In Formula 1, liveries are never side stories. A one off paint scheme can tell a team’s mood, show off a sponsor push, nod to a host country, or just give a race weekend a bit more life. A big chunk of the grid is still running the standard look it launched before the opening race in Australia. Special liveries have come from McLaren and Cadillac during the Barcelona Shakedown, and from Racing Bulls, Haas, and Mercedes for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
Mercedes
Mercedes has gone for a Suzuka special. Their Japanese Grand Prix dramatic branding uses a wolf inspired design, inspired by the idea of “unleashing the beast”. Mercedes has opened 2026 in solid shape, so this livery feels more like swagger. The whole gig was not meant to be delicate but seen and remembered. Suzuka is a great place for that, since it’s been a favorite track for many drivers, and an absolute champion when it comes to fans.
Racing Bulls
Racing Bulls changed the car to a white, red, and silver Suzuka livery inspired by Red Bull’s Spring Edition can and Japanese shodo calligraphy, created with calligrapher Bisen Aoyagi. The team also tied the design to cherry blossom season and unveiled it in Tokyo before the Japanese Grand Prix, so the actual change was not just something extra.
Haas
Haas may have produced the special livery people remember most from this early stretch. For Suzuka, the team rolled out a Godzilla themed design for the VF-26. That sounds like the sort of idea that could go wrong very quickly, but in this case the team stuck the landing. Japan, giant movie monster, race weekend theatre, bold graphics, it all fits together just right.
It works because the Godzilla theme feels built into the whole design rather than slapped on as a gimmick. For Haas, it is the kind of bold look that gives the team a rare visual headline and makes the car memorable.
Barcelona Shakedown special liveries
McLaren
Before the proper race livery arrived, the team rolled out a special Barcelona Shakedown design in a darker, stripped back style. The team knows how to turn visuals into a marketing performance which they proved back in 2022 when they showed up in Bahrain with Google wheels.
This year, McLaren stayed true to their orange/blue palette, making the car different enough to be noticed, but not unrecognizable.
Cadillac
Cadillac’s Barcelona Shakedown livery was a monochrome design, using black, grey, and a gloss matte geometric pattern rather than the team’s full race colors. The point of that look was twofold: it helped hide aero details during early testing, and it also nodded to Detroit design heritage while carrying the names of the team’s founding members from the US and the UK.
The proper 2026 race livery is more dramatic: a split black and white design with chrome accents. Cadillac has said that the choice came from the brand’s monochromatic high performance badging, so the colors are meant to reflect Cadillac’s premium performance identity rather than the brighter colors.
The Mood of the Season
The designs feel tied to a place, a background story, or a clear bit of brand thinking.
So far, the strongest 2026 special liveries have had a clear purpose behind them, whether that was a Japan specific design theme, a testing camouflage look, or a team launch tied to brand identity. The best ones were always built around the idea that made them stand out.
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