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Ranking F1's special liveries as Godzilla design revealed for Japanese Grand Prix

Home> F1

Published 07:00 25 Mar 2026 GMT

Ranking F1's special liveries as Godzilla design revealed for Japanese Grand Prix

We've ranked 10 of F1's special liveries.

Ryan Smart

Ryan Smart

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The Haas F1 Team will debut a bold new livery design based on the movie Godzilla at the Japanese Grand Prix - but where does it rank among F1's previous special liveries?

Haas, who have a technical partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing, have signed what has been stated as a 'season-long partnership' with Japanese entertainment studio TOHO CO - the home of Godzilla.

The new livery retains Haas' traditional red, white and black colours, with Godzilla branding incorporated into the livery on the air intake section.

It also keeps Toyota branding in place ahead of what will be their home race in Suzuka.

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Haas' Godzilla livery for the 2026 Japanese GP (Image: TGR Haas F1 Team)
Haas' Godzilla livery for the 2026 Japanese GP (Image: TGR Haas F1 Team)
But how does the special livery stack up to others from F1's past? Let's take a look:

Jaguar x Ocean's 12 (2004)

Jaguar Racing, in their final season before the Red Bull takeover, decided to enter the Monaco Grand Prix with $300,000 diamonds placed inside each car's nosecone. It didn't go well.

The livery was to promote the new film 'Ocean's Twelve', and the car featured red branding across the rear and the nosecones.

The issue was that Christian Klien crashed out of the race on the first lap, shearing the diamond-plated noescone away from the rterst of the car. The diamond itself has never been found, meaning $300,000 is out there in Monte Carlo somewhere.

Rating: 3/10

Image: Getty
Image: Getty

Red Bull x Star Wars (2005)

Back in their early years after taking over Jaguar in 2004, Red Bull positioned themselves as the ideal team for extravagant brands and sponsors to get involved with.

Ahead of the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix, the energy drinks giant teamed up with Star Wars to promote their new 'Episode III - Revenge of the Sith' film.

Drivers David Coulthard, Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi were given their own Star Wars-inspired outfits, while the pit crew wore Stormtrooper costumes for a promotional shoot.

The livery, meanwhile, featured Star Wars branding across the sidepods in flame colours.

Both cars crashed out of the Grand Prix, however, knocking this one down a point.

Rating: 6/10

Image: Getty
Image: Getty

Red Bull x Superman (2006)

A year later, Red Bull were back with their special Monaco livery - this time with a Superman theme.

The livery itself was simple but effective, as the car's rear wing was coloured in full red to match Superman branding but the front of the car looked normal.

Red Bull had a poor qualifying, with team principal Christian Horner promising to jump naked into the team's swimming pool if they recovered to finish on the podium.

David Coulthard did exactly that, meaning Horner - draped in a Red Bull flag - had to take the plunge.

Rating: 8/10

Image: Getty
Image: Getty

Honda - 'Earth Car' (2007)

While not a one-off livery - Honda used this for the entirety of 2007 - we think it qualifies under the 'special' category.

Honda decided to cover its entire car in the colours of the Earth during 2007, in order to highlight climate change and raise environmental awareness.

There were no sponsors on the car, with the only visible branding on the car being a (now-defunct) URL link to www.myearthdreams.com, Honda's Earth Dreams