These Are the Best F1 Liveries That Never Made It Into a Race

We want to be as objective as possible here at autoevolution because if it were for me, I would have put all the Red Bull unraced liveries here. But I will do that another time. For now, I picked only two paint jobs. Let's take a look at some of the best liveries that never had the chance to see the lights of a race.

The DisruptoBull - A livery used at the start of the 2018 Formula One Season in Silverstone, before the first pre-season tests at the Circuit de Catalunya. The car had a digital-effect camouflage style, painted black and royal blue.

Fans loved the DisruptoBull so much that they actually started a petition to try and convince Red Bull that this should be the livery for the entirety of 2018. For 2019, the Austrian team used the same disrupted livery but with a different scheme of colors.

The Blue BAR - In 1999, BAR (British American Racing) made waves in the F1 world when they were the first team in history to launch two different paint jobs for their cars. A white and red one was going to be used by the '97 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. In contrast, Ricardo Zonta would use a blue and yellow livery similar to the iconic Subaru Impreza "555".

However, the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) blocked BAR from using this idea. That's how the famous zipper livery, which combined the two designs, appeared. Still, fans were disappointed for not being able to admire the "Subaru World Rally" inspired design on track.

But, a couple of years later, when FIA rules were not so strict about the liveries of the cars running in practice, BAR finally made it happen, bringing the adored paint job to a practice session.

The Camo-Bull - In 2015, Red Bull surprised anyone at the winter tests in Jerez by dropping, without any announcements, a camouflage design similar to a road prototype car. The energy drink team suggested that it was only an attempt to disguise the car's secrets during testing. Still, we know that ultimately this was a clever marketing move to generate some attention.

It is said that the idea came from a crash helmet that four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel used at the 2014 Italian Grand Prix. Vettel had left for Ferrari at the end of 2014, meaning he never had the chance of driving the car with the matching helmet.

Team Principal Christian Horner made a promise to all the Red Bull fans that this livery would be used for the entirety of the 2015 season, but something must have happened because we never got to see the unique design again.

The Orange McLaren MP4-21 - Well yeah, in 2022 an orange McLaren is not a big deal. But you need to understand that before the 2017 season, the last time McLaren had painted their car in orange was in the 1970s.

Ron Dennis permanently blocked the idea of the original color used by Bruce McLaren himself. Instead, he always used the iconic white and red Marlboro livery or the chrome silver. However, in 2006, the British team finally used the old papaya color for a test run, bringing joy to fans around the world.

This are our picks for the best F1 liveries that never raced. Let us know which ones you would include and what would be your favorite.