Red Bull has made a surprising U-turn, shelving its much-anticipated plan to feature a fan-designed livery at the upcoming Singapore and US Grand Prix.
The REBL CUSTMS campaign, meant to celebrate the team’s 20-year journey in Formula 1, had promised fans the opportunity to see their custom design grace the Red Bull RB20 on race day.
At first glance, the campaign seemed like a dream come true for F1 enthusiasts. Fans were invited to join Red Bull’s ‘Paddock’ fan community, submit their livery designs, and stand a chance to win a package that included flights, accommodation, race tickets, and their design on the race car itself.
The competition, which ran from 30 May to 19 June, garnered considerable excitement as five designs made it to the final voting stage.
But then came the rub: paint. In Formula 1, every gram counts. Added paint means added weight, and added weight means lost time on track.
As the team explained in their newsletter ahead of this weekend’s race, it’s a compromise they simply weren’t willing to make.
“Unfortunately, when we came to the testing phase of what some REBL CUSTMS designs could look like on the RB20, we found the paint used to create these bespoke, full-car takeover liveries added unforeseen and undue weight to the bodywork of the RB20. As you can imagine, any additional weight compromises performance, and the team is prioritising making this car as competitive as possible for the remainder of the 2024 season.”
The weight issue isn't new in F1, and it’s been a growing trend for teams to strip away as much paint as possible in favor of exposed carbon fibre. Back in February, when the liveries for this season were unveiled, Aston Martin, Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari were all quick to embrace the “less is more” philosophy, literally. If the paint wasn’t needed for sponsor logos or TV visibility, it was axed.
However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Red Bull’s REBL CUSTMS campaign. The first winner’s design, by Thai fan Chalaj Suvanish, debuted at the British Grand Prix. Suvanish was understandably thrilled, sharing, “I can’t quite believe it; not only do I get to attend an F1 race, I get to see the car I customised on track!”
Though Red Bull has decided to pull the plug on more F1 car liveries, the silver lining is that the winning fan designs will now appear on the team’s F1 Academy cars. Hamda Al Qubaisi, one of the academy drivers, will be driving with a fan-designed livery from Uruguayan artist Caroline Stock, inspired by Red Bull’s 2015 testing colours.
Photo Credits: Formula 1 Content Pool