Poll: Which is the best-looking F1 car of 2017?

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The covers are off and the first test is just hours away. So what’s your verdict on the field for the 2017 F1 season?

Mercedes W08

Mercedes W08, Silverstone, 2017

The world champions’ car has already drawn admiring glances from rival teams for its level of aerodynamic development.

Red Bull RB13, 2017

Expectations are high for Red Bull in 2017, but are they hiding just how radical the RB13 is?

Red Bull RB13

Ferrari SF70H

Ferrari SF70H, 2017

Ferrari have reversed some of the livery changes they made last year but the SF70H looks like another aggressive take on the new rules.

Force India VJM10

Force India VJM10

Force India have some novel ideas about how to approach the new rules, as is clear from their new car.

Williams FW40

Williams FW40, 2017

Williams is another team which has been careful not to show us too much of its new car for 2017.

McLaren MCL32

McLaren MCL32, 2017

McLaren’s much-vaunted new orange livery catches the eye but there are many more interesting details on the MCL32.

Toro Rosso STR12

Toro Rosso STR12

Toro Rosso had pretty much the same livery for the past 11 years but have unveiled a new look for the 2017 season.

Haas VF-17

Haas VF-17, 2017

A darker tone for the second F1 car to come from Haas.

Renault RS17

Renault RS17, 2017

Renault is another team to have made a major change to its livery for the new season.

Sauber C36

Marcus Ericsson, Sauber C36, Circuit de Catalunya, 2017

Sauber is commemorating its 25th year in Formula One with its new car.

Over to you

Which team has the best-looking car for the new season? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.

Which is the best-looking F1 car of 2017?

  • Sauber C36 (5%)
  • Renault RS17 (11%)
  • Haas VF-17 (3%)
  • Toro Rosso STR12 (38%)
  • McLaren MCL32 (10%)
  • Williams FW40 (2%)
  • Force India VJM10 (1%)
  • Ferrari SF70H (9%)
  • Red Bull RB13 (4%)
  • Mercedes W08 (17%)

Total Voters: 690

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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108 comments on “Poll: Which is the best-looking F1 car of 2017?”

  1. It has to be the Toro Rosso. What a beauty. The Mercedes is close behind in second.

    1. 1. Toro Rosso
      2. Mercedes
      3. Sauber
      4. McLaren
      5. Renault
      6. Haas
      7. Williams
      8. Red Bull
      9. Ferrari
      10. Force India (obviously)

    2. Actually can’t pick a favourite, but what I am loving is there’s more variation back in the field than there has been for a while.

      Obviously next season they’ll all look the same again, but I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.

    3. I love the Torro Roso car. But I’m still looking for the ring pull.

    4. Toro Rosso takes the best livery, no doubt. But the aero from Merc & Mc are the best for me.

    5. I agree. The STR really does look shorter than the Merc, perhaps that’s just visual. The RB also looks shorter.

  2. Toro Rosso.

    1. Seeing as others are doing it:
      1. Toro Rosso
      2. Renault
      3. McLaren
      4. Red Bull
      5. Ferrari
      6. Sauber
      7. Mercedes
      8. Haas
      9. Williams
      10. Force India

      Though 4-7 are basically all tied, I like them all the same.

      1. Pretty close to my views.
        STR a clear winner with Mclaren and Renault as podium contenders due to their shape and colours.
        RBR scores high on shape and lines, but somewhat duller on livery.

      2. ill agree with that. Hugh. good annalisis.

      3. For me a bit different:)

        1. Mercedes
        2. Renault
        3. Red Bull
        4. Toro Rosso
        5. Williams
        6. McLaren
        7. Ferrari
        8. Haas
        9. Sauber
        10. Force India

  3. I’ve gone with Ferrari. Something about it just strikes me as great, and the more I look at it, the more I like it.

    Having said that, I really do love the Toro Rosso as well. Red Bull is difficult to tell with just that one angle, and in such lighting.

  4. It was the Renault up until today, when the Toro Rosso showed up.
    I feel awkward in every forum saying that I adore that new McLaren and it is my close 3rd place.

