As many of you may have noticed from my previous rumblings, I have never been a Ferrari fan, except during the early 90s' when my all-time favourite Alain Prost was with the team. I don't like the so called "business-like" approach and the ruthlessness that Michael Schumacher and co have brought to the team (or put it simply, I hate him to the guts). But this year they have done something which I just can't agree more.
No, I'm neither talking about the retirement of Schumacher, nor the one-year sabbatical taken by Ross Brawn (although I really thank God that they have finally gone away). I'm talking about the decision to paint their cars completely red, including the front wings and the rear wings.
When we think of a typical and classic Ferrari race car, it just has to be red. You simply can't think of any colour. Given the fact that red is the national racing colour of Italy, Ferraris in the earlier days were indeed completely red.
Yet for some reason, since the introduction of wings in Formula One cars in the late 60s', Ferrari has never painted their wings red. Niki Lauda won the first two of his three world championship titles in 1975 and 1977 and survived his fiery crash at Nürburgring in 1976 all in a Ferrari with silver wings. Gilles Villeneuve was killed at Zolder in 1982 also in a silver-winged Ferrari. Gerhard Berger won in Monza just weeks after Enzo Ferrari's death in 1988 in a black-winged Ferrari. And when Schumi dominated Formula One not so long ago, the wings of his Ferrari were predominantly white, probably for accommodating the colour scheme of its main sponsor Marlboro.
So you can understand my great surprise and excitement when I first saw the pictures of the new Ferraris in action. The name "Marlboro" is still atop the rear wing, but is now in white fonts with black trim. Now that's what I call a neat looking car.
Meanwhile, the defending constructor's champion, Renault, has also undergone a major facelift, with Dutch insurance magnate ING Group taking over as the title sponsor. That means the Renaults have now changed from a classic powder blue and yellow colour scheme to a messy orange-yellow-white-blue one. To me they look like the blindingly outrageous cycling jerseys of the Tour de France more than anything else.
Speaking of being outrageous, Honda's paint scheme is, by far, the most amazing one in Formula One this year (some would even say ever). Unlike teams such as Ferrari and Renault, they don't have an "outside" title sponsor, so there are literally rooms for them to manoeuvre. What they have come up with is an ingenious concept called an "Earth Car", with the earth as their paint job in an attempt to enhance our awareness towards environmental proection.
Personally I think it's just a sick idea to ensure the safety and success of their drivers. Hey, who dares damage and upset the earth?
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