Best Livery of the Past 5 Seasons

I went back through my annual "Best/Worst Livery" polls to pull out the top 10 in overall vote percentages.  I eliminated entries that had very similar liveries to previous years (Mclaren in 2010, Mclaren & Lotus in 2012, and Mclaren in 2013).  For anyone that's interested, here are the previous polls: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009.

The entries:

2009 Mclaren

2009 Brawn

2009 Red Bull

2009 Ferrari

2010 Lotus (Caterham)

2010 Renault

2011 Mercedes

2011 Renault

2013 Sauber

2013 Caterham

Edited by Nustang70, 23 October 2013 - 09:47.

2009 BrawnGP for me. Probably because of the amazing year the team had, but the context is as much part of the livery as the colours itself.

2013 Caterham. Hands way down.

I dont know.

But, why even there is Red Bull in that list? That car looks like can fo energy drink. What is beutiful in that car? 

I dont know.

 

But, why even there is Red Bull in that list? That car looks like can fo energy drink. What is beutiful in that car? 

Red Bull(s)

McLaren, Ferrari, Caterham are good, the rest is crap... especially the Sauber cars always had a n ugly livery, yuck

In the general context of all forms of motorsport, none of these liveries come anywhere near the top.

My favourite for this year is this.

In the general context of all forms of motorsport, none of these liveries come anywhere near the top.
 
My favourite for this year is this.
 

Edited by Mrluke, 23 October 2013 - 22:01.

I'm stunned by the support for the Brawn livery. That was just horrid to my eyes. Subjective discussion so I suppose there is no right answer though!

Definitely Brawn for me. Simple, clean and yet doesn't lack the 'energy'.

I understand where the choices came from, but its still unfair to not have the 2013 Marussia or any Williams(particularly the 09/10 blue and white) livery as I think these are quite good. 

Out of those in the list, I'd probably go with Mercedes.

The Brawn livery is not in any way ugly of course but come on, it's way too minimalistic. It's all very subjective of course.

The RBR livery is pretty good and distinctive. That of course does not mean it would ever be one of my favourites as blue & yellow is simply not a cool enough colour combination for me.

I could go and say I am stunned by the support for some liveries but then again, I think the black and white Sauber livery was absolutely fantastic but a lot of people hate it for some reason (and think the current drab grayness is great...go figure)

There was something about the barcode-less F2010 that I loved,

I loved the 2010 Renault. There was something very nostalgic yet distinctive about it; I always loved to see the traditional colours fly by on the circuit only for my eye to be caught by the Renault, like a wasp both in appearance and in nature with Kubica frequently upsetting the front runners when one senses he shouldn't have been. It's because of this that I think it was a thoroughly apt livery.

Poll is broken. Needs one of these:

Edited by AustinF1, 23 October 2013 - 13:35.

I can't see past the ugly cars with the snowplough. I think they are adding so much detail on their liveries, that 90% gets lost on TV. Same goes for driver helmets. I miss the clean recognizable designs without 60 shades, metallics, chrome finish and the like.

Slim pickings...Lotus and Renault poor retro revivals notwithstanding (lack of originality and didn't pull it off even as revivals, still they look better than the rest), I'd have to say Sauber.

They all look bad. I suppose the Caterham looks the least bad of them.

In the general context of all forms of motorsport, none of these liveries come anywhere near the top.

 

My favourite for this year is this.

 

People are always going to be affected by their emotional response to the words on the car. Are you a fan of JD ? Personally, I can think of little worse brands to plaster over a car I was driving. Bacardi would be my least favourite brand to use, but Red Bull would be a close second. Something like Chimay or Duval would be nice. Lagavulin would be awesome. 

The Brawn was very simplistic but had the benefit of being extremely distinctive. You couldn't fail to spot a white car with lime green highlights on a grid full of red and blue. Plus, the green wheels just looked cool.

The 2010 Renault was a nice design as well. Shame they didn't stick with it.

Ahh. Now there's a sight I miss for so many reasons.

