Ranking the 2026 F1 liveries

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Right, on with the episode.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy.

It's time to get into your favorite podcast of the entire year.

Forget qualifying roundups, forget race roundups.

It's where we rate colors from 1 to 10.

And we crown our P1 livery of 2026 or my one and your one.

I feel like we might disagree throughout most of this if the car launches or anything to go by.

We've seen all 11, remember 11 teams now.

So we will go in order of the reveals.

Tommy, how you feeling about this one?

Are you ready to, I reckon you've changed your opinion a bit.

I reckon now we've seen that a lot.

Quite a lot.

And interestingly as well, we're obviously doing this before testing.

And we've had a few late, late comers with the launches.

But we've seen a few on track as well.

And they maybe don't hit as hard, some hit better when they're on track.

Yeah, so it's going to be an interesting look at what's changed since way back,

way back in January when the roadway got launched.

All that month ago.

Render versus reality is going to be a big conversation during this podcast.

Right, let's begin with Red Bull, shall we?

And my grade out of 10 for the Red Bull is a nine out of 10.

Now this one already, we open up the render versus reality conversation.

Because the render that I'm looking at right now in my little sheet is absolutely gorgeous.

And it's right up there with that nine out of 10.

However, we see it on track and I'm like, where's that blue though?

Where be the blue that you promised us with all those sparkly lights and the car launch

and things like that?

It doesn't quite hit as well when you see it out on track.

However, this is clearly what they intended.

So that's what I'm going to grade them on.

I'm not going to downgrade them necessarily, at least not for Red Bull.

I think it's a beautiful looking car.

Of course, still has the same identity as they've always had.

They've changed the hex code by a singular point for that blue and everyone's gone wild,

including us.

And I am happy to say that I still very much enjoy this livery and I've not changed my opinion on it.

I have gone for an eight out of 10 for the Red Bull.

I just got driver ratings right there like that.

That's what you take me about.

I'm like, so what did Red Bull do wrong in their race, Tommy?

Tell me everything.

Yeah, you're completely right with this whole blue.

I think you can put a render out there and boost the colors at like 8000% on Photoshop

and it pops like crazy and you've got this amazing kind of intricate blue pattern on it.

But when you see it on track, it does just look navy again.

Obviously, they've also changed going back to the white outline of the bull.

This is probably, there'll be a few of these.

The first hot take of livery ratings.

Hello.

I think now the excitement of a new livery has finished.

I prefer last year's and I know that everyone doesn't like last year's because it's got used

again and again and again.

But you prefer last year's Red Bull?

If you, if you, if I'd never seen them ever and you put both of them side by side and I'd never,

there was no subjective like bias or nothing's new and I saw them side by side.

The dark matte and yeah, how the, how the Red Bull pops on the dark

matte kind of almost black looks amazing.

And I always thought that with the old Red Bull.

It looks so, so good, so like, so mean compared to this.

Like I, I, there's something about this, this kind of new livery.

It just screams midfield to me.

You're trying to, you're trying to clip farm right now.

That's what you did last year.

No.

That's what you did last year with Ferrari.

That's what you said.

But it's true.

I, I, I prefer the, the last one has so much aura.

I think that is going to cause absolute.

The last one is better, definitely.

Yeah, I know, but I think everybody is now going to be with me and say that the glossy looks

three years, three years.

You look back on the one last year's one and everyone will prefer it.

Do you prefer the dark, the matte, the.

The contrast of the dark, the dark kind of matte base that almost looks black versus the Red Bull

that like is so shiny and almost like fluorescent.

Yeah, it looks, it looks really cool.

Okay.

Well, yeah, you're in touch with your opinion.

It's wrong.

So we did the fan vote, of course, as well.

We've got an average to two decimal places and the Red Bull got an 8.46 out of 10.

Very good.

Put a leaderboard up at the end on YouTube.

Or technically that's closer to my grade.

Oh, sorry, I didn't realise.

Oh, this is going to be an interesting podcast.

Okay, right.

Let's go to the second Red Bull team.

VCarb.

I have gone for a four out of 10.

The, the controversial takes don't stop coming.

Unbelievable.

And they don't stop coming.

Grumpy Tommy is in his 2026 era.

Yeah, yeah, this, this is a mess.

I, I gave this a 10.

I gave this a 10 last year, this, this VCarb.

I think they've over-designed it massively.

