrari unveils its hotly-anticipated livery for the Miami GP. This comes also as HP takes its place as title sponsor, making the Ferrari team Scuderia Ferrari HP in official parlance.

The livery incorporates elements of Azzurro La Plata and Azzurro Dino on the SF24s that will race at Miami. The blues have made it onto the wheels, stripes across the bodywork on the halo, splitter and rear wing.

Many had hoped the livery would be an unprecedented wholesale ditching of Rosso for one weekend only but those who were daring dreamers evidently. The blues are historic colours for Ferrari while also referencing the logo of the new title partner HP.

The wheel covers for instance are a nod back to John Surtees’ championship win in 1964, which he secured in America. It’s also a reference to the North American Racing Team (NART) cars of Luigi Chinetti and the British Maranello Concessionaires team. The latter scheme can also be seen on Ferrari’s 296 GTB Assetto Fiorano road car.

McLaren reveals 'Driven by Change' livery for Japan

Updated, Wed 03 April 2024 at 16:45: McLaren has revealed a one-off livery it will race at the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix. The livery, designed by Japanese artist Miltz, is part of the team's driven by change initiative and features orange white and blue patters across the airbox, sidepods and front wing.

“When I first became a freelance artist, I never thought an opportunity like this was possible – this is the biggest international project I have ever done," said Miltz

"As I continue to build my profile as an artist, I want my artwork to champion the rich traditions of Japanese writing culture, such as Edomoji, but with a modern twist.

“From my work with local businesses in Japan to the McLaren Formula 1 team, there are so many beautiful stories to tell through art.”

2024 liveries in pre-season testing

Updated: Monday 26^th February. Pre-season testing is done and dusted, and over the course of those three days we got a proper look at the new grid for the 2024 F1 season. It's always interesting to see these cars out on track where they belong, not only do we get to see them in their true form rather than place-holding launch specs, but we also get to see those shiny new liveries sparkling under the Bahrain sunshine.

The 2024 F1 season kicks off for real with the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday 2^nd March, who's going to come out on top?

Red Bull reveals alarming RB20 concept

Updated: Friday 16^th February. Red Bull has done it again in 2024, throwing the rest of the paddock into chaos with a new car that goes hugely against the grain. Featuring a concept we haven’t seen on any other car so far in 2024, although that could of course change come testing, the Red Bull looks to have turned somewhere towards the ‘no-sidepod’ concept that Mercedes tried and ultimately discarded after a series of struggles.

There are plenty of details missing from this launch-spec car, so we can’t tell for sure exactly how this new design will work.

Max Verstappen will also prove difficult to stop once again in 2024, the three-time world champion took 19 victories last season, in what was a terrifying showcase of dominance and speed. Sergio Perez returns once more to once more see if he can put up a significant fight for the title.

Mercedes unveils its new car for 2024

Updated: Wednesday 14^th February. Mercedes has revealed its new challenger for the 2024 season, with some major revisions that bring it far more into line with the general developments we’ve seen from the rest of the grid. Gone is the left-field ‘no sidepod’ concept that failed so spectacularly in 2022, and now we see a far more conventional design that resembles far more closely that of the Red Bull that proved so dominant in 2023.

Perhaps more importantly however, Mercedes’ new F1 car features a very good-looking livery. The silver is back, but merged with black towards the rear end that results in a very pleasing design. There is some bare carbon-fibre around the sidepods, but we’re willing to forgive it because the overall look is stunning.

This will be Lewis Hamilton’s last Mercedes F1 car before he makes the move to Ferrari in 2025, and cards are being held close to chests as the team awaits to see how its new design performs on track.

Ferrari reveals its 2024 F1 car

Updated: Tuesday 13^th February. Ferrari has unveiled its new challenger for the 2024 F1 season. It’s called the SF-24, and it looks to have followed a similar pattern to the rest of the grid thus far, in that it has taken more than a little inspiration from the Red Bull RB19 that won 21 out of 22 races in 2023.

An evolution of last year’s car, with the SF-24 Ferrari looks to build on a strong end to last season, with focus centred around making this new challenger "easy to drive”, one that “reacts predictably, with as a starting point, the positive feeling the drivers had in the co*ckpit over the final few races of last season."

Upon the launch of the new car, Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur said: “This year, we must start off where we left off at the end of last season, when we were consistent front runners, with a view to constantly improving in all areas.”

