Red Bull's Silverstone Livery

prisonermonkeys

prisonermonkeys

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If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Honda must be feeling pretty good about themselves (except for, y'know, the absolute dog of a car they have this year, but that's not the point here ...). I was surfing over at Formula1.com when I found this:
Red Bull plans to race faces for charity
25 May 2007

Red Bull announced on Thursday they plan to introduce an innovative new livery, for one race only, at July’s British Grand Prix. In place of the traditional corporate sponsorship and blue and red team colours, the bodywork of both RB3s will be plastered with the faces of more than 50,000 fans, in an effort to raise funds for spinal cord charity, Wings for Life.

From midday on Friday, fans can visit www.facesforcharity.com and upload a portrait of themselves, their friends, or a family member for the price of £10 sterling. On the site fans will be able to choose which drivers’ car they want their face to appear on, whereabouts their image will appear and also reserve space for others.

"They say your biggest rival is your team mate, so now David (Coulthard) and I have got an extra battle between us to see who can get the most faces on our cars,” explained race driver Mark Webber. “I promise that whoever signs up will guarantee their photo a very exciting ride round Silverstone!"

"Winning the British Grand Prix is something I'll never forget so I always look forward to going back to Silverstone,” added team mate Coulthard. “Of course, it's where I get the most support from my fans so this year, having them literally on the car with me is a nice way for me to pay them back for their support over the years.”

Red Bull hopes the project will raise US$1 million, all of which will be donated to the nominated charity, Wings for Life. The foundation was set up by former Austrian Motocross rider Heinz Kinigadner, whose 23 year-old son Hannes was crippled in a motocross accident in 2003.
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There's even some concept art, a high-res version of which can be found here. Needless to say, it's as ugly as sin ... if Honda painted their cars to reflect their performance this year, this is probably what it would look like.

So ... thoughts? Are non-sponsorship liveries the way of the future? I've always though some of the cars look like 300km/h billboards, but should everybody be copying one another the way Red Bull seem to have done so with Honda?
 
So, because Red Bull is coming out with a unique livery, they're automatically copying Honda? That's garbage.

The only way Red Bull would be copying Honda is if they also painted a giant globe on their car. This is a charity event. I think Honda's scheme is just for awareness.
 
Omnis
So, because Red Bull is coming out with a unique livery, they're automatically copying Honda? That's garbage.

The only way Red Bull would be copying Honda is if they also painted a giant globe on their car. This is a charity event. I think Honda's scheme is just for awareness.
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I'm not saying they're copying Honda outright, I'm just questioning if they would have done something like this if the EarthCar hadn't have been created. Yes, Red Bull have run alternate liveries before - last year's Monaco springs to mind - but they've still been commercial in nature. Other teams, like Renault, have also run different liveries (they went through four last year), but they're largely to cover up cigarette sponsorships. Honda were the first team to run a non-commercial livery and while I don't deny Red Bull's is for a good cause, I'm still cynical.
 
Do you race?
Yes, Red Bull have run alternate liveries before - last year's Monaco springs to mind - but they've still been commercial in nature.
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So as soon as they decide to do something for charity we’re going to criticise them?
 
I'll say it again: would they be doing this if Honda had not come up with the concept of a sponsorless racing strip? I don't deny it's for a good cause, I'm just questioning if they've decided "Hey, we can do that!" and have simply decided to use a charity to do it.
 
So why do you care? Lol.
 
So what your saying, is that red bull are organising a charity event to raise money, because Hondas car is an earth................................................
 
*Bangs head against wall repeatedly*

For the fourth time ... alright, picture that Honda never ran the EarthCar and simply kept Lucky Strike or something as a sponsor. The EarthCar doesn't exist. Now, if that's the case, what I want to know is this: would Red Bull still be running this Faces For Charity thing?
 
Do you race?
*Bangs head against wall repeatedly*

For the fourth time ... alright, picture that Honda never ran the EarthCar and simply kept Lucky Strike or something as a sponsor. The EarthCar doesn't exist. Now, if that's the case, what I want to know is this: would Red Bull still be running this Faces For Charity thing?
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Sure. Why not? They always do something very PR at Monaco.
 
Do you race?
*Bangs head against wall repeatedly*

For the fourth time ... alright, picture that Honda never ran the EarthCar and simply kept Lucky Strike or something as a sponsor. The EarthCar doesn't exist. Now, if that's the case, what I want to know is this: would Red Bull still be running this Faces For Charity thing?
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Umm, seeing how Honda ARE running the EarthCar livery, and there's a general shortgage of AMC Deloreans and flux capacitators driving at 88 miles per hour, it's pretty impossible to predict.
It's not unheard of in racing. I remember Rossi running the Italian flag livery in the Italian GP a couple of years ago, and even in F1, didn't Ferrari run a black nose cone and no sponsors in the first race after September 11?
 
