Testing a livery

F1i looks at some of the testing liveries seen before in F1 and pairs them with the race liveries which replaced them

Renault’s launch in Paris last week saw the returning constructor unveil a testing livery which it says it will update ahead of the first race of the season in Australia. However, many observers were still quick to judge a car by its cover and criticise the lack of imagination shown with the predominantly black livery.

A livery is a huge part of a team’s identity, but one of the key aspects is to show off the team’s sponsors in a way which makes them as easily identifiable as possible. That is with a focus on television cameras and the tens - sometimes hundreds - of thousands of people around the circuit. So testing doesn’t always demand the same approach, with a smattering of hardy fans braving the cold and little in the way of TV coverage of the cars on track.

So F1i has put together a little list of recent testing liveries along with the race liveries they gave way to. On the whole they were not hugely successful…