Back in 1999, British American Racing, the Brackley-based outfit that was to eventually morph into the all-conquering Mercedes F1 team, got up the sport's powers-that-be’s noses when they attempted to run two cars with different liveries, one featuring one brand of cigarette (Lucky Strike) and the other another (555).

The FIA was quick to act, and in the end both cars featured dual liveries featuring the two brands.

Speaking at the Motorsport Leaders Business Forum in London, McLaren boss Zak Brown has suggested that perhaps the time is right for the sport to reconsider the idea, claiming that livery changes for specific races and one-off sponsor deal would benefit teams in terms of sponsorship and also promote interest among fans.

"I think what you could see and what I would be supportive of, and it's not currently allowed, is... and IndyCar does this, as does NASCAR, is changing paint schemes throughout the year.

"I still think I'd like to see it as two cars, but if you were going to Monaco and you have a big programme going with one your partners, and for that weekend you wanted to turn it in to a Dell Technologies car or whatever the case may be, but both would be the same. So the fans still knew that's McLaren, that it's Ferrari, whoever the team may be.

"I think that might be a new innovation with partnerships in Formula 1 that's not quite to the extreme of seeing different cars in totally different liveries, because I think those fans are more focused on the driver," he added.

However, the American admitted that relaxing the livery rules to the point that all twenty look different would not work.

"It doesn't happen in Formula 1 because each team is so recognisable by its livery," he said. "I think if you had twenty different liveries out there it might start to get confusing as to who is who, whereas in NASCAR the fans tend to be more driver-centric, so they'll recognise Jimmie Johnson in the Lowes car, whereas they recognise Fernando Alonso in a McLaren. So I think the sport is different."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Insane Reindeer, 27/09/2018 14:17

"Zak Brown and Liberty really will not be happy, in the slightest, until F1 is the "World Championship of IndyCar". "

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2. Posted by imejl99, 27/09/2018 13:30

"How long it would take to crowdfund / kickstart raising money to buy one rear wing space @McLaren and put "Fire Zak" there... ? ;)"

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3. Posted by C5, 27/09/2018 0:44

"At least this latest suggestion is not as terrible as it could have been.

Definitely, both TEAM cars need to carry the same overall livery. I was recently to an Indy race, and found it extremely confusing with different color schemes within the same team.

That said, it could certainly be made more obvious which car was which. Like the yellow T-bar on the higher numbered car years ago, the top of the air intake or the halo could be in different colors on the two cars.

That's visible from all angles, and is much more useful than making the number bigger. Since the change to personalized numbers they aren't much use to me anymore. I used to be pretty good remembering which driver had the higher of the two numbers, but for some reason that doesn't work for me when the numbers aren't consecutive. Go figure.

Now, as for changing the livery completely for a specific race, I don't find that helpful at all. Adjusting the livery when losing or getting a new sponsor in-season is reasonable enough, and I don't quite understand why that isn't permitted now. As long as either the base design and/or colors stay the same, or the livery in other ways clearly an evolution, I would support that. Or, if its a major design shift as long as only one team per race changed I think I could deal with it too.

If nothing else, it's are least nice to learn that Zak seemingly has enough sense and, dare I even say it, respect for traditions that he recognizes going all Indy/Redneck Racing wouldn't go over well. I think that's the first time I've gotten even a whiff of that being the case. So, i guess, yay???"

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4. Posted by Oldbuzzard, 26/09/2018 22:00

"Want to know why it's so hard to get sponsorship for F1 teams? This is the answer. How many teams are sponsored by consumer product marketers? Automobile makers are not counted. Red Bull is a good and a not so good example. The product is definitely marketed to the mass of consumers world wide, but the sponsor is also the team owner. So, let's suppose Haas sold a sponsorship to Monster Energy, a direct competitor to Red Bull, but Monster wanted only one car to carry it's livery because they also sponsored the new upcoming driver who was considered to be the next Schumacher or Senna, and they wanted all their money on one car and driver. Haas was told he was free to spread the money to both cars, but only one would be the Monster car. It was to be a 100million $ per year deal for 4 yrs. Now tell me the FIA is going to say no. It is my memory (not to be relied upon) that it was the other FOCA teams that killed the Lucky Strike/555 idea and, again my memory, I believe it was Tom Walkinshaw who spoke the loudest and longest against the proposal. Whoever it was, it only took one no vote to kill a good idea in FOCA. I of course am heavily biased toward sponsorship and believe it is the only way to have good racing. Side note: IMSA, sports car racing in Septic Tank land, has instituted bright red LED numbers on every car. The numbers can be changed to running position during the race. Gee, technology to help interest the fan/spectator, both at the race and watching on TV. How, novel. "

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5. Posted by Editor, 26/09/2018 21:12

"@ Daydah

Re: "Or are they reserving the area for potential advertisers."

No, that space is reserved for the latest odds

"

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6. Posted by Daydah, 26/09/2018 20:38

"I agree. In the onboard shots particularly it is well nigh impossible to tell the driver/car combination. There is room on the apron above the steering wheel for this to be displayed. It is in other branches of the sport. Or are they reserving the area for potential advertisers."

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7. Posted by Agrajag, 26/09/2018 20:17

"I call for a rethink of Zak Brown......"

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8. Posted by alvarezh3, 26/09/2018 18:48

"Today, at certain camera angles and distance from car, I cannot tell (on TV) who is who on any team.

In my view, Brown's idea could somehow be implemented, but at the same time I need BIGGER numbers so that i don't' have to count on the announcer to tell me who is at the wheel of the car on the frame.

Numbers are there to identify the car/driver combination, livery is there to make the spectacle much more colorful and/or to make the advertising signs stand out.

If all the entrants decided to use the same color (very unlikely to happen, but not impossible), is the FIA going to force a certain hue for each team? I don't think or hope so!

A noticeable size number on both sides of the engine cover and the other on the down slope (as opposed to the top) of the nosecone should perhaps be sufficient.

If teams find it financially advantageous to use Brown's suggestion then I am all for it, as opposed to increasing their revenue from our pockets!"

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9. Posted by White Lightning, 26/09/2018 18:16

"Well the PR man has tried everything else to make that sh@tbox go faster."

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Brown calls for rethink of livery rules

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