Ferrari at Monza: Cars painted like Michael Schumacher’s 1996 racing cars!

A lovely gesture from Ferrari: at the upcoming Italian Grand Prix in Monza (6 September), Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s race cars will be painted in the same livery as the Ferraris of thirty years ago – when Michael Schumacher drove his first GP season in red.

This means: just like the 1996 Ferrari F310 – a relatively light red, black wings and gold-coloured rims. In his first year with Ferrari, Michael Schumacher won the Spanish, Belgian and Italian Grands Prix.

Ferrari: Always different colours

When it comes to Ferrari, red is by no means just red. The best example of this was served up to astonished fans at Mugello in 2020, when the proud racing team lined up for the 1,000th Formula 1 World Championship race. On that occasion, Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc took to the track in a shade of red so dark that some fans described it as burgundy.

Sebastian Vettel in Mugello 2020

Foto: XPB

In reality, it was the shade known as ‘Rosso Barchetta’ – the colour used on many Barchetta models from the late 1940s, such as the 125 S. Ferrari also competed in this shade of red at its Formula 1 World Championship debut in Monaco. Later in the 1950 season, Ferrari made adjustments, fielding race cars in a slightly lighter shade of red.

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In Miami in 2024, Ferrari astonished the Tifosi with blue accents on the wings, the halo, the wing mirrors, the bodywork and the wheel rims. These splashes of colour were in the two earlier Ferrari colours, Azzurro La Plata (a light blue) and Azzurro Dino (a darker blue). Azzurro La Plata is the shade that Alberto Ascari used to wear in the 1950s. Clay Regazzoni and Niki Lauda – just like most of the mechanics – raced in Azzurro Dino in the 1970s.

So trat Ferrari in Miami 2024 an

Foto: Ferrari

Take Monza 2023 as an example: Ferrari returned to Le Mans in June 2023, after a 50-year absence as a works team. The Italians promptly won the endurance classic for the tenth time, their first victory since 1965. James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi triumphed in the Ferrari 499P Hypercar.

Ferrari in Monza 2023

Foto: Ferrari

To mark the occasion, Ferrari’s Formula 1 team appeared at its home race in Monza in September with a specially liveried GP car for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

As early as 2022, the Monegasque and Spanish drivers’ cars featured numerous yellow design elements, intended as a tribute to Ferrari’s home town of Modena after 75 years. Yellow, the colour of Modena, can also be seen as the background on the world-famous Ferrari emblem.

A slightly different Ferrari appearance in the US is nothing new: at the end of 2023, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz raced in red and white in Las Vegas, drawing inspiration from earlier Ferrari designs.

Charles Leclerc in Las Vegas 2023

Foto: Ferrari