    1. Same top 3 as me tbh.

    2. No Need to feel awkward. I think McLaren missed a huge opportunity to do something great. Its very lame and a huge disappointment in my eyes

  5. I’m pretty fond of the Haas, Renault, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and McLaren. Indifferent to the Williams, Ferrari and Mercedes. The Force India’s the only one that’s particularly dull.

  6. 1 Toro Rosso
    2 Ferrari
    3 Renault
    4 Haas
    5 Red Bull
    6 Mclaren
    7 Mercedes
    8 Williams
    9 Sauber
    10 Force India

  7. 2017 regs are the winner.

  8. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    26th February 2017, 19:02

    The only one I actually dislike is the Force India. My favourite has to be the Toro Rosso, they’ve stolen the show with that one, honourable mentions to Ferrari, Renault, Mercedes and RB.

    1. That’s what i’m thinking too, but I don’t think that the Force India is bad, just bland and every other team nailed it.

      1. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
        27th February 2017, 18:00

        Yeah dislike is too strong a word, you’re right @lancer033

  9. Toro Rosso hands down the best, but Mclaren is the most improved.

  10. Complementi, Faenza…

    1) Toro Rosso
    2) Ferrari
    3) Renault
    4) Mercedes
    5) McLaren
    6) Red Bull
    7) Haas
    8) Williams
    9) Sauber
    10) Force India

    1. I pretty much agree with your rankings except I would put the Toro Rosso between the Mercedes and the McLaren.

      I don’t think I like the TR as much as most others seem to.

  11. Diversity on the grid this year! Lovely.
    I love the new Toro Rosso livery and Mercedes still has a great one (with little changes).
    Renault is a very nice one and I like Mclaren’s livery, except the nose from the front, I’m not sold on the full orange nose.

    Williams is still pretty, but disappointing and boring as it’s been the same for 3 years now.

  12. I have a hard time liking any of them, they are just too long…

    1. Aren’t they the same length as last year?
      And 10% wider which should make them appear even shorter?

      1. They are a tad longer. don’t have a problem with it, apparently however it ruins it for some

  13. I really dislike Ferrari as a team. But I love that car. All the details and lines… wow. My vote for best of the bunch.

  14. OMG That nose!

    The new torro rosso might prompt me drop the comedy “r” if they prove they’re willing to fight their Milton Keynes relatives.

  15. As I’m pretty much shape blind, all I see are the liveries. And my favourite livery, by a clear margin, is the Sauber’s. I love the shade of blue they’re using, and it combines really well with the white areas and golden stripes.

    All these votes for Toro Rosso have me wondering if I’m missing something. The livery looks exactly like those Red Bull cans to me, and I abhor that look. And no, ‘abhor’ is not too strong a word for my impression of it. Is it the shape of the car that’s so spectacularly superior to it’s rivals? Or am I already too old to be in the target group?

  16. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but if you voted anything else than the str you are wrong

    1. @johnmilk
      But why? I personally can’t stand this car’s livery, so what is it that makes it so popular?

      1. It marries perfectly within the shape of the car. The colours are eye poping. The car in itself is beautifully shaped (I would put the mercedes 2nd because of this). Simple yet modern with a refreshing twist on the livery

        Of course my previous comment is intended to be a joke.

        1. @johnmilk
          Thanks for your reply!
          Btw: No worries, I can recognise an exaggeration when I see one. ;-)

  17. Merc does look very nice although that pic makes it look better than it really is because of the wet tire stripes matching the car colors. They have done excellent job updating the livery for this season though. The toro rosso has nice colors and gets massive bonus for not having any dull black on the car. The red on the toro rosso also makes it easy to distinguish them from the sauber who have very similar livery overall. The toro rosso does look like a gp2 car imho. Sauber looked kinda dull when I first saw their car but in this grid they are one of the best designs. Not that I particularly like their car although I like the vintage look of its colors. Gold, blue and white is good combo.

