Six F1 Teams Drop Wild Liveries for US Grand Prix at COTA — And Some Are Top-Notch

Formula 1 is in Austin this weekend for the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas for a full weekend of racing with a Sprint on Saturdays and the Grand Prix itself on Sunday.

COTA tends to yield some great racing thanks to its mix of long straights, windy esses, and slow-speed hairpins, but this race is always a big one for special liveries.

Sure, it's just one of three races on US soil. However, Miami is all about Miami, and Vegas leans into Sin City flavor, meaning that the USGP is the most red, white, and blue, all-American race of the season, and that's often reflected in the liveries.

Say it with me: USA! USA! USA!

As of Thursday, six teams have unveiled special looks for this weekend (and in some cases beyond), so let's take a look so you know who the hell is who when the lights go out this weekend.

Alpine

Alpine likes a special livery, and usually that means confusing the bejeezus out of everyone. They did this last year with an Indiana Jones livery that basically meant their car was cosplaying as a McLaren.

In look only, though. Not performance.

This year, Team Endstone is bringing a look in partnership with Argentinian e-commerce company Mercado Libre, which will also be used in Mexico City and São Paulo.

Eh… 

It's not terrible, but it looks like what it is: a sponsor logo just slapped onto the normal livery.

But hey, everyone has to pay the bills somehow, and this is one good way to do it.

Aston Martin

Aston Martin has never run a special livery at the United States Grand Prix until now, and while I think what they've got is a great idea, it's giving me traumatic flashbacks to high school calculus.

The idea is to pay tribute to the science behind Formula 1 and all of the development that goes into every aspect, from materials to aero to fuel.

So, in partnership with Aramco, the Astons will run a livery covered in equations and formulas that I don't understand.

That's why I became a writer, folks.

I'll be honest, it took me forever to figure out what was different about this one.

It turns out the differences are pretty small.

Still, I'm a sucker for British Racing Green, so I dig it.

McLaren

McLaren locked up the Constructors' Championship at the last race in Singapore, but they still have both of their drivers — Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris — duking it out for what would be the team's first Drivers' Championship since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

For the next two races, the McLarens will use a special livery honoring Google — one of their big sponsors — and Google Gemini AI technology.

And it looks so, so good.

That has shades of the Prost/Senna era, doesn't it?

I love this. If it were up to me — which it isn't — this would be the regular McLaren livery all season long.

For now, we'll just have to savor it this weekend and next.

Racing Bulls

Since the team became Racing Bulls or VCARB or RB — whatever it is today — they have crushed their special liveries, largely because they're not afraid to get wild.

And boy, did they ever this time. This livery is all about one thing: tortoise shell.

The Racing Bulls have been one of the most surprising teams of the season. Rookie Isack Hadjar has been phenomenal, while Liam Lawson has been rebuilding his confidence after getting the boot from Red Bull.

I think we're going to be seeing quite a bit of this lovely orange-ish livery running in the points in both the Spring and the Grand Prix.

Williams

Speaking of teams that might have a solid week ahead of them, maybe keep an eye on Williams. Carlos Sainz excelled in Baku — a circuit that is a mix of straights and slow corners like COTA is to a degree — so perhaps he can keep that going.

The other reason to keep an eye on Williams?

They're bringing back their spectacular 2002 livery for this weekend.

Oh, be still my heart…

This is another one that could be an every-week livery.

By the way, Williams might have some of the best liveries in F1 history. This one, the Martini livery in the 2010s, and a bunch of great ones in the '90s, including the iconic Camel livery used on the FW14 and FW14B.

Haas

I had to save the only US team on the grid (until next season) for last, because, of course, they have something special for their home race.

The team is rolling out the Stars and Stripes for this weekend, with a really solid look.

This might be my favorite version of a USGP livery that Haas has done over the years.

They've got some great-looking matching firesuits for Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman, too.

I wouldn't mind seeing the home team have a strong weekend. They're currently nine points behind Sauber for P8 in the Constructors' standings, and they can make that up with a few solid points finishes to end the year.