I don't like how the black is eating away at it.

It reminds me of maybe, maybe this is kind of,

kind of flashbacks to the era where carbon was taking over the car

because ironically they've kind of got rid of that.

And I know it's not carbon like it's a design choice,

but I don't like the way it makes the white look like kind of a weird shape.

And I think what I liked about the VCarb was it was just white.

And now that they've got all these kind of like black cuttings here,

they've got like a black shark fin.

The, the kind of visa shape looks really weird now.

The, the Hugo, they've tried to kind of keep that in white.

So there's kind of like this diagonal line and it all kind of looks a bit messy to me.

And then when I saw it on track, yeah, I thought it looked a bit of a,

bit of a mess and it's a shame because I really, really liked this one

last year and I think it's a big downgrade.

Okay. All right. Well, you know, Tommy, that things can be worse than the 10

and not immediately be a four. That's, that's very interesting.

I've gone for a six out of 10 for the VCarb.

I think, yes, there are definitely, there's a lot going on with this car.

I agree with that. I don't think I should be grading them the likes of a four.

Like, I think you're, you're, my, my four is like a five is an average for me.

Your four is, I'm really disappointed.

Like you're, you're a six to 10 scaler. I'm a zero to 10 scaler.

Yeah, I don't go anywhere. I mean, it matches, doesn't it, with our personalities?

I'm a glass half full, you're a glass half empty.

For the VCarb, I don't think it's a bad looking car, but yes,

it's definitely a downgrade from what they once were.

So yes, a six out of 10 from me, the fans, they went closer with me with a 6.6 average score.

So they thoroughly disagree with either Tommy or Tommy's grading,

one or the other in terms of his scale, as we just mentioned.

Right, let's head to Haas. Oh, Haas. All right, taught to me and I taught back.

Here we go. So Haas, I am grading you a 10 out of 10.

That is stone cold fire. I have, we've seen all of, we've seen all of the cars now.

That is just absolute filth. Now, it really is. Now, I know we spoke about the fact they just

invert the colors and all of a sudden we're like, well, my God, that's crazy.

But just everything about it makes sense to me that, you know, the GR on the side looks just

aggressive. The Haas is beautifully on the side as it always is. I don't know, it just,

I think there's a bit more red. Maybe this is, you know, where the Ferrari fan of me is going,

well, you know, they almost have as much red as Ferrari do these days.

But I think it's a beautiful looking car. I'm a big fan of it. It's not

too sponsor heavy either. You know, I think they've got just the right amount in the right places.

It's a beautiful looking car, Tommy. I have gone for a 10 out of 10 as well.

No, it's incredible. It's incredible. And this is one of those things we mentioned about the red

bull. And I saw it, I was like, oh, my word. Wow, that renders so cool. And equally this one with

the Haas. I saw the pictures on track and it looks even better in real life.

Even better. That's a strong statement.

Even better. It looks so, so good in person. Like you say, the GR is super like aggressive.

It's an aggressive paint scheme. I think like it's like choppy lines, but it's,

but it kind of works with the car. So it looks kind of like quite angular, but they've kind of

done the black and white really well. And I think the way they've kind of implemented all the colors,

I was ready to roast almost like roast Haas and be like, well, you can't really do anything with

white, black and red, because everyone's kind of white, black and red. It's a bit of a like a kind

of everyone's got this color scheme. I think we mentioned before we did the stream, like Haas

have never really had a livery where you've gone, wow. They're always just kind of a non-offensive

livery. They never do like a really bad one, but they also never do a really good one. And here,

they've just absolutely cooked. It's amazing. It's so well done. I do think the GR does a huge,

it's like opposite to HP. You stick a HP Lego on there and it's a six out of 10.

But the GR just looks so cool. Because they use the right colors for the car as well.

Exactly. It matches and the kind of GR logo being like, as you said, it looks kind of aggressive.

There's kind of like pointy, angular, sharp things of the logo they've implemented in the

livery to match the car. Like it's, I couldn't do any better. It's spot on.

No, of course you couldn't make this way of a podcast. You're not a livery user.

Yes, it's a phenomenal livery. The fans average grade for the Haas was an 8.49 out of 10.

Strong. So they still see some improvements though. They really do.

Right, let's now head to Audi. Audi have gone. Tommy Smirking. This could be a low score,

everybody. Now that we're not at the launch event, Tommy's going to say his real number.

