F1 2024 Liveries Rated – Aston Martin, Ferrari, Mercedes & Red Bull

All of the liveries have now been revealed ahead of the F1 2024 season. All ten Formula 1 teams have unveiled their looks for the upcoming campaign and there have been some big changes to go along with new names of the manufacturers.

Aston Martin, Ferrari, Mercedes & Red Bull have now joined the other six teams that revealed their looks last week. And just like the previous week, we’re going to rank how good we think these cars are going to look when they hit the track for the first time in Bahrain pre-season testing.

F1 2024 Liveries Rated – Aston Martin, Ferrari, Mercedes & Red Bull

We’ll give a mention to McLaren first, as they had a reveal of sorts earlier this week. McLaren unveiled the MCL38’s livery back in January, but earlier this week, the MCL38 itself broke cover. We gave the MCL38’s livery a seven out of ten for its appearance.

It might be the images themselves, but the look of the MCL38 in the flesh for the first time is striking. After all, it’s not just about the coat itself, but the person wearing it. A Ferrari will always look better than a Vauxhall even if they’re painted the same shade of red.

So, we’re going to upgrade the McLaren to an eight out of ten, tying it with the Williams for the joint-top spot so far. Can any of the remaining four cars beat that, though? Keep reading to find out!

Aston Martin AMR24

It seems like such a long time ago that we were excited for Aston Martin to be rejoining the Formula 1 grid in 2021. There was real hype around this outfit, not least because it brought green back to the grid, a colour synonymous with British racing.

There are some angles where the Aston Martin AMR24 looks like a decent car, but some of the others look so dull. It’s hard to tell until we see it on the track for the first time, but in the night time setting of the Bahrain Grand Prix, this won’t stand out.

The unpainted black carbon fibre areas don’t help, and there are visibly more on the green machine than ever before. There’s just something dreadful about that shade of green, too and even the yellow pinstripes can’t save the AMR24.

Just like Lance Stroll in Formula 1, this is a letdown and we need to see an improvement.

Rating: 4 out of 10

Ferrari SF-24

If the championship was decided by looks alone, Ferrari would have a season better than Red Bull in 2023. The Ferrari SF-24 is an absolute stunner and the clear standout on the 2024 grid. There’s a deeper red to the main part of the livery which exudes class.

The yellow and white pinstripes around the car honour their two drivers’ national flags (Spain & Monaco) and even the sponsors look well-placed and fit with the overall look of the car.

There are some areas of unpainted carbon fibre, but the SF-24 is far from the worst offender on the grid. To their credit as well, Ferrari have done a good job of hiding these away and not drawing attention to them.

The only thing stopping the SF-24 from getting full marks is that we haven’t seen it out on the track yet and the one-off Las Vegas livery Ferrari had last season did look better, in my opinion. Otherwise, this will go down as a classic in years to come.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Mercedes W15

While Ferrari’s livery was highly-anticipated, there was a lot more intrigue around Mercedes’ livery. Mercedes traditionally race in silver, but have donned a black livery in three of the last four seasons. Would the Silver Arrows be silver again or paint it black once more? The answer, surprisingly, was both.

The main body of the car is still black, but large parts of the top of the nose and around the cockpit are painted silver. There’s also visibly more shades of red, too. This is arguably the best Mercedes F1 livery that Merc have produced, but that’s not saying a lot.

Let’s not be downbeat about the W15, though, as it really reminds us of the old “West” McLaren liveries from the late 90s and early 2000s. Definitely a lot of nostalgia in force here and it was Mercedes that provided engines to McLaren during that time, so this isn’t unwarranted.

There are a few angles where this new colour scheme looks unflattering, but it’s a fine-looking car for Sir Lewis Hamilton to carry out his swansong Mercedes season before moving to Ferrari for 2025.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Red Bull RB20

I’m afraid that we’re ending this list on a bit of a damp squib, but are you really surprised? Mercedes gave us a lovely Valentine’s Day offering yesterday, but Red Bull have sent us crashing down to earth with the RB20.

While there are the odd variations every now and then, by and large, the livery has remained unchanged since RBR joined the grid in 2005.

This is understandable in a sense, as the point of the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team is to sell energy drinks, that’s obvious. However, it’s painfully obvious, as the RB19 and RB20 look almost identical, even the sponsors are unchanged.

If you told me that the photo above is of an RB19, I’d believe you and anybody who doesn’t have a photographic memory and 20:20 vision with a microscope handy would tell you the same.

It might be the fact that this car was on the top step in all but one Grand Prix last season, but I’m already sick at the sight of it. The Red Bull’s look is getting as grating as hearing the Dutch and Austrian national anthems at this point.

Rating: 3 out of 10

What’s next for F1?

So, with all ten liveries revealed publicly, when can we see them in action? Well, we don’t have long to wait, as Formula 1 pre-season testing begins in Bahrain next week!

Between the 21st and 23rd February, testing will be underway between 7am and 4pm UK time each day. For reference, that’s 10am and 7pm local time in Sakhir.

The first Grand Prix weekend also takes place in Bahrain between Thursday 29th February and Saturday 2nd March. Both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix take place Thursday- Saturday instead of Friday-Sunday because of Ramadan.