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The winter break can feel excruciatingly long, with most fans turning to other forms of racing to satisfy their cravings, while they wait for Formula One to return to the tarmac.
While there is still more than a month to go before the Australian Grand Prix gets underway, the car launches will at least bring some respite for those who are eagerly waiting for the racing to return.
Six out of the ten teams participating in the 2019 season have announced their car launch dates, with the first being less than a fortnight away. It would be exciting to see the changes brought about by the teams in the liveries and also how the cars would look with the 2019 rule changes.
McLaren chose to bring back the iconic papaya orange last year and the sneak peek on their twitter account just goes to show that the orange is here to stay. It remains to be seen what the designers have up their sleeve.
Meanwhile, Martini is no longer sponsoring Williams and their branding would be departing from atop the car. Abu Dhabi showed a glimpse of what the car might look like without Martini as the alcohol laws in the United Arab Emirates did not allow the brand to feature on the Williams. However, 2019 would bring forth a livery not created keeping in mind the focus on Martini.
Racing Point may or may not still favour pink for the upcoming season after a leadership change led to their name switching from Force India to Racing Point. On the other hand, it is only the second year for the partnership between Sauber and Alfa Romeo. The white and red colour scheme, with a few strokes of black mixed in, was aesthetically pleasing and hopefully, we would get to see something similar for this year.
Another interesting aspect of the car launches would be seeing the drivers who switched seats and also new drivers on the circuit with the gear of their respective teams. Daniel Ricciardo even teased of a helmet unlike any other he has worn before.
The teams may also be tempted to launch a one-off livery like Red Bull did last year with the RB14 ‘DisruptoBull’ which displayed a blue camouflage design.
The launch dates announced till now are:
7 February - Haas
11 February - Toro Rosso
12 February - Renault
13 February - Racing Point
14 February - McLaren
15 February - Ferrari
18 February - Sauber
TBA - Mercedes, Red Bull, Haas, Williams