Eight out of 10. This I've never in my whole life changed my opinion more than seeing this on

a racetrack. This has grown on me so, so much. It's the opposite to Red Bull in terms of like how

much my opinion has changed on it. I think so much of the launch, I think the underwhelming,

I think I was so underwhelmed by the fact that it was the same livery I'd seen three months ago

that I didn't really appreciate it. Because I remember thinking like when they

announced that livery, I was like, oh, that's kind of cool. Like it's a bit different.

So then when they announced it and all it was was putting some stickers on it. I was like, oh,

you know, like it's a bit underwhelming. And then I saw it on track and the silver's

really dark and the lava red, as if you've watched that video, and the correct panter and

colours. I love how they've painted the inside of the air box and the inside of the side pods

that that that red like really pops like almost like the Vodafone McLaren that it almost looks

kind of orange in some places. And yeah, seeing it on TV looks way better than I thought. And

a lot of the angles where you see the Formula One car, which is kind of that front and front

three quarters, it looks really, really nice. So yeah, I've completely changed my opinion on it.

And I like it a lot. Okay, wow. You do realize you're not allowed to change your opinion now

that you put your opinion out on the internet, that will now live on forever. So what you've

just said is null and void. Impressively as well, I have also not changed my opinion. I've gone for

a six out of 10 for the Audi. I'm content too low for you really not liking it. Yeah, this is the

6010 grade. Well, no, it's not that I don't like it, right? I like elements of it. And I think that

one thing from an identity standpoint, you're never going to miss this car because of the

very garish difference between the front and the back. Yeah, there are parts of it that I like.

However, you know, I still stand by the fact I prefer a Hass and the flowing, aggressive nature

rather than this literally looks like it's two halves of a car. You know, you've got Cadillac,

it's split down the middle. And they, you know, the left and the right side, whereas this is the

front and the back are two completely different cars. So it is still a little bit too much for

me. But I do, I do still like the lava red. And there are elements of it, as I say, I do like.

So we'll see, you know, across the season, when I've seen it racing a bit more and what not,

perhaps I will become more fond of it. But right now, it's, it's all right.

You just did. You just did. Okay, so the fans gave the Audi a 5.33 out of 10.

Let's now head to Mercedes. And I have a feeling we might disagree.

The Mercedes I am giving a nine out of 10. I love it. I really, I do really like the car. I know

that some people find the stripes on the side, jarring and things like that. There's just something

about the black and the silver and the teal that just gets me going. I really do. I just love the

combination of it. I really do. Of course, I've got the the stars at the back as well still.

I know that, you know, before you said it was a bit too busy. But for me, it's as busy, it can be

as busy as it wants. It looks really good. I still really enjoy this livery. So I don't think Mercedes

can really make a bad livery in my eyes. I, you know, I lost my mind when they basically just

painted the, well, it didn't even paint the car. It was just carbon. And I was like, that is cool.

So this is less carbon. And I still very much enjoy it. So nine out of 10.

I've gone for a six out of 10 for Mercedes, which is in my scale better than average,

obviously. So like, I don't like absolutely despise it. But I'm not as fond of it as I think

maybe a lot of people are. I've seen some people rate it incredibly highly like you and saying

you love it. And I see why people do really like it. But for me, all I can think about is, you know,

the, you know, the meme of the horse where it's like, coloured in, but like, it's like art,

an artistic horse. And then it's drawn in a cartoon at the end. That's how I see the front,

because the front is an absolute 10 out of 10, unbelievable flowing silver stripe. And then

the back to me, I just can't, I just can't see past the kind of whole air box area of the car.

And it is because I don't like the stripes. If you like the stripes, you're going to give it

really good grade. I don't like the stripes. I think they're, they're cheesy. They clash with the

the stars. I think as well, like, it looks like two different liveries to me from like the

front flowing lines. And then the roaches gave Audi an eight out of 10, and then complaining

about two different liveries. That's absolutely wild. But the pattern is like, yeah, it's blocky,

but the side bit, I just don't, I don't like it. And the way that they've kind of got three sponsors

stacked in like a really like off center way. I just can't, I just can't see past that whole

area that I just don't like. And it ruins the livery because I think, yeah, like they smarten

that up or the kind of stripes aren't there. Yeah, it's going to get upgraded to an eight,

maybe even a nine. And they kind of sort it out. But I just don't, I just really don't like that,

that side bit for me. And I can't see past it. Okay. I'm sure Mercedes are absolutely gutted.

