F1 team confirms mid-season livery change after demands made | F1 | Sport

One-off liveries are common in Formula 1 these days, but a complete change of a team’s base paint job doesn’t happen nearly so often. But that is what Cadillac have committed to, having abandoned its first ever Formula 1 livery design after just a few months.

In a bid to make as big of a splash as possible, Cadillac booked a very pricey advert slot during the Super Bowl back in February in which its first F1 colours were revealed. And they got fans talking with an unusual design which was different on each side – it was predominantly white on the left side of the car, but mostly black on the right.

Fast-forward a few months, though, and the car seen on track at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix looks quite a bit different. And this is not one of their special efforts – the car driven by Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas on track at Spa-Francorchamps is mostly white on both sides which is now the usual base livery.

The change, team principal Graeme Lowdon has confirmed, came about because of fan response to one of the special liveries they have put on at race this year. It was the first special design, which was run at the Miami Grand Prix in May as American outfit Cadillac adopted a white paint job with stars and stripes to mark its first race on home soil.

A second patriotic paint job was adopted at the British Grand Prix earlier this month, to celebrate the Fourth of July and 250 years since the declaration of American independence. But it was the strong fan response to that first livery in Miami, Lowdon said, which led to the decision to change their base livery for the rest of the year.

He said: “We launched the asymmetric livery during the Super Bowl halftime show, which we thought was just another way of showing that the team wants to approach Formula 1 a little bit differently. We said we would try and bring a few different things to Formula 1. I think that was a really positive move, and we ran that livery for a while.

“We then ran a livery in Miami, which was really well received by the fans, and we took account of that. The livery we have now is actually quite similar to that Miami livery. Then, in the middle of that, we introduced the livery to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“As a team, if you look at not just livery changes, but if you look at upgrades, I think we’re pretty high up there on the count of upgrades that we’ve brought to the car. Again, I think it’s just a reflection of the way we’ve tried to approach the entry into Formula 1.

“It’s never been about just getting here, it’s always been about trying to get here as a team and do what all the other teams do, which is push the boundaries. We’re not just sitting back, whether that’s upgrading the car or experimenting with the livery as well. As I’ve said, the fan reaction has been really positive as well.”