    Red bull is kinda decent but everytime I see that yellow bull on its back all I can think of is omelette. The matter blue color worked better as one off. Now it is just boring dark car. Ferrari has kinda safe livery. Mostly red but some white and black as expected. You know it is a ferrari when you see it. Williams has their nice basic but effective color scheme. Just like the ferrari it is basic but works. Force india doesn’t look as colorful as they could have been. Over the years they have had some pretty colorful liveries so it is kinda odd how bland their car looks this year. The one green sponsor is literally the only highlight on that car as the silver fades away the orange-yellow stripe almost completely.

    Renault is kinda unimaginative and too much black. Haas is kinda dull. That dark grey just makes it look very dull. It is not complete failure because of that red nose though. Their last season car was dull as well so nobody was expecting anything exciting although this livery screams more “backmarker”. If they had more of that red on their car it could look amazing. But it doesn’t so it doesn’t.

    Mclaren looks just plain awful. Not only is the livery just horrible in photographs but looks like marussia when on motion. Just awful job in every possible way. Eww! Jsut eww eww eww! How can you make orange look so bad?! I hope they do really badly so they never race this livery again. Eww!

    1. I hope they do very well to close the mouths of people like u. Why is car looking bad? Aparently there may be a problem with u, and similar people because all u can do is whine in the comment section. U dont like it – fine. U have all right to do so, but dont yap on and on about it. Who made u as aesthetic counselor? The car looks great, especially when in motion, and who says the Marrusia livery was bad? I seriously have enough with grumpy people aparently iunsatisfied with their own lives with an urge to bitter others as well.

      1. If you don’t like my opinion you are free to ignore it. I don’t really care about people like you who try to tell others want to think.

  18. I don’t like the Fins at all I’m afraid. The only team that has made a decent hand of it and doesn’t look too ugly is the Mercedes. Although I cannot tell if the Red Bull has a long fin or not.

    In terms of livery the Torro Rosso is definitely the most interesting.

    Bottom of my pile are the Ferrari, Sauber and Force India (awful).

  19. 1) Ferrari – Great use of the red and white colours, aggressive, futuristic aero shapes
    2) Mercedes – Evolution of last 2 years prettiest car. So-so livery
    3) Haas – Audi LMP1-esque livery looks great IMO
    4) Williams – Simple elegant lines, classic livery
    5) Toro Rosso – Bold colourful livery, elegant shapes
    6) Red Bull – Ditto Torro Rosso
    7) McLaren – That thong livery isn’t doing it for me. Aero okay
    8) Force India – Dull dull livery. Ugliest nose and hump!
    9) Renault – I hope they change that fugly livery by Melbourne. Aero shapes are meh!
    10) Sauber – Livery a little disjointed. That airbox is hideous!

  20. – I really hope Mercedes mainsail mast doesn’t make it to Melbourne!
    – Disappointed to see so many thumb noses still, but kinda getting used to them now.
    – Not keen on McLaren’s new livery, their worst yet! When I think of McLaren I think of the epic Marlboro colours, the elegant West liveries, heck I loved the chrome and red of the Vodafone liveries! But an orange mankini? Epic fail there! And their launch looked like something from a George Orwell book, plain wierd!

    1. Ferrari the hands down winner for me. Looks like one of the many many concept cars we see. It looks futuristic, fast menacing, everything a racing car should be!

  21. The Toro Rosso edges it for me. What a stunner. However the McLaren and the Sauber come close.

  22. I doubt we would have the same result had the Torro Rosso been released earlier.

    1. You mean like 3 years earlier?
      The Williams was top then and the livery hasn’t changed. And now look where they end up.

  23. Renault for me. Toro roso looks like a can of redbull. Ferrari is terrible, made out of lego. Merc is ok, but colour is boring. Haas, Force, Mc – colours are even more boring. Sauber is fine, but looks cheap. Red bull is to massive. Renault is like a fine lemon.

    1. Forgot bottle of martini, the drunk car. But it’s even more boring, than their lineups.

  24. I’ll have to see them all out on track, but it’s got to be the Toro Rosso. That’s a proper livery.
    Some way ahead of Mercedes and Williams for me, and the McLaren is growing on me fast!