Yeah, they're fuming when they win the World Championship by 800 points. They're going to be

fuming. Exactly. The fans average grade for Mercedes is a 6.80 out of 10. So they are very

much on the Tom Bellingham not enjoying the stripes potentially. No, it's a strong, well,

like we'll see the, we'll see the list at the end. It's a strong compared to others. I think,

I think everything, if you think an average grade, I think the fan fan vote is quite skewed with,

with obviously like some people are like, I really don't like this and giving it a zero.

And then people with a 10. Zero is crazy. No car on the grid is zero. But close. We now move to

Ferrari. Tommy, give us your opinion on the Ferrari, please. I've gone for an eight out of

10 for Ferrari. Ridiculous. I really like this. Still too much white. I do, I do think, I think

if the white was only up to the kind of top of the halo and didn't go around the, the kind of

cockpit area as well. This is like a nine or a 10 for me. I think the way that the, the red

pops like crazy, like the really bright red, the black and kind of rear wing and, and front

wing looked really, really cool. Yeah. And when I saw it on track, I was like, that looks really,

really nice. I just wish that, that the, they've done the right thing, making a better kind of

flowing white line for the HP rather than that horrible diagonal thing that they had last year.

But I would have liked a little bit less of it, but I still think it's a very smart car. And when,

every time I see it on track, I'm like, actually, that looks really nice, even though I cannot see

past Lewis Hamilton looking like a fried egg, when he's in the car.

My grade for Ferrari is a five out of 10. Honestly, it might, I think I'm lashing out at this point.

I think, I think the white is that much. Yeah. I'm not happy. I'm not happy with the amount of

white and people go, ah, Matt, look at all the classic white, you know, and red Ferrari cars in

the past. But it's done so much better than this. This is, this is purely for HP and nothing else.

I'm sorry. I don't care what they say about the nod to the, you know, the historical element of

Ferrari. I just don't think that's the case. They're just trying to make the HP sit better,

which fine. The HP logo looks kind of better, but I would much rather it just be all red

and have the HP logo. It genuinely, I've seen mockups of it and it looks just as good. Well,

it looks much better than this. If you had it full red, would be, would be talking. And some

people again might say, look, what do you mean, Matt? That's really boring. No, it's not. It's

Ferrari. Okay. Matt, really loud car. Yes, I am aware of that. But I'm also allowed my own personal

preference of what I like my Ferraris to be. And as you can see by the team kit that I'm wearing is

not the one with the HP logo on. I like red. Okay. And this, yes, is a five out of 10. It was a six

coming into this. I went down to a five. I saw the picture again and went, nah, come on.

It's probably not that, but look, I'm emotional and that is what I'm giving Ferrari. You can

cry me a river as far as I'm concerned. The fans average grade for Ferrari is a 5.98. So people

that start crying at me, look at the average score. We're cooking. Now let's head to Alpine.

They have extended their cruise ship and we're going to give them a grade.

My grade for the Alpine.

Am I changing on the fly? I don't know. That's quite a nice angle the way that is. Okay, look,

I'm going to give it a seven out of 10. Seven out of 10 for Alpine. It was going to be a six. I'm

going to give it a seven because that angle looks quite nice. And I don't know what it is about

their renders. The car just looks a bit more aggressive. So maybe that's what they're also

cooking with that. The shape of what they've gone for with their renders is much nicer.

And perhaps that's what I've been skewed by. I like the blue and the pink. I really do.

I always have. It's definitely a downgrade from what it used to be, where it was like a stone

cold 10 and it was unreal when they went to this color scheme. And of course, the carbon will

always leak into every single Formula One car these days, but only 45%. But I still quite like

the car. So I'm going to give it a seven. I have gone for a nine out of 10 for Alpine.

I think people hate this livery for absolutely no reason because it's kind of maybe...

This is the thing with these cars, right? If you don't like the color pink,

you're going to give it a bad grade. Or if you don't like really bright crazy colors,

you're going to give it a bad grade. But I do like crazy colors.

Go on, Tommy. Yeah, you tell them. You tell everyone exactly what colors you like.

