In the world of Formula One, looking fast is often almost as important as actually being fast. If you turn up to the grid in a car that looks like it was painted by a man in a shed with a leftover pot of Dulux, nobody takes you seriously. Racing Bulls, or VCARB as we must now call them to satisfy the marketing departments, clearly understood this when they pulled the covers off their 2026 challenger in Detroit. They have ditched the somewhat fussy designs of recent years for something that looks expensive, sophisticated, and remarkably shiny.
The new livery is a deep, metallic blue that harks back to the classic Red Bull liveries of the mid-2000s, but with a modern, glossy finish that catches the light like a sapphire. It is a confident statement. For a long time, this team has existed in the shadow of the main Red Bull squad, acting as a finishing school for young drivers who aren’t quite ready for the big time. By choosing such a bold and premium aesthetic, they are signaling that the days of being the “B-team” are coming to an end. They want to be seen as a standalone entity with their own identity, even if they are still sharing a parts bin with Max Verstappen.
Of course, a pretty paint job will not help you through the Maggots and Becketts complex if the aerodynamics are rubbish. Beneath the shimmering blue skin, the VCARB01 is a radical departure from its predecessor. Because the 2026 regulations demand smaller, lighter cars, the packaging is incredibly tight. The sidepods have been sculpted with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel, designed to channel air toward the rear wing with as little fuss as possible. It is a tidy piece of design, though whether it has the “poke” to keep up with the Ferraris and McLarens is a question that won’t be answered until the first corner in Australia.
The team has also made a point of integrating their sponsors with a bit more grace than we usually see. Often, an F1 car looks like a cluttered fridge door covered in magnets, but here, the logos for Visa and Cash App seem to flow with the lines of the bodywork. It is a professional job. It says that the team has moved past the era of scrappy underdog status and into the realm of a serious mid-field contender.
Ultimately, a livery launch is an exercise in optimism. It is the moment before the reality of physics and laptimes sets in, where every team believes they have found a clever loophole. VCARB has won the first round of the season by producing the best-looking car on the grid. Now, they just have to hope that the shimmering blue paint doesn’t start falling off when they hit two hundred miles per hour.