  25. I still think the Mercedes is overall the best looking car. The biggest gripe is its rather unimaginative livery, although even that is a bit better than it was (well and off course the T-wing if they really start using it). But the clever aero details on it point to a very fast car.

    I love the updated livery of the STR, but the car itself doesn’t strike me as being super interesting of a design. I like the McLaren and it’s livery, especially after Keith confirmed that it does look great in daylight on Twitter.

    At the bottom of the list for me are the gunship grey with black and red (midland/HRT like) Haas, the boring Red Bull, the ugly FI car.

    1. Pretty much agree. The Merc looks like the sleek business.

      Of the rest of the fugly finned ducklings, I like the STR best. Looking at the poll results seems most here are suckers for shiny paint. As am I, but the W08 gets my vote.

      Put the Fin in the Bin, F1!

      However, if testing proves that the billboard is required to control the rear wing flow….well…then I hope to watch the races…on the radio.

  26. 1. Toro Rosso
    2. Ferrari
    3. Renault
    4. Mercedes
    5. Haas
    6. McLaren
    7. Sauber
    8. Red Bull
    9. Williams
    10. Force India

  27. Was gonna be Mercedes, closely followed by Renault, until today. For me it’s:

    1 Toro Rosso
    2 Mercedes
    3 Renault
    4 Red Bull
    5 Sauber
    6 Williams
    7 McLaren
    8=Ferrari
    8=Haas
    10 Force India

    1. 1. Toro Rosso
      2. Ferrari
      3. Red Bull

      The rest are rather bland and uninspired. The McLaren and the Force India are especially disappointing designs.

  28. Wow, that Toro Rosso is the most beautiful F1 car I have seen – the others look bland in comparison. Hopefully the performances are a match for the livery!

  29. Mercedes have the best looking car, Toro Rosso have the best looking livery.

    1. at least someone on here makes some sense

      1. Well stated Beneboy.

        It’s worth considering structural design independently from livery. Title sponsors rule & ruin the day in terms of motorsport graphics, it’s not just an issue in F1. There’s no way to make the HAAS logo attractive unless they choose to revise it, and Red Bull will always be a car wrapped in a can (yes, the new TR does it rather well).

        On the graphics tip, colour choice definitely matters. If the Mercedes was decorated with that Sauber blue… just wow. It may be the prettiest blue on track since the 2010 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP:

        http://www.automobilesreview.com/gallery/2010-peugeot-908-hdi-fap/2010-peugeot-908-hdi-fap-06.jpg

  30. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
    26th February 2017, 20:40

    Torro Rosso all the way, they have made headlines for all the right reasons today!
    Ugliest for me are the Williams with that hideous billboard shark fin which actually does the impossible, makes the Martini livery look bad and the Force India.

  31. Mercedes look like they’ve massively out-size-zeroed everyone else.

    1. yeah, they’ve gone for the ‘size-zero but length-enormous’ concept.

  32. 1 – Renault
    2 – Torro Rosso
    3 – Sauber
    4 – Ferrari
    5 – Mercedes
    6 – Red Bull
    7 – Williams
    8 – Mclaren
    9 – Force India
    10 – Haas

  33. Renault for me.

  34. For me the RedBull is still the best looking car. The livery makes up for the quirky nose. So my top 5.
    1. Red Bull
    2. Renault
    3. Mercedes
    4. Torro Rosso
    5. Williams

  35. I came here to show some support for Force India (which I am a fan), even expecting some comments of the type: “who vote for that Force India”. But then looking at all the cars together, I could not do it, is not only inexpresive (like the hass or Ferrari) but ugly.

    1. @mahoivan, yes I feel the pain. It has to be one of the stupidest looking car to come out of FI garage. Has been getting beaten left right and center. 2014 livery was a block buster, but we should have expected this one coming after 2015 and 2016 liveries included more of silver. I hope they just do not do a McLaren.