Exactly. And I think also the livery has done incredibly well. To say that they've got to

like put the BWT into the Alpine, it's not an easy task because the pink is incredibly,

you know, needs to be there and a lot of it for BWT. But also they want their brand color,

which is the blue metallic, which they've done really well this year. When you see it on track,

it's really shiny, almost like the chrome kind of McLaren, if you like, but blue.

And there's probably a bit of bias here because my three-year-old daughter absolutely loves it

and makes a smile every time she sees it. You've been brainwashed.

I've been brainwashed. She wants Pierre Gazi to win.

I just love it. I think it's one of those cars where I will look back in like 10 years time and

I'll be like, ah, remember the blue and pink Alpine? That was crazy, wasn't it? And that,

for me, is like what I love about Formula One because I am a nostalgia merchant for

your Benitons, your Jordans, your Arrows from the years gone by where they just painted the

whole thing in a wacky color. And yeah, I love this. I think it's really well done and I'm not

going to, yeah, I'm not going to like downgrade it just because it's kind of maybe the same as last

year. They've changed very slight elements, but I think it suits the car really nicely and I love

it. Okay, and you're allowed to love it, Tommy. That's the beauty of this. Of course.

The fans gave an average grade of a 5.81 out of 10 for Alpine.

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Williams is up next. I've gone for a seven out of ten for Williams. I do like this.

I think the main blue is absolutely stunning that they've gone for. It's a really, really nice

blue. I think to say that they've got a lot going on, I said this in the main podcast,

they've executed it very well to make a lot of sponsors very happy. To have the Kamatsu with

the white, the Barclays with the light blue, Duracell still got their thing.

A blue casino wheel on the wheels now. I still think it looks very nice. I like what they've

done with the white on the side, reminiscent of the days where Williams had more white on the car

as well. I think overall it's a really smart and good livery for a team that, like I say,

made a lot of sponsors very happy by putting them in all their different colours.

I am going to agree with you for the first time with a seven out of ten for Williams.

I was deliberating whether it was a six or a seven, but then I was like,

if it wasn't for the Barclays and Kamatsu thing, which does throw me off a little bit,

I don't really like that on the side. I'm probably giving this a stone cold 10 because

the main blue is just useful. I love it. I love how 2% of our audience probably knows what

hex code is, but it's basically the colour you choose in Photoshop. For me, I'm trying to move

away from the negativity I have for that part of the car and be like, well, the rest of it

is absolutely awesome. I have decided to go with a seven. It'll be interesting if they

continue with this format moving forward in Formula One, where they give sponsors their own colour

chart on the car because it's worked this time, but well, worked to a degree. But let's see if

it continues to the average grade from the fans a 6.55 out of 10 Cadillac. We've just had them.

It's time to grade. And this is the biggest switch up I've had in Grand Prix racing. We're not really

switch up because I was positive about it, but I wasn't positive enough. It's a nine out of 10

for that Cadillac. I've seen videos of it in person and my God, it's so much nicer than people are

giving it credit for. I don't think people have seen the chrome on it. The chrome is not chrome.

There is chrome on the back. There's not chrome on it. There is. They've put pictures on the track

today. There's no chrome on it. I've seen a person with a camera going round the show car. No,

look, right. We need to have this discussion. Go on Formula One on Twitter. I saw this today

because this was going to be my point. What happened to the chrome? They've posted pictures

of it on track. There is not one piece of chrome, F1's Twitter. They've posted pictures of it on

track. They've got rid of all the chrome. No. No, no, no. I saw that. The end plate was chrome.

That's gone. The halo was chrome. It doesn't look like it to me. It's just black and white.

Also, the Super Bowl ad made it look like it was chrome and not white, but it's just white.

Yes, because the rear wing was chrome. They've just changed it now.

Okay, now we have entered the conversation of render versus reality.

And even reality from a fan going round a car that had chrome on. Cadillac,

how could you do this to me? Oh, no, what am I now going to do? Okay, so I'm looking at the

pictures out on track. I still look good looking, Leverie. Now that they've got rid of the chrome,

which I was really sold on, it's a seven out of 10. We've come down to a much more relaxed

grade now. I was about to sing Cadillac's praises after seeing these videos of the

chrome and just the way in which it was integrated into the car. It was really good looking. The

fact that we thought half of it was silver as well, when it is in fact white, is again,

the biggest miscell ever. And I don't know, I actually kind of prefer the white. I think it's

a bit more of a stark contrast. But Cadillac, you've had about seven different versions of the car,

so I'm giving you a seven out of 10. I have gone four.

