(Motorsports news) The Italian company has unveiled a new appearance for the SF-23, which has a white rear wing, splashes on the engine cover, and a white circular number board – all of which are reminiscent of prior automobiles with strong ties to the United States. All of Ferrari’s sponsor partners had to approve the changeover to an exclusively red-and-white livery, which will be complemented by new overalls for drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
The decision to go with an all-red-and-white livery pays homage to Ferrari’s past and some of the most iconic moments it experienced during the prior boom years of F1 in the United States in the 1970s. The colors are nearly identical to the ones used by Mario Andretti in 1971, when he won his first F1 race in the South African Grand Prix.
Throughout the 1970s, Ferrari wore a lot of white, including championship-winning campaigns with Niki Lauda in 1975 and 1977. However, the white extended beyond the wings, with engine covers usually painted white and combining the red and green of the Italian national flag. However, after 1978, the team reduced their use of white, but it returned temporarily in 1993.
However, after a challenging campaign in the problematic F93A for Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger, which proved both uncompetitive and unreliable, Ferrari reverted to all-red for 1994. In 2016, however, Ferrari attempted to include white into its livery once more when it presented its SF-16H in the colors.
However, after a challenging campaign in which the vehicle failed to win a race while Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel led the team to third place in the constructors’ championship, the white was dropped once more. F1 has invested substantially in the return of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and teams are hopeful that the event will generate massive interest in both the United States and throughout the world, helping to boost the championship’s popularity even further.
The event will be held at night, and the new course will run down the iconic Las Vegas strip.
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