Romain Grosjean, Haas, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

Which F1 team has the best-looking car for 2020?

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Renault became the final team to reveal its definitive looks for the 2020 F1 season earlier today.

Which means it’s time to ask the least important and most superficial question of the new season: Whose car looks best?

Compare all 10 below, vote for your pick of the pack, and see which cars were named the winners of previous seasons.

Mercedes

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

The world champions have produced a car which is outwardly a clear evolution of its hugely successful predecessors – why would they do anything else? – with a slight livery update this year to incorporate the addition of a major new sponsor.

Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

Similarly, Ferrari are sticking with what’s worked. Expect the Mission Winnow logos to vanish at most races, starting with this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, as happened did last year.

Red Bull

Alexander Albon, Red Bull, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020
Alexander Albon, Red Bull, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

The livery is familiar but Red Bull’s RB16 sports a novel nose with several unusual elements at the tip, making for a strikingly distinctive car.

McLaren

Lando Norris, McLaren, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020
Lando Norris, McLaren, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

McLaren are the latest team to follow the trend for weight-saving matte paint. Greater expanses of the car are also left unpainted – a change which began in the middle of last season. Other than that, the MCL35 looks like a more taut version of last year’s successful design.

Renault

Renault RS20 race livery
Renault RS20 race livery

Renault presented its definitive livery for the first time today, the RS20 having run in black during pre-season testing. They’ve also gone down the ‘slim nose’ route.

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AlphaTauri

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

The biggest change on the grid for this year comes at the team formerly known as Toro Rosso. For its first car, styled similarly to sister team Red Bull’s RB16, AlphaTauri have adopted a white and dark blue colour scheme which looks like it belongs to a BMW-powered Williams or Brabham.

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Racing Point

Sergio Perez, Racing Point, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020
Sergio Perez, Racing Point, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

Racing Point’s second F1 car will be its last before it becomes Aston Martin next year. It looks pink, fast and a lot like last year’s Mercedes, a detail which has caused some consternation in the paddock.

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Alfa Romeo

Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020
Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

The name says ‘Alfa Romeo’ but the vast expanses of white on the car’s livery screams ‘Sauber’. The Ferrari customer team have persisted with a development of one of the grid’s most distinctive designs, particularly around the nose tip and airbox.

Haas

Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020
Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

It’s back to classic Haas colours – well, grey and a splash of red – following last year’s Rich Energy debacle.

Williams

Nicholas Latifi, Williams, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020
Nicholas Latifi, Williams, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

For the second year in a row Williams has refreshed its look, but after their disastrous 2019 campaign the team will be hoping the differences to last year’s car are more than just skin deep.

You say

Which F1 car design for 2020 is your favourite? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.

Which team has the best-looking F1 car for 2020?

  • Williams (10%)
  • Haas (3%)
  • Alfa Romeo (5%)
  • Racing Point (4%)
  • AlphaTauri (25%)
  • Renault (24%)
  • McLaren (14%)
  • Red Bull (3%)
  • Ferrari (4%)
  • Mercedes (8%)

Total Voters: 311

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Previous winners

Here are the 10 previous winners of the poll:

McLaren MCL33

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Circuit de Catalunya, 2019
2019: Ferrari SF90
Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Circuit de Catalunya, 2018
2018: McLaren MCL33
Carlos Sainz Jnr, Toro Rosso, Melbourne, 2017
2017: Toro Rosso STR 12
Kevin Magnussen, Renault, Melbourne, 2016
2016: Renault RS16
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Melbourne, 2015
2015: Ferrari SF15-T
Valtteri Bottas, Williams, Melbourne, 2014
2014: Williams FW36
Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, Melbourne, 2013
2013: Sauber C32
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Melbourne, 2012
2012: McLaren MP4-27
Jenson Button, McLaren, Buddh International Circuit, 2011
2011: McLaren MP4-26
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2010
2010: McLaren MP4-25

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Author information

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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40 comments on “Which F1 team has the best-looking car for 2020?”

  1. For me it’s the Alpha Tauri. Really nice blue, clean, good design. I’m not generally a fan of mostly white cars but it’s a really nice look. The Haas looks pretty good too. Most of the others are largely unchanged, design wise.

    The Williams has to look the worst though – the colours just clash and the design looks messy.

    1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
      11th March 2020, 11:04

      Alpha Tauri for me too

      1. @rocketpanda I was really surprised at the positive response that Williams got when they unveiled. It’s hideous.

        1. Agreed, and that’s coming from a lifelong Williams fan.

    2. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      11th March 2020, 17:50

      I don’t think the williams is the best, but I crtainly think it looks better and more intresting than most. Maybe not many do then.

    3. Agreed, the Alpha Tauri looks simple and sophisticated at the same time. Really well done.
      I have no idea why the Renault gets so many votes it’s rather boring (same goes for the frontrunners)

  2. Rename this a livery poll in future because looking at the past winners it’s clear that the actual car design was not taken into account whatsoever.