  36. Well we know its aint Mclaren (What a missed opportunity for them) but the Torro Rosso and Mercedes are awesome!

  37. There is something about the livery detail on the Haas shark fin that I find incredibly appealing.

  38. Michael Brown (@)
    26th February 2017, 23:34

    Force India: 0%
    HAHAHAHAHAHA

    1. I wasn’t expecting any better!

  39. Can’t help but feel this poll is premature. We only have 1 murky picture of the Red Bull, many cars without a lot of aero parts they will add, Merc likely will change their nose (maybe a thumb nose) and no comprehensive pictures of cars on track from the same angles. I hated the Mclaren but really like it after some short videos. Torso Rosso hands down so far but opinion can change once out on track from same angles and in natural light.

  40. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    26th February 2017, 23:59

    To me it goes:
    1. Mercedes
    2. Toro Rosso
    3. McLaren
    4. Sauber
    5. Haas
    6. Ferrari
    7. Williams
    8. RedBull
    9. Renault
    10. Force India

  41. It was close. The physical car it was close between the Mercedes and Ferrari, but knowing the Mercedes won’t look as impressive once it gets the shark bite, I chose Ferrari.

    Livery-wise, there is a direct split between really good and really bad. I think people are more likely to choose Toro Rosso, Sauber, and McLaren (if you are a huge fan who can overcome how horrific it is), simply because they’ve gone for something different.

    So, overall to rank them, taking everything (livery and physical design, ignoring the shark fins because all look stupid) into account:
    1. Ferrari
    2. Mercedes
    3. Red Bull
    4. Toro Rosso
    5. Sauber
    6. Renault / Williams (Renault for the pysical car, Williams for the livery)
    8. Haas
    9. Force India
    10. McLaren

  42. Well, I think all 2017 cars look horrible. Not as bad as let’s say LMP1 cars, but certainly not attractive at all. It’s clear that the Vogon school of design was adopted: they “look more like they had been congealed than constructed”.

    If:
    -the front wing was narrower, single profile and with much reduced size of the end plates;
    -all the winglets, vanes and barge boards between the front axle and the side pods were removed;
    -all the floor was cut away where there is no bodywork above it
    then maybe they would look a bit like sleek race cars again.

    It’s also disappointing to see that despite major regulation changes for the aero bits, all cars look pretty much identical.

    1. You address very important issues!

      -the front wing was narrower, single profile and with much reduced size of the end plates;
      – Agree. Almost the width itself isn’t that bad.

      -all the winglets, vanes and barge boards between the front axle and the side pods were removed;
      – Yes, please.

      -all the floor was cut away where there is no bodywork above it
      – YES!!! I thought I was the only one hating it!! It looks terrible, as if the car was carrying a carpet glued to its bottom. Disgusting.

      But the bottom line is that a 200cm wide racing car will always look better than the same car with 180cm of width. And that one change pretty much outweighs everything else this season.

  43. 1. McLaren
    2. Sauber
    3. Ferrari
    4. Renault
    5. Toro Rosso
    6. Mercedes
    7. Haas
    8. Williams
    9. RedBull
    10. Force India

    Didn’t really feel like drinking from the can of Red Bull today, although the Toro Rosso does look pretty good.

    The McLaren really looks good to me. Maybe it is going back to the long rumored more traditional Bruce McLaren orange. But, the whole car really looks good. Hope it performs well too. We can always hope…

    The Sauber looks really good. There again, hoping against hope for some speed there too.

  44. Really, I don’t like the shark fins…

  45. While I’m always excited to see the new liveries.. one of the things that’s particularly refreshing this year is that many of the teams are introducing stronger, brighter and more unique colours to their cars.

    In previous years there were too many clashes of colour, with multiple black, silver and white cars on the grid. This year we have a really good mixture of colours – most cars have 1 or 2 really dominant colours, most of which are different from one another. We have red, orange, yellow, grey, white, 2 silver, and 3 blues (albeit in different shades). Several teams seem to be more adventurous with designs this year, with McLaren, Toro Rosso, Renault, and Sauber all producing new liveries. Efforts from Mercedes, Force India or Williams are pretty standard unfortunately.

    Reminds me of a quote from Eddie Jordan about why he picked yellow for his team way back when – because it made his cars easy to spot & it was different to any other team.