Actually looks ok - ish. If they put in a little less faces, and put the pictures just slightly larger it's look much cooler, or they could work it out as a face-color based mosaique. Like this, it's a little too blurry, but still not terrible. Thing is, at those speeds, you won't see a thing anyways. It'll just look single-coloured...
 
Do you race?
*Bangs head against wall repeatedly*
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Okay, picture this. The Honda My Earth Dream livery never existed. There’s no such thing. Now, answer me this: would you be so completely anal about Red Bull using a special livery with the Red Bull logo on it that uses the oft’ used concept of fans paying to get their name/face on the car at the British GP?

*ahem*

Sorry, I just don’t get the point of your question. Honda was not the first racing team to do the pay-to-get-your-name-on-the-car thing, and it was never going to be the last to do so. F1 teams need sponsorship to survive, we are not going to turn around in 10 years and see a field of cars dressed in their national colours like it was in the 50s and 60s.
 
Nice idea...but...

1 - It doesn't look too great, then again in a sport where speed and handling is what counts, what does it matter if it doesn't look good? (Honda should know about that =D)

2 - Why bother? No one is actually going to get to see or recognise anyone unless you're up close so you won't get any recognition other than to say "I had my face on DC's car...somewhere..."
 
Do you race?
*Bangs head against wall repeatedly*

For the fourth time ... alright, picture that Honda never ran the EarthCar and simply kept Lucky Strike or something as a sponsor. The EarthCar doesn't exist. Now, if that's the case, what I want to know is this: would Red Bull still be running this Faces For Charity thing?
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:indiff: Maybe? But don't be so cynical...

Even if they got the idea from Honda, that's not a bad thing, is it?
If one company sets a good example, and others follow in a similar manner, seems to me like it can only be a good thing.👍

:dunce: Now for my hypocritical cynical moment:
Any company doing something for charity is going to sqeeze it for PR - but this in itself doesn't necessarily make it a bad thing.
 
I plan to do this once my new card comes through. :) Charity = Good.
 
Well i signed up. Right in front of the steering wheel, on Webber's car of course (lets hope I at least see half distance).
 
What you guys need to do is submit a pic of yourself wearing a giant rainbow-colored afro.
 
Yuck, I hate it, I really don't like these 'special' liveries they do, sure there for a good cause but still they look god awful. However some of the non charity / awarness ones have looked quite good like the 555 Honda at Shanghai. They could make these ones look abit more apealling and less of a splattered mess. Seriously that Red Bull looks like a Bee hive has attached itself to most of the bodywork!

I think the cars should just be plastered with sponsorship they way they always have.... just look at the mclaren, gosh it looks beautiful!

But thats my opinion.....

Robin
 
Honda ran 555 in Shanghai because that brand of cigarette is more popular in China (I don't think Lucky Strike can be purchased over there).
 
David's car seems to have more than Marks. lol


Either way, it'll look horrible. These kinds of liveries with a jumble of pictures always do, for example Di Resta's DTM Merc.

At least the Honda car has just one image... the earth, which is actually starting to grow on me.

I do respect that it is a charity thing for which we really shouldn't b*tch about in terms of 'oh god, Honda did it, now they all will.'
 
I hope Webber manages to park it somewhere up-wind of the nearest TV camera for maximum publicity 👍 :)
 
Do you race?
Honda ran 555 in Shanghai because that brand of cigarette is more popular in China (I don't think Lucky Strike can be purchased over there).
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Yeah, the western cigarettes brands there and somewhat limited because the Chinese prefer to smoke their own countries cigarette brands so brands like Lucky Strike have an uphill struggle...

Oh and this was the 555 Honda I was talking about, pity it didn't even race..

Ant_007_555.jpg
 
Yeah, the one they ran was the same as the Lucky Strike strip, but with different colours. I remember when they first started as BAR and tried to run one car under each livery. Bernie Ecclestone would have none of it, so they ran both cars with both brands. I have no respect for Jacques Villeneuve after that; how he managed to sleep at night when he drove a car carrying two cigarette brands is beyond me ...
 
Robin ///////
I think the cars should just be plastered with sponsorship they way they always have.... just look at the mclaren, gosh it looks beautiful!

But thats my opinion.....

Robin
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and I think we should just strike the sponsorship, and go back to the good old national/factory racing colors like we used to.

But, then again, Sponsors are important...
 
Jim Prower
and I think we should just strike the sponsorship, and go back to the good old national/factory racing colors like we used to.

But, then again, Sponsors are important...
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We'd have a field of almost entirely BRG cars in that case ;)
 
Unless It had to be a combo scheme with the engine manufacturer's color, too...

Green and white BARs, Green and silver McLarens, etc...
 
You guys are ridiculous... I think it's a great idea, and I just reserved a spot in front of David's steering wheel. :)
 
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