List of international auto racing colors

From the beginning of the 20th century until the late 1960s, before sponsorship liveries came in use, vehicles competing in Formula One, sports car racing, touring car racing and other international auto racing competitions customarily painted their cars in racing colours reflecting the nation of origin of the car or driver. These were often different from the national colours used in other sports or in politics.

History

The colours most likely have their origin in the national teams competing in the Gordon Bennett Cup, which was held annually in 1900-1905, and were definitely established in the 1920s and 1930s era of Grand Prix motor racing, when blue Bugatti and red Alfa Romeo dominated many races.

Due to the weight limit for GP cars introduced in 1934, German Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union teams did not apply the traditional white paint in order to save weight, and the bare sheets of metal gave rise to the term "Silver Arrows". When aluminium was replaced by fiberglass materials in the 1960s, some German teams (like Porsche and BMW) returned to white paint. Others German manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz and Audi (Auto Union) used silver paint when they returned to international racing in the 1990s.

In spring of 1968, sponsorship liveries, which already had been used in the United States for years, were allowed in international racing. Team Lotus was the first F1 team not only to paint their cars in a tobacco livery, but also to change the team name accordingly. The British Racing Green vanished soon from the cars of private teams, while the Rosso Corsa used by Italian manufacturers like Ferrari is in continuous use to the present day.

Contemporary usage

Although this colour scheme was abandoned by the FIA for most racing disciplines in the 1970s, it is still informally used, especially by Italian, British and German automakers and teams that want to emphasize their traditions. Often, sponsorship agreements respect this. Many concept cars follow the color scheme, and many amateur racers prefer them as well.

The A1 Grand Prix series instigated in 2005 features national teams, driving identical cars with differing colour schemes. Initially, most schemes were based on the respective national flags; [cite web|url=http://www.a1gp.com/theCar/sportingRegulations.aspx|title=Sporting Regulations|publisher=A1 GP|accessdate=2008-09-01] some teams with different traditional sporting colours have since switched, including A1 Team Australia [cite web|url=http://www.a1gp.com/(S(h0bvirbprhtbpdm4mbkghkms))/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=41945|title=Australia's new colours |date=2008-08-28|publisher=A1 GP|accessdate=2008-09-01] and A1 Team India [cite web|url=http://www.a1teamindia.in/news_article.php?newsid=50|title=A1 Team India brings home 2 points with 9th position in the Feature Race|date=2007-10-14|publisher=A1 Team India|accessdate=2008-09-01] .

Historic colours

Major competitors

National list

The following schemes have been adopted for various countries at various times:

ee also

*Racing stripe on notes about US racing color.

References

* [http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/misc/colours.php?db=ct Motorsport Memorial website - page about country automotive abbreviations and racing colours]

External links

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