  46. Has the be the Bat Mobile aka Bumblebee aka Renault RS17
    Mercedes is clean as well, also like the Toro Rosso aka Optimus Prime

  47. Force India 0% votes….. lol

    BTW I voted #STR12

  48. I only just noticed the little wing on the top of the shark fin. Interesting!

  49. Toro Rosso is the prettiest car in my opinion, The Merc seems most graceful.

  50. Haas has the best livery. They’re the only ones who’ve thought about using the shark fin to make the car look sporty and fast, and not like a sportswagon. Ferrari second on that score. Toro Rosso looks like drink can, but I guess that’s the point. Sauber has the best colour scheme. McLaren is just old orange with the worst, truck-like livery. The Merc, RB13, Renault, Williams and Force India are all boring 2016 same, same, but different.

    Nevertheless, looks don’t matter – the real winner is the one that wins the constructors trophy.

  51. “Which is the best-looking F1 car of 2017?” – Does “best-looking” refer to general shape, prettiness of livery or aerodynamic interpretation of the 2017 rules?

    The most visually obvious feature of 2017 is the “shark fin”. Mercedes is the only team not to have gone all the hog but their vestigial 4″ – 5″ is not pretty. Of the other teams, Haas has done the best job of hiding it with paint but honourable mentions must go to Sauber, Toro Rosso and Red Bull. The fin paint jobs of Williams, Renault and McLaren being particularly cringeworthy.

    Nose, overall. Most teams have two flat surfaces with a noticeable break except for Williams who get the nod here. The stepped nose of Force India is an outright disgrace.

    Nose tip. Some people hate “the thumb”, others don’t so it’s a matter of taste. Let it just be said that two teams; Toro Rosso and Mercedes, do without whereas the square tip of Red Bull is particularly ugly.

    Paint job. Is it a question of the colours chosen, how the accentuate the pretty lines (Sauber, Toro Rosso) or make the car stand out for reasons other than aesthetical (Renault, McLaren)?

  52. The Ferrari wins it for those sidepods alone. Unique is beautiful.
    But for that same reason, I’ll reserve judgement until FP in Australia. We’ll see who has what then.

  53. A difficult choice between Ferrari, Sauber and Toro Rosso, and I voted for Sauber. I consider most cars this year very beautiful, only Mercedes and Haas are somewhat dull, in my opinion.

  54. Only the force india is a let down.

  55. I think the McLaren just edges it, based on overall appearance.

  56. Definately not a fan, but it has to be said that since 2014 -when ugliness became the rule- mercedes kept always producing nice looking, elegant neat designs. Same applies for toro rosso’s liveries wich I always liked very much. But they missed sometimes on the chassis design. Mercedes kept everything in order once again and gets my vote

    1. Edit: just seen pictures of red bull in action. The thing is ridiculously sexy, that design is mental. Love it. Sadly can’t change vote

  57. No sharks fins – at least now – so my heart goes for the W08, the STR12 is also a good looking car but it looks more like a hybrid Red Bull Can.

  58. It’s an excellent year for liveries. I expect it to be much easier to spot the different teams in the race. I genuinely can’t decide between the Mercedes, Ferrari, Haas and Sauber. If we could vote in the form of a rating then I would contribute but I think I’ll leave this one. The Torro Rosso does look good too, but unfortunately it reminds me too much of a can of supermarket-brand energy drink.

  59. Anyone who doesn´t think the Force India is one of the worse looking car?
    I actually like it!

    Just kidding, it is ugly as hell! :)

  60. Anyone who doesn´t think the Force India is one of the worse looking cars?
    I actually like it!

    Just kidding, it is ugly as hell! :)

  61. First one to scrap the fin is the best looking. Why oh why bring in wider tyres and lower wings just to look better, and then do that?!

    The Toro Rosso shape is lovely, that’s got the best nose. Nice refreshed colours too. The Mercedes is attractive once again, and its rear wing looks particularly good.