So unsure. This is the hardest thing to, no, no, it's not right. Oh, if you changed your mind,

because you were very savage about it, you said it was boring. It is boring. So I'm going to have to

give it a five. I'm going to give it a five out of 10. Because I think the way I see this,

this livery, is I think they've done a really good job with a really boring colour scheme.

Like, I don't think you could do a kind of 1920s before colour TV was invented livery better.

Because black and white, for me, doesn't stand out on track, particularly, you know,

you mentioned this when we did the car launch. How's it going to look a cloudy day at Silverstone?

And you also got to think, you know, a Formula One track is grey. It's a lot of grey going on.

And when you see a car, I just don't think it looks that exciting. And the thing for me,

I know a lot of people jumped on the fact that, like, I was saying that I should be yellow,

and I've seen more now the fact that Cadillac got rid of the yellow, but as a corporate colour.

But TWG, their title sponsor, who people have said actually own the team.

Who own the team. Yeah. But their kind of logo is electric yellow. So kind of like Lando's helmet,

right? And they sponsor IndyCar and Formula E, and they use that colour in Formula E.

And I'm going to go back to the house here and say, they've got black and white with bits of red.

This just needs an accent colour of that yellow over it. And it goes from like a five to a,

maybe even a nine or a 10 if you had like little, if you implemented it nicely.

But it just looks so dull. And I just can't see past that it is just black and white. And

when you see it on a grey track, and the sun kind of shines on it, and it just looks kind of white,

it just looks a bit boring, like there's not enough going on.

So you think it will look boring in sunshine and overcast?

Yeah, yeah, I think it will. Just because there's nothing, there's no, there's no pop.

Needs a pop. No pop.

It needs a pop. I'll give it one bit of credit because I've been quite savage about it.

The old school Cadillac logo on the side is very, very cool.

I really like that in the like loopy font.

Brilliant. You like like 3% of the car. Fantastic.

Yeah, yeah.

There's your complement Cadillac.

Where the driver's legs are, that bit is amazing.

The rest of it.

Bring me back the chrome immediately.

If the chrome were still on there, what would you give it?

Maybe a six.

Wow, only one extra fez.

But I thought the same when I saw it. What was that all about?

They've done it and gone immediately. Oh, God, that is really heavy compared to not doing it

on the car.

It's so odd though, because that Super Bowl, I really did make it look silver.

Like when I saw that car, I thought immediately Mercedes, which again,

like is that good for a brand?

Yeah, I immediately thought it was McLaren.

Like it was crazy.

But instead, they've got rid of it because they realized that it's going to make them slower.

The fans average grade 5.92 out of 10.

They clearly found out about the chrome as well.

Let's now head to McLaren.

McLaren, I've gone for a seven out of 10.

It's my, one of if not my favorite color schemes on the grid,

but I think it's implemented quite poorly actually.

I don't like the fact that they just copied almost identically the livery from last year

when a new era and a new car shape, for me, means you need to redesign the lines and

match kind of to how the car looks.

So to kind of, as I said before in the car launch video,

the diagonal for me looked really, really cool on last year's generation of cars.

But here, I don't know, I just don't like it as much and I think there's the kind of

DP world and all-win logos that have kind of demanded a bit of color as well,

that they've kind of like put on, which kind of messes up the livery a little bit.

And I would have liked to have seen them do a complete redesign with orange and black

to maybe suit the flow of the car a bit more.

So good color scheme, not a great livery in my opinion, but it's still seven because colors.

Yep, we do like colors.

This is another thing that I am going to change my mind about and it's the fact that

I am now in agreement with you that last year's livery is better than this one.

I've seen different angles of that sort of just kind of very straight stripe that it now has,

the black with the Gemini branding.

I don't actually think I like it as much.

It's very jarring.

I'm now looking at the last year's one and I think that just with the orange air box,

it sort of balances it out better than the way in which this has been done.

So yeah, I'm going to change my mind on that one and I'm going to give McLaren a seven out of 10

because the baseline for a McLaren livery is obviously very high as it is.

But I agree, I think they could have done a better job of essentially mixing that black

and that papaya.

Clearly, they want a lot of focus on the Gemini side of things

and that's why it's got very much just there in white letters

with nothing else pretty much on the car.

So on that obviously part.

So yeah, seven from me.

