F1: Ranking the 2022 Car Liveries
Barring any unforeseen circumstances the 2022 Formula 1 season is set to begin in under two weeks' time. It's one that has been hyped for some time. This year sees the biggest set of regulation changes since 1983. And as you're about to see some of the cars look radically different.
These rules were brought in to reduce the amount of dirty air when following a car and to improve the ability to overtake. I for one believe the cars look sleeker, and 'less like scaffolding' as WTF1 founder Tom Bellingham put it in a recent livestream. They're beautiful. And oh boy we've got some absolute corkers of liveries. It's that time of the year to rank them again.
Unranked - Haas
There's so much uncertainty around Haas at the moment, that I'm sure the livery is the least of their worries. Heck, they don't even have a second driver right now. Russia's military invasion of Ukraine has seen the team rightly end their Uralkali partnership, a fertilizer production company owned by Dmitry Mazepin, who's got ties to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin, and whose son Nikita consequently lost his seat in the team. The sponsorship ended midway through the pre-season shakedown in Barcelona, so their original 2022 livery was on show for the first two days, before all Uralkali branding and the Russian colour scheme was removed for the final day.
It is unclear whether they will run with the basic white livery that they ran on Day 3 in Barcelona, or run a new one when the season starts, similar to what Williams did when the Rokit sponsorship ended ahead of the 2020 season. Hence why they are unranked. Once the situation is clear I'll update this article with a ranking, but right now it's not right to rank Haas.
9th - McLaren
Two things really annoy me with the McLaren car. One is the driver number. The font is horrible, and the colour of it will make the number hard to read when moving. It could do with a black outline perhaps. I also don't like the black stripe with all the sponsors on the side from the halo onwards. It looked so much better with black text on orange like in previous years
There are some positives though, I like the gulf colour blue. It pops especially on the rear wing. That's one of the best looking rear wings on the grid. I'm just not a fan of the rest of the livery, unfortunately. Both IndyCar ones and the Shadow livery they also revealed at their launch have more to them. 5/10
8th - Williams
I like it, it's a bit plain, but the Toro Rosso like colour scheme is so nice. The sponsor placement is perfect on the nose too, but towards the back of the car not so much. The Dorilton logo on the sidepod needs to be bigger. Two of the logos that are on the nose could be on the back of the car too, it's very empty.
Many have joked on social media about the basic livery, comparing it to something you'd be able to make on the F1 game or Motosport Manager, which is fair. But man does it pop in the sunlight. Overall, it's alright. 6/10
7th - Mercedes
I like the design of this Mercedes livery, but man just like the McLaren I have a couple of huge gripes. The first again being the font of the driver number. Like, come on, you have to really look to make out George Russell's 63. It should also switch places to where the Petronas logo is on the nose.
That second thing is perhaps the worst one. Why the hell have they slapped the Team Viewer and Primax logo on top of the silver arrows at the back. That's a massive L. Those issues ruin a pretty design from Mercedes. 6/10
6th - Alpha Tauri
Another decent Alpha Tauri livery on their third season into the rebrand. Their branding on the sidepod is so clean. I love the slanted typography. Controversially I think the orange we see on the FlexBox logo on the outside of the front wing endplates is actually a good thing in the absence of the Honda red from previous years.
Unlike others, this is a great aesthetic job at branding and sponsor placement. The driver number is clear to see for the viewer. All in all a nice livery, just not as nice as the previous two IMO. 7/10
5th - Red Bull
I think the ole faithful Red Bull livery really suits the 2022 car. Whilst, like I did last year, I do believe that it's time to change it, you can't argue the fact that it's iconic. And I'll tell you what the number looks good on it too, I think that's down to the fact there's no bump between chassis and nose with the new regs, just a smooth curve.
The yellow on the Bybit logo on the front wing adds some more colour to the design. A good livery marked down a little for lack of originality, but probably in the right spot as it's not as nice as the other four. 7/10
4th - Alpine
That Alpine metallic blue colour is my favourite one on the whole grid. It was my number 1 after all last year. This year they've gone into partnership with BWT, whose signature pink has been added to the car. It's a bit Baskin Robbins, but overall the two colours blend better than I thought they would.
There's a little too much going on, as they tried to incorporate a few too many elements from the 21 livery (tricolore on 'coke bottle' at the back, Mapfre red on side of chassis.) I do like the fact they kept the tricolore on the tip of the nose that we saw on last year's livery and the 2020 Renault. Not as good as the previous one, but a good livery. 8/10
3rd - Alfa Romeo
The next three liveries are stunning. You may notice a little theme here, simplicity. This retro look from Alfa Romeo is beautiful. I think that the handwritten style logo and green clover on the airbox could be my favourite design element on a car this year.
The wheel covers are unique, not just painted black or plain branded like the others. Very Brawn 09' like. Please do this other teams! The only thing I don't like is the little white box on the nose. It should be the glossy red all the way down. If it wasn't like that it would probably be a bit higher up the list, maybe even my number 1. 9/10
2nd - Ferrari
The same goes for the Ferrari. Pretty simple, but it's a looker. No more green! And.....the Mission Winnow logo has gone! Santander are back as a primary sponsor and man does that logo look great back on a Ferrari. The Scuderia are expected to compete for race wins this year, and will certainly look the part while doing so.
My only criticism is the driver number being in black whilst being surrounded by a plethora of white sponsor logos. I get why it's there but I'm not a fan. The rest of the livery is beautiful. It looks like a Ferrari, not difficult really. 9/10
1st - Aston Martin
Last year I had Aston in 3rd but said it would have been higher if there was the lime instead of the pink. Well here we are a year later, and at Number 1 they belong. Maybe it's the British bias, but I love the Racing Green. This year's shade seems to be a little lighter too, which is good because it didn't look right at some circuits in 2021.
I love the lime green sweeping stripes throughout the length of the car, as well as the AM logo in the same colour. The driver number is perfect, as is the sponsor placement. The only bad thing is the Aramco logo on the back of the rear wing, it feels detached from the rest of the livery.
So there you have it, My 2022 Formula 1 livery ranking. What do you think? Feel free to share the article on socials. I'd love to hear your opinion.