People are always going to be affected by their emotional response to the words on the car. Are you a fan of JD ? Personally, I can think of little worse brands to plaster over a car I was driving. Bacardi would be my least favourite brand to use, but Red Bull would be a close second. Something like Chimay or Duval would be nice. Lagavulin would be awesome. 

Nope. In actual fact, I don't drink. much

Just think a black/white livery like that looks badass. I couldn't care less what the sponsor is.

Slim pickings...Lotus and Renault poor retro revivals notwithstanding (lack of originality and didn't pull it off even as revivals, still they look better than the rest), I'd have to say Sauber.

Personal opinion and all, out of curiosity could you articulate why exactly you like the 2013 Sauber? Keep in mind we are talking livery ONLY.

 

 

Just think a black/white livery like that looks badass.

Well, the one you showed must be among the ugliest ever.

If you tilt your head a bit, squint really hard and suspend your disbelief, the 2013 Sauber can look decent..

Personal opinion and all, out of curiosity could you articulate why exactly you like the 2013 Sauber? Keep in mind we are talking livery ONLY.

It's hard to separate car and livery and I do think the car makes it look better than it is. But, as said, it's not so much that I like it but that I dislike it the least among the choices given. Maybe it has to do with the lack of more sponsors, which makes it look cleaner than the rest of christmas-tree-like cars (I guess in that way it can be considered retro, sadly not on purpose but due to lack of sponsorship). The Lotus and Renault try to look back to their amazing predecessors but don't pull it off due to the amount of crap they have on and the ugly design of the cars themselves (even a JPS livery couldn't do much for Emmos first Lotus for example)...

i definitely like both Enstone liveries, but the coolest one, i think is 2013 Caterham. that green and yellow fits perfectly

Williams testing livery;

2010 Renualt all the way for me. Stunning car. But then, I always liked the Jordans too.

Williams testing livery;

 

LOVE this one. I was crushed when they didn't go with it for the season.

Edited by AustinF1, 23 October 2013 - 20:21.

2010 Renualt all the way for me. Stunning car. But then, I always liked the Jordans too.

Agreed on both points.

We also need to kind of separate colour and car overall and a "livery".

I mean yeah, a plain black or white car can be nice but it's not really a "livery" in the traditional sense is it?

We need yellow cars back.

Poll is broken. Needs one of these:

 

2011 Renault is in there.  

We need yellow cars back.

 

Yes please

Edited by Wander, 24 October 2013 - 00:29.

I'm stunned by the support for the Brawn livery. That was just horrid to my eyes. Subjective discussion so I suppose there is no right answer though!

Yeah, in the '09 poll, the Brawn was voted the 2nd best livery and the 2nd worst livery.  Polarizing paintjob.    

I'm torn between the 2010 Lotus (Caterham) & the 2010 Renault.  However, the Renault lost a bit of its appeal after they picked up the HP sponsorship and had to lose most of their bumblebee stripes.  I've always liked the 2011 (and on) Mercedes as well.  

I dont know.

 

But, why even there is Red Bull in that list? That car looks like can fo energy drink. What is beutiful in that car? 

Huh? Is this just a manifestation of your dislike of the team because they're beating whover you think should be winning?

It looks nothing like their drink packaging.

2010 Renualt all the way for me. Stunning car. But then, I always liked the Jordans too.

Yes, and yes

Pretty ordinary 5 years though

Lotus for me. Though I like this year Caterham as well.

2010 Mercedes. It had amazing shadowing, fades and transparencies.
I think they actually toned it down later in the year due to the excessive work involved.



 

For fans of the Caterham livery ;p

In Trackmania

And on an MP4:

I'm stunned by the support for the Brawn livery. That was just horrid to my eyes. Subjective discussion so I suppose there is no right answer though!

I concur. Looks horrible to me too.

I concur. Looks horrible to me too.

Well, to give you a quote from Enzo Ferrari:
Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.

I think there's your answer Had it been a backmarker team, the livery wouldn't have made it here (like the 2000 Minardi)

I always liked the 2010 Renault livery.

A stunning car,   I was rather disappointing that they only used the yellow livery for one season. 

Edited by Kingshark, 24 October 2013 - 06:55.

Could easily pass for a midfield car from the early 90s.