Driver Charles Leclerc added: “I expect the car to be a step forward in several areas and from the impression I formed in the simulator I think we’re where we want to be. This season the aim is to be front runners all the time”

Carlos Sainz Jr., who will leave Ferrari at the end of 2024 to be replaced by Lewis Hamilton, said: “The aim is to have a car that’s more driveable and therefore able to run at a consistent race pace, as these are the basic requirements to fight for wins. We drivers have done our very best to give the engineers precise feedback and I’m sure the workforce in Maranello will have listened to our needs.”

Aston Martin launches AMR24 car

Updated: Monday 12^th February. Aston Martin has kicked off a busy week of F1 car launches by taking the covers of its new AMR24 challenger.

One of the big questions as we head into the 2024 F1 season is how Aston Martin is going to fare. The team had the second fastest car during the early rounds of the season, with Fernando Alonso putting up the closest challenge to the dominant Red Bulls.

But form waned after the Canadian Grand Prix, as the team struggled to keep up with the development of its competitors, eventually dropping to fifth in the constructors’ championship behind Mercedes and Ferrari and McLaren.

The team says it has been working hard on developing the car to be more competitive on a wider range of circuits, which it hopes will make it a stronger challenger over the course of the marathon 24-race championship.

Visa Cash App RB launches VCARB 01 car

Updated: Friday 9^th February. In something of a major U-turn, Visa Cash App RB might just be our favourite F1 team in 2024 after all, at least, so far, where liveries are concerned. While the name is certainly ungainly, at least the team has actually painted its car.

We were getting worried for a moment that this year’s grid was going to be a sea of indistinguishable carbon-fibre. Thankfully, we’ll at least be able to tell the RB cars from the rest, and isn’t it a stunner?

With Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda at the wheel, supported by a host of new names in key positions, including new Team Principal Laurent Mekies, this new-look outfit will be gunning for better results in 2024.

Alpine launches revolutionised A524

Updated: Wednesday 7^th February. Another day, another F1 car launch as we roll ever closer to the start of the 2024 F1 season. This time it’s Alpine taking the wrapper off its shiny new A524 car, which the team says represents an ‘innovative’ and ‘bold’ solution to a lacklustre showing in 2023.

With several noticeable changes compared to last year’s car across all elements of the design, engineering and cooling, Alpine is clearly devoted to pushing the envelope as it continues to chase the fastest teams on the grid.

The scourge of naked carbon fibre continues to plague the 2024 F1 grid, as teams continue to apply less and less paint to their cars in a desperate bid to save weight. Regardless of the minimal colour on the car, Alpine has again seen fit to unveil two new liveries that it will race throughout 2024. The pink BWT colourway will run at eight different races during the season.

Sauber reveals striking livery for new C44 car

Updated: Tuesday 6th February. Finally we have something new to look at in 2024! This one has already split opinion here in the GRR office, but whatever you think of it, you can’t deny the new Stake F1 livery is certainly striking.

Sauber has made the decision to throw off the shackles in 2024 in the wake of its partnership with Alfa Romeo, with some big changes to the car itself that include a switch to pull-rod front suspension and a more aggressive packaging of the sidepods and engine cover.

It’s clear Sauber is on the hunt for a better season than 2023, while drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu will both be pushing hard to prove themselves worthy of their place when Audi arrives in 2026.

Williams unveils FW46 livery

Updated: Monday 5^th February 2024 at 15:30. Williams has revealed the livery for its FW46 car that will challenge the 2024 F1 season, and it’s a very subtle evolution on last year’s design.

The deep blue remains in a cleaner, higher contrast colour scheme that also incorporates a small nod to the Gulf sponsorship, a small orange stripe along the nose and around the sidepods.

This launch car is but a place holder for now, so expect to see plenty of new details come to the fore when testing gest underway in a couple of weeks.

Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant return to race for Williams in 2024, and the team will be hoping to press on from a positive year in 2023 and continue to fight for points on a regular basis.

Haas F1 reveals first images of 2024 F1 car

Updated: Friday 2^nd February at 16:30. Haas has released the first images of its new 2024 F1 car. It’s called the VF-24, and it features a new predominantly black livery with the traditional flashes of white and red.

While Haas is referring to this new car as the real deal, expect to see significant changes between this and the final version that takes to the track in Bahrain for testing at the end of February.

Nico Hulkenberg will be the first driver to sample the new car during shakedown at Silverstone, but Haas representatives have been keen to impress that expectations are low for the early rounds as the team plays catch up after a hugely disappointing season in 2023.

