We only have ten Grands Prix left together. The 2020 F1 season got off to a late start and has shrunk from a massive schedule to just 13 races at 11 tracks. I won’t even get a chance to see these beautiful pink Racing Point F1 Team babies in person this year, as all of the North American rounds of the championship have been killed off due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. And the pink is all but guaranteed to disappear from the car next year when the team is renamed.
When I first heard that the Force India team would be trading in its white/green/orange livery for a pink one I was a sceptic, but when it rolled onto the grid in 2017 I was immediately smitten. The then-new sponsorship deal with water filter company BWT brought along its corporate blue over pink, and goddamn it’s great.
Even across the renaming of Force India to Racing Point in the middle of the 2018 season, the team has remained a hardcore proponent of the pink racing car. For four seasons, from 2017 to today, the car has been this eye-catching shade of awesome. And while the team hasn’t exactly been the pinnacle of competitiveness in that time, it’s been a solid mid-pack runner, even with the likes of Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon, and Lance Stroll in the driver’s seat.
In 2020 the team has finally reached vindication, finishing deep into the points paying positions in all three of the Grands Prix held thus far this year. While the team’s detractors say that it has done this by simply copying a very well-made 2019 Mercedes chassis, it has yet to be proven that any illegal action was taken to make it so competitive. I tend to side with the pinkies in saying that it’s probably fine. ANYWAYS…
In 2021, the team will again be renamed Aston Martin Racing, as team owner Lawrence Stroll recently acquired a significant stake in the British sports car brand. In changing the team’s name, it is entirely likely that the car will get a makeover to reflect its new name. The pink that I know and love will be gone. Lost to history. It was too weird to live.
BUT! Not all is lost. The team with the interesting pink livery has been rebranded Aston Martin, which already uses some exceedingly interesting liveries in its sports car efforts.
If we must lose the pink from the 2021 F1 grid, would that it be replaced by a stripey two-tone green monster with the brightest orange accents you’ve ever effing seen. Yes, this will look quite nice on the AMR-2021 chassis (they can’t very well call it AMR-01, now can they?).
The king is dead. Long live the king!