Not for the first time in F1, the reality fails to live up to the hype as Ferrari's Miami livery leaves fans a lot more blue than the car.
Here's the press release...
Ferrari is looking forward to a memorable weekend in Miami, hosting several activities linked to the marque's tradition and passion for innovation in this its seventieth year on the North American market.
The Scuderia will be one of the stars of the show over the Floridian weekend and the cars will sport a special livery celebrating two colours from its past, Azzurro La Plata and Azzurro Dino. These shades of blue were part of daily life in Maranello for many years and are now coming back into play after an absence of around fifty years. The Miami weekend will also provide an amazing backdrop for HP's debut as the team's new title partner.
The biggest change is the recently announced arrival of HP as title partner for the coming seasons, so that as from this race, the team will be competing in the Grands Prix under the name of Scuderia Ferrari HP. The partnership extends globally beyond Formula 1 and on the racing side it also includes the car that Maya Weug races in Ferrari colours in the F1 Academy, the all-female driver series for the fastest women on the planet, including her Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy colleague, Aurelia Nobels. In fact, the HP partnership also includes support for Maranello's young driver programme, established in 2009, as well as its Esports team. The dominant colour of the new title partner's logo is a perfect fit with the theme chosen by the Maranello marque for the week in Miami, namely the return of the two colours from the past, Azzurro La Plata and Azzurro Dino. For this weekend only, these tones will feature on the two SF-24s. The splashes of colour will be used on the wings, the engine cover, the halo, the rear-view mirrors, the race numbers and, in a nod to the past, on the wheel rims, as was the case back in the Sixties, starting with the 158 F1 with which John Surtees clinched the world championship title in North America, sixty years ago. The Miami livery also evokes memories of the single-seaters and sports cars entered by the American Ferrari importer, Luigi Chinetti, under the N.A.R.T. (North American Racing Team) banner, including the aforementioned blue and white 158 F1 driven by Surtees and red Ferraris with dark blue stripes. In fact, blue also featured on the various Ferraris entered in sports cars races in the Sixties by the British importer, Maranello Concessionaires.
As hinted at recently, on the Sunday of the Grand Prix, Charles and Carlos and almost all team members will be wearing a special team kit, mainly in Azzurro La Plata with flashes of Azzurro Dino, including the race suit, shoes, gloves and helmet. The light blue of Azzurro La Plata was Argentina's official race colour in the Fifties, similar to the one that Italy's Alberto Ascari favoured and used regularly in his most successful years on track. The two-time world champion would always wear a shirt and helmet in this colour as a lucky charm. In 1952, Ascari tackled the Indianapolis 500 Miles in a Ferrari 375 Special, built specifically for the race, with a blue nose section. In the Sixties, Surtees, Lorenzo Bandini, Ludovico Scarfiotti and Chris Amon all wore blue suits, as did Niki Lauda in his first year with the Scuderia. The mechanics and the factory staff also had blue overalls, in keeping with the stereotype of the "blue collar" worker, as opposed to the "white collar" office staff and management.
The other Ferrari colour making a comeback in Miami is Azzurro Dino, a much brighter blue that found favour with several Scuderia drivers, most notably Arturo Merzario and Clay Regazzoni. The latter was the last driver to wear a race suit in this colour, in 1974, and gradually, shirts and mechanics overalls also took on this tone, before becoming the norm from the Seventies to the early Eighties. As from 1975, various shades of red became the dominant colour on the drivers' race suits, with splashes of white, reflecting, as from 1973, sponsorship from Philip Morris International, an agreement still in place today. In Miami, the usual red colour gives way to Azzurro La Plata for the drivers for the whole weekend, while the majority of the team will wear kit in that colour on Sunday only. Those mechanics involved in the pit stops, who therefore need to wear fireproof suits in accordance with the regulations, will be decked out in Azzurro Dino.
Charles and Carlos will also celebrate these two revived Ferrari colours away from the race track. They will each get around in special Ferrari 296 GTS Assetto Fiorano sports cars, personalised for the extraordinary series of events taking place in the United States. Their custom liveries were created in the Maranello Style Centre, headed up by Chief Design Officer Flavio Manzoni, and the two spiders have also been on show in the International Ferrari Cavalcade in Tennessee and Florida. The drivers will also have Ferrari Style clutch bags specially designed by Creative Director, Rocco Iannone. The two 296 GTS will also lead the Ferrari Parade around the circuit on Sunday, followed by Ferrari owners from the Cavalcade who will enjoy the weekend from the luxurious surroundings of Casa Ferrari, alongside the track that runs around the Hard Rock Stadium. Their hosts will be Ferrari ambassador Marc Gene and Scuderia Ferrari HP reserve driver, Antonio Giovinazzi.
And finally, the big sell...
As always when the team puts on activations for special Grands Prix, a series of initiatives are taking place in collaboration with team partners and licensees and at the Miami Grand Prix, the inspiration comes from the rediscovered shades of blue, with a range of limited edition items. Puma recently launched the Scuderia Ferrari Miami Limited Edition capsule collection: varsity jackets, replica teamwear and Speedcat Pro shoes in Azzurro Dino. Ray-Ban and Scuderia Ferrari are launching the first limited editions Ray-Ban Meta glasses: for this event the iconic Wayfarer comes in the colours chosen for Miami, featuring Meta's integrated technology in the glasses, that allows the wearer to listen, make calls, watch video live-streaming videos and capture content, simply by wearing the glasses. Bell also has an activation for the Miami Grand Prix, presenting replica driver helmets in Azzurro La Plata for Charles Leclerc and Azzurro Dino for Carlos Sainz.
"The upcoming Miami Grand Prix will be one to remember in the history of our team," said Fred Vasseur, "as in Florida we will be celebrating our heritage through a unique livery, rediscovering two colours that are part of our history. It will also be a very special race as we are glad to welcome the arrival of our new title partner HP.
"Scuderia Ferrari and HP share many values, including a winning mentality and a clear line of thought that forms the basis of our partnership. Our two companies always strive for excellence and embrace technological innovation, key elements in achieving our respective goals. Like us, HP believes in the importance of ensuring that everyone in its organisation can give of their best, as that's the only way to get great results. In addition, we believe in the need to nurture talent, teaching and empowering people as exemplified by our Driver Academy.
"With so many things in common, we believe that HP's title partnership will greatly benefit both marques and I can't wait for us to start working together from this weekend."
Other than disappointment at the livery following all the hype, fans on social media were actually more interested in knowing when Adrian Newey will be named as the Scuderia's new technical boss.
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