The VF-24 also represents the beginning of a new post-Guenther Steiner era for Haas, who will be hoping to get back into the midfield fight before long.

McLaren reveals F1 livery for 2024

Updated: Wednesday 17^th January. McLaren has become the first team to unveil its new look for the 2024 F1 season, with a new take on its papaya and black colour scheme.

It looks as though the scourge of bare carbon-fibre will rear its ugly head once again in 2024, as teams continue to struggle to keep the weight down, with much of this new McLaren livery appearing to largely shirk the colourful stuff.

This is just a livery reveal for now, the full launch of McLaren’s 2024 challenger, the MCL38, will take place on 14^th February. Drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will be hoping the upcoming car will pick up where the MCL37 left off at the end of 2023.

Red Bull RB20 F1 launch date confirmed

Red Bull will reveal its 2024 F1 car on February 15^th. The RB20 is the follow-up to the RB19, one of the most dominant F1 cars of all time.

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez both return as Red Bull drivers for 2024, where Verstappen will have a tough time trying to improve on what was pretty well a perfect season in 2023. Perez on the other hand will have all eyes on him as he bids to prove himself a worthy occupant of the second Red Bull seat. Daniel Ricciardo is primed to make a move back to the top team should the opportunity arise.

All eyes will also be on the launch of the new Red Bull car, fans and teams alike, as we look to see what the class of the field in 2023 is bringing to the table. It has been suggested that the RB20 will make a substantial step from what we saw from the RB19.

Alpine F1 car launch date confirmed

Updated: Monday 15^th January. Alpine will launch its new F1 car on 7^th February. It will reveal its 2024 contender alongside its all-new World Endurance Championship Hypercar which is due to race at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

A team caught in a perpetual cycle of midfield mediocrity will be looking to break out of the rut and finally make a move towards its goal of challenging for the championship. With the doubtless talent of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, the pressure is all on the engineers to put together a car that can match their speed.

The team itself is still suffering from instability, however, in the wake of Otmar Szafnauer’s removal as Team Principal after just 18 months, Bruno Famin remains in place as interim team boss.

Mercedes confirms launch date for 2024 F1 car

Updated: Monday 15^th January. Mercedes has revealed its new 2024 F1 challenger will be unveiled on Wednesday 14^th February.

The launch event, which will showcase the new Mercedes-AMG F1 W15 E Performance, will be streamed live from Silverstone.

In the wake of two disappointing years for the Mercedes team that have yielded just a single win courtesy of George Russell at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, Team Principal Toto Wolff will be hoping for a major change in fortunes.

Expectations are that this new car will be vastly different to the 2023 car, which failed to win a single race, and was largely bemoaned by both its drivers.

Lewis Hamilton called for wholesale change throughout the 2023 season, and eyes will be on his performance as he targets a record eighth world title.

Aston Martin announces 2024 F1 car launch date

Updated: Thursday 4^th January. Aston Martin will launch its new F1 car, the AMR24, at Silverstone on 12^th Febuary. It joins Ferrari, Williams and the newly renamed Stake F1 Team as those with confirmed launch dates.

The team made a stunning start to the 2023 season, as Fernando Alonso surfaced as the closest challenger to the Red Bull team for the opening third of the year. However Aston weren't able to maintain that performance, and Alonso along with team-mate Lance Stroll ended up fighting for the midfield places as the team slipped to fifth in the constructors' standings.

As the F1 calendar continues to expand, the winter break, which used to span almost six months from October to March, is now reduced to just 97 days as the rollercoaster that is F1 continues at unabated pace.

That leaves very little time for the teams and designers to apply the finishing touches to their 2024 F1 cars. Some, like Mercedes, have committed to wholesale redesigns of their cars in a bid to close the gap to Red Bull, others, like the dominant champions of 2023, will likely have been working on their cars for far longer as they switched focus to their latest challengers.

Testing for the 2024 F1 season gets underway in Bahrain on 21^st February before the opening race of the season takes place on Saturday 2^nd March (scheduled a day earlier to accommodate the beginning of Ramadan). So far we have four confirmed launch dates from Williams, Stake (Sauber), Ferrari and Aston Martin.

The age of glamourous launch events has been consigned to the past, with F1 teams generally now preferring a more scaled-back online launch of their cars to save some cash in the new era of budget caps. Many choose to simply roll the car out of the garage on the first morning of testing. As always, we can’t wait to see what the teams have been getting up to behind closed doors. Here’s hoping for some stunning liveries as well.

2024 F1 car launch dates

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.