The fans gave McLaren an average grade of 6.23 out of 10.

And finally, the Aston Martin car that we finally got to see after several attempts

on the live stream.

My grade for this Aston Martin is going to be a seven out of 10.

It's going to be a seven out of 10 for the Aston Martin.

I do like it.

It's very similar I guess to the McLaren in the sense of like their baseline is really good.

There are a few things I don't like which I think I mentioned in the live stream

and perhaps even in the podcast is first and foremost,

the Celsius branding on the hubcap is jarring when you look at then the Pirelli side of

obviously the actual tyre.

And also I don't think the rear wing works with it being just a complete light blue.

It doesn't merge with the car as nicely.

I don't think the sort of light green, yellow, whatever you want to call it accents on the car

are implemented as well either.

I like the front part as they've always done that part.

But the sort of blotch of yellowy green above the Aramco sponsor,

I don't know.

I just don't think that's particularly well done either.

There's a lot of negatives, but this is all from a 10 out of 10 baseline that they've had.

So that's why I'm giving it a seven.

Yeah, I'm going to go for an eight out of 10.

But in terms of like the conversation, it's not too dissimilar to what you said.

I think Aston have absolutely nailed the color now.

It's a beautiful shade of green.

It just screams Aston Martin.

They've got it absolutely nailed on.

I would have loved to have seen them do more with that kind of lime green if you want to call it that.

And I do agree with you in the sense that they've got that nice flowy line.

And maybe it's similar to maybe how I feel about the Mercedes in that sense.

That they've got this nice flowing line on the nose cone.

And then the lime green above the Aramco is a completely different pattern almost,

which is quite odd.

Why they've not maybe used that pattern on the nose and done something a bit different.

But I completely agree with you in the fact that there's a 10 there, but the problem is

they've gone blue with the Aramco rear wing, takes it down a bit of a grade.

The kind of lime green isn't implemented as well as it could do,

but it's still incredibly nice.

Incredibly nice car, but yeah, I've gone for it.

The fans average grade for Aston Martin 6.57 out of 10.

And there you have it.

I know there will be tears around the world that your favorite podcast of the year,

the livery ratings is over, but don't be sad that it ended.

Happy that it happened.

Did it happen?

Yeah, that's definitely not the right phrase, but it was close enough.

Tommy, what are your final thoughts?

Final thoughts.

Well, I'll just go through the order.

So the order of the fan vote last was Audi with 5.33,

then Alpine, one of my favorites, 5.81, Cadillac 5.92, Ferrari 5.98, McLaren 6.23,

Williams 6.55, Aston Martin 6.57, V-Carb 6.6, Mercedes 6.8,

and then a big jump up to Red Bull with 8.46, and Haas in P1 with an 8.49.

They only beat Red Bull by 0.03 of a grade.

They'll take that in the real thing.

I don't know what kind of race we need to be kidding about, 0.03 of a point,

but yeah, Haas win.

Indeed, and they also won mine with the only 10 that I gave, and you gave, I believe as well.

Yeah, we should have done.

Who is our P1?

Who's our P1?

Haas.

Both Haas, yours was Haas, mine was Haas.

And the fans were Haas.

Oh, look at us all in agreement starting the new year strong.

Can't wait for that to continue.

Thank you everybody for tuning in.

It's been an absolute pleasure.

We'll be back for our roundup of day one of actual Bahrain testing tomorrow.

As a comment join us there, we'll be live streaming as well for that final hour and a bit

to see the cars out on track and inevitably change our opinion on the liveries once again.

Yeah, when you're giving Cadillac a 10 when they come out in a full chrome livery.

Oh, absolutely.

They just went, actually, we've changed our mind.

We saw Matt's downgrade and we're like, no.

Well, what they should do, right, is if they are really slow in testing

and they realise it's going to be a terrible year for them,

they may as well look good at the back of them.

Just do an art car or something, just cover it in paint.

Fantastic.

All right, see you soon.

Lots of love.

Bye.

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Ranking the 2026 F1 liveries

About this episode

Chevrolet Silverado

Chevrolet Silverado EV

GR

Ferrari

red bull

Haas

livery

Vodafone McLaren

Formula One

Audi

Mercedes

carbon fiber

HP

Alpine

nostalgia merchant

Benetton

Jordan

Arrows

barn find

Dodge Charger

Cadillac

IndyCar

Formula E

Aston Martin

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