Revolut’s CMO slams Ferrari: ‘How can you put blue on a red car?’

Ferrari have survived decades of criticism about strategy calls, driver politics and pit stops that belong in a museum. What they may not have been expecting, however, is a public dressing-down over their colour choices – delivered with little subtlety by a rival team’s sponsor.

Enter Antoine Le Nel, Revolut’s chief marketing officer and now, apparently, the head of the Formula 1 paddock's fashion police.

Speaking ahead of Audi’s much-hyped arrival on the grid, Le Nel took aim at Ferrari and its partnership with HP, dismissing the Scuderia’s red-and-blue look as a branding misfire that should never have left the design studio.

‘How can you put blue on a red car?’

For Le Nel, Formula 1 liveries are not merely paint schemes – they are brand manifestos. And on that front, he believes Ferrari have dropped the ball.

“The brand identity is very important,” he said. “Revolut, we are very committed to design, we’re very committed to the user experience and so on, and it needs to fit with it.

“No offence, but I think what HP and Ferrari have done to their cars is not good from a design perspective.

“How can you put blue on a red car? This is not good.”

It’s a striking critique, particularly when aimed at the most iconic colourway in motorsport history.

Ferrari red has survived tobacco sponsors, barcode liveries, matte finishes and more shade debates than anyone can count – but according to Revolut’s CMO, HP blue is where the line should have been drawn.

Le Nel was, however, generous elsewhere on the grid.

“I’d say big kudos to Mastercard and McLaren, I think that is a great branding thing,” he said.

“[Google] Chrome as well, what they’ve done with the wheel and so on, I think there are brands that are doing a really good job and that works really well.

“Then, when I look at the Audi and Revolut brand identity, it felt very natural. So that’s the first element.”

Naturally.

The Underdog Story – Told Very Loudly

Beyond colours and contrast, Le Nel sees something deeper in Revolut’s partnership with Audi: a shared narrative of disruption, ambition and taking on the establishment.

However, "disrupting" the 2026 field will require significantly more than just a well-coordinated color palette and "natural alignment," but Le Nel is confident that the Audi Revolut marriage is a match made in branding heaven.

“The narrative is super-important,” he said. “We at Revolut are here to disrupt banking and to win against incumbents.

“And Audi is this. Audi is amazing from that perspective because they are entering a sport that is arguably the hardest sport on the planet at the moment.”

A comparison to other new entries, specifically Cadillac, was pointed.

“They come from zero and they are building their car themselves. It’s not like Cadillac, who is buying the whole car and so on, Audi is building everything,” added Le Nel.

“The whole chassis, the whole engine, the gearbox, the power unit, everything is made by themselves.

• Read also: Cadillac pulls the covers off bold monochrome look for F1 testing

“It’s exactly like Revolut. We build everything ourselves: we go from the ground and we build up. That’s exactly what Audi is doing.

“The alignment was super natural for us. The important part, as well, is talking to the team. With Audi, the stars were aligned.

“We were working towards the same goal, and it felt like such a natural sponsorship.”

Whether the Audi Revolut F1 Team can actually "disrupt" the field remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: they won't be wearing red and blue.

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