    Look at the schnoz on that 2014 Williams! Uft.

    1. Well 2014 was really difficult year for voting.

      1. @andycz the Mercedes was by far and away the nicest shape and only car resembling a normal nose but had a boring livery so lost the livery poll as it should be called.

        1. The only car that has a furutistic livery is the Mercedes.

        2. RB13, you do have a point that, in previous votes, it seemed that people did focus quite heavily on the livery in comparison to the shape of the chassis itself – as, indeed, comments here suggest they are now.

          The success of the SF15-T in 2015, for example, is a little surprising – I recall quite a few posters at the time saying that they thought the nosecone, which protruded quite far forward, looked quite awkward and made the car look a bit ugly from the side or from an angled view from the front.

        3. Actually, the nose of the Racing Point has exactly the same shape as the nose of the Mercedes. It’s just the livery that is ugly. And I don’t see anything wrong in the nose of the Renault. It’s just the classic shape, which makes it the most beautiful of them all.

    2. I would have loved to see Renault return to their classic yellow/white/black livery, but if so, the demands for Wins might get higher so.. I find their currant livery quite dull to be honest. I do like the IndyCar-esque livery on the HAAS though (which got my vote), but from a pure design point of view: the Red Bull RB16.

    3. Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
      11th March 2020, 19:32

      The RB that year did a very good job at hiding an already decent 2014-nosejob. That car ultimately looked the most normal on-track IMO

  3. Renault; I like the rounded nose.

    1. @coldfly +1

      In black the design looked properly old skool, in a good way. And reminiscent of some of the JPS on modern car concepts floating around on Twitter.

    2. Totally agree. Alpha Tauri also really nice. Red Bull is very underrated so far in this poll. I guess everyone’s skipped it due to continuity and same same look. I would put the williams 3rd, it’s refreshingly different.

  4. I will go with Alpha Tauri. They have tried something significantly different. Points for the effort.

  5. I would go with Renault simply in terms of design, the livery blends with this year’s car much better. However, I gave my vote to Williams because of their bravery with new look and the fact that the new livery is already a modern classic for me. Hope the results will improve as the aesthetics did.

  6. After a couple of years that 2016 Renault looks like it was stung by a bee. The whole RS16 looks kinda odd.
    I would say Renault (cleary the best desing) if it would be black. Mclaren and Alfa Romeo have the best liveries but I have to say Mclaren

    1. I would like Renault to go back to either the 2016 (mostly yellow) or the testing (mostly black) livery. This half-way job doesn’t really work – it doesn’t know whether it’s Arthur or Martha.

  7. RocketTankski
    11th March 2020, 11:26

    The top picture (that’s all blacked out) is a livery that was only seen behind closed doors by the FIA.

    1. It’s ok, they’ve come to an agreement with the FIA not to have to reveal their livery.

  8. Gave it to Alpha tauri. Looks fashionable.

  9. Renault. And it’s probably the only thing they’ll win all year…

  10. It’s a toss up for me between the Renault and the Mclaren….I would say they are a tie in my head.

  11. I voted for Williams.

  12. For me its RBR, i like the thinner nose and also no one ever mentions this but has the better and less tubular looking halo( i don’t like the halo) but anyway is less ugly than others.

    1. The halo’s are manufactured by three approved external manufacturers chosen by the FIA and is the same specification for all vehicles.

      1. are you blind dude? the halo of RBR and haas are different to the rest, yes they have the same spec but the design is different open your eyes

  13. I voted williams. It is colorful, new and stands out.

  14. They all look awful. Can’t believe how good looking the cars from 10 years ago are compared to now, and they never really looked good. Every year they just get uglier.

    1. To be completely serious, this is one of the reasons that is making F1 not so appealing anymore. It might be just a very small problem, but small problems do add up.

      1. Agree. The safety first, Todt Thong, killed sleek open cockpit racing cars. However, the massive single seat stretch limo designs do match the industrial safety protection motif.

        Next season the cars will be even heavier. And probably uglier. Seems F1 won’t be fully satisfied until the cars have more road relevance – catering to the look and possibly weight, of the bulbous SUV segment.

        1. @jimmi-cynic and yet, interestingly, people still comment positively on IndyCars despite the fact that they are over 5.1m in length – curiously, people seem to think of those cars as being relatively compact when, in reality, they are extremely long in their own right (especially by historical standards).

  15. All of the previous results proved beauty is only skin deep.

  16. I guess when Mercedes wins this one they will loose the Championship….

  17. Best:
    Renault
    Alfa Romeo
    McLaren

    Worst:
    Racing Point – tired of it
    Ferrari – The M car has so many M logos (probably over 20). Too Many MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM…

  18. Renault that yellow looks sick on a car, and its unique

  19. I love the Alfa Romeo. The metallic burgundy with white does t for me. Surprised it’s so low in the standings, but the other Alphas a looker as well, so I get it.

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