  62. My ranking:

    10) Force India: what a monstrosity!
    9) Williams: bland, boring, ugly
    8) RBR: yawn…
    7) Ferrari: interesting but not pretty
    6) Haas: dull livery, nice looking car
    5) Mclaren: I loved the idea of orange and the early 2000’s Arrows were beautiful cars but I’m less convinced by this one
    4) Renault: too black but very good
    3) Sauber: narrowly beats the Renault but is miles off top 2
    2) Mercedes: as per usual, beautiful car but slightly less so than p1 this time
    1) Toro Rosso-didn’t expect that. This car is a future all time classic no matter how well it goes on track

  63. 1- Merc
    2- Red Bull
    3- Williams (except accenting the shark fin)

  64. I could have tell you the result before opening the page – the car to win this poll is always that last “nice” car being presented, in this case the TR. Last year the Renault.

    In my opinion this poll is always made too early and should be done let say a week after the last car is being presented.

  65. And the funny thing in this poll is to see the McLaren ahead of the RedBull… Horner you if read us, man up and go public to apologise.

  66. Beautiful Cars:
    1. Toro Rosso
    2. Mercedes
    3. Sauber
    Nice Cars:
    4. Renault
    5. Haas
    6. McLaren
    ‘Meh’ Cars:
    7. Ferrari
    8. Williams
    9. Red Bull
    Why, Force India?:
    10. Force India

  67. Hard to rank. STR for me. In my view I’m more concerned with the philosophy chosen by McLaren on the aero side.

  68. Force India have managed to make the wrong choices in every area. It is almost impressive the way they managed to go wrong everywhere.

    Their unique way they choose the nose was interesting last year but this year…?
    They managed to keep the stepped front even though every other team have managed to create a good line they have a hump. Humps are seldom positive.
    Even the orange line on the side is crooked. I hope they will sort their car with upgrades but even if they do, the livery is dull and I can even stretch it to ugly and unimaginative to stick with it.

    I was glad to hear that Mclaren would go with orange but when it was presented I was disappointed. Too much black. (I can’t understand why so many teams seem to like black so much. It must be to hind details or that they never came over the black period from their teens) Look at what McLaren can do with orange on their road cars. It could have been great.

    Ferrari, Williams, Red Bull and Mercedes makes me indifferent. I think I like the Williams better than most. I kind of like that they didn’t try to hide the shark fin with black paint. It doesn’t work anyway. Haas is too dull.

    I like the Renault but would have preferred a little less black. The great surprises for me this year is Toro Rosso and Sauber. I selected Toro Rosso I the poll but having looked some more I do agree with others comment that it looks a little too much like a sod and can. And after getting used to it I must admit that Saubers balance with colours have won me over. Sadly though, I’m guessing that I don’t get to watch that car after Q1 more than when it gets lapped during races.

  69. I decided to wait until after the first race to vote for best looking car 2017 as I like to see what the cars look like in action on TV before I voted, as the impression you get from TV footage can be quite different to still photos.

    Overall what I like to see in F1 is a variety of car design and liveries, so while there may be some cars I think look ugly, as long as they don’t all look the same I don’t mind so much.

    One of my favourite looking F1 cars was the Williams FW26 with the walrus nose from 2004 partly because it was something different, if every car on the grid had looked like that I probably wouldn’t remember it so fondly.

    Generally speaking there are a few changes to the shape of the cars in 2017, for me some of them work and some don’t.

    The lower and wider rear wings and the wider tyres do make the cars look better but then the return of the shark fins and T-wings has cancelled out some of that improvement.

    In my opinion shark fins and T-wings don’t always look bad, I think the main factor is what the end of the fin looks like. If the end is square like on the Red Bull it doesn’t look good but if it is more angled like on the Toro Rosso it looks better.

    A lot of cars still have thumb noses which are not to my taste and I think that on some of the cars the aero pieces around the cockpit area are bit too much.

    I think the best looking car of 2017 is the Toro Rosso, I think the new livery is the best on the grid and also the actual shape of the car is probably the best looking out there at the moment.

    Below are my notes on each team.

    Mercedes

    The Mercedes livery for this season is mainly the same as last year with some minor alterations which I think have improved the look of it overall, such as the change to the Petronas green running down the side of the car. It means although the livery is essentially the same the adjustments do keep it fresh.

    The car looked better when it was launched without the shark fin and T-wing, it was inevitable that they would be added eventually but in my opinion while their shark fin isn’t as bad as some the Mercedes double T-wing is one of the most unattractive on the grid.

    Red Bull

    The Red Bull livery for 2017 is the same as for 2016 apart from some minor tweaks here and there and I think the official launch photos really highlight some of the good and bad changes visually on the 2017 cars.

    The lower and wider rear wing looks better, whereas the shark fin with its square, right angled end does not look good at all to me.

    Ferrari

    The changes to the Ferrari livery for this season are improvements, the best of which is limiting the black area to the bottom of the car, I also like how they have integrated their shark fin in with the livery as a whole.

    At the moment I am not that keen on some of the aero pieces around the cockpit/sidepod/nose area though.

    Force India

    I didn’t like the grey livery Force India used when they launched the 2017 car, and while I wouldn’t say I am a fan of the new pink livery on its own, it is better than what it replaced and as one of the main things I like is a variety of car design and livery on the grid I am glad they changed to a pink livery.

    Williams

    It is the same basic livery they have had the last few years and overall it still works, there are a few areas however where it doesn’t.

    There is a noticeable join in the Martini stripes running along the nose of the car, near the front suspension, it would look a lot better if that looked like it was one continuous stripe.

    Also the way they have put the livery on their square shark fin highlights an unsightly area of the car.

    McLaren

    I know from comments on here that some had wanted McLaren to change to an orange livery for quite a while, while the last few years liveries hasn’t been among their best I didn’t mind them and the silver chrome and red from the Vodafone era is still one of my all-time favourite liveries.

    When I saw the new McLaren orange/black/white livery I thought it was a big let down and it initially reminded me of a Spyker.

    I have seen some fan versions of a McLaren orange livery over the years which I thought were much better than this. I also think the interim livery they have used in testing before previous major livery changes in 1997 and 2006, which was a plain orange body with sponsor names etc in black and black wings, was much better.

    During the first race when you just saw head on shots the car looked mainly orange and it looked good, but side on shots with the orange/black/white still didn’t work for me. They should be able to make that colour combination too work, but looking at the current livery from the side it just doesn’t in my opinion.

    Toro Rosso

    A change in livery for Toro Rosso, and the new blue/red/silver scheme is my favourite of 2017.

    In fact the whole car is probably the best looking on the grid, from the style of nose, to their version of the shark fin, which from memory was sometimes called an anvil style from when the shark fins were in F1 last time around, they also seem to have less aero pieces cluttering up the area around the cockpit, which also looks better in my opinion.

    Haas

    I don’t like the change in the Haas livery for 2017, I think the shade of grey used may be the corporate colours for Haas, but in my view it is also probably one of the dullest shades possible when used on an F1 car and does the livery no favours at all. It is the type of grey that is often used as an undercoat when painting.

    While their debut livery last year may not have been brilliant it looks a lot better compared with this years.

    Renault

    I think the 2017 livery is better than last years but there is still room for improvement, firstly I would prefer a lighter shade of yellow, something like the shade they used when they enjoyed championship success with Alonso in 2005-06.

    Secondly this year’s livery has a yellow front half of the car and a black with yellow stripes back half of the car, the things that I would change would be to have black stripes on the yellow front half of the car, so the two halves are more similar in design but with an inverted colour scheme.

    The way it is at the moment in some pictures it seems like the front and back parts of the livery are two different liveries on the same car with not enough to link them.

    Sauber

    The Sauber 2017 blue/gold/white is a change from the blue/yellow livery of the past two years, I thought the previous livery was okay but defiantly had room for improvement.

    My thoughts regarding the new livery are roughly the same as the old livery, in that it is okay but that there is room for improvement.

    One such area is the white on the sidepods, instead of having the whole side white they have a blue section part way along, which in the race had the driver number on, I think the way the blue section breaks up the white just doesn’t look right and the side of the sidepod should have all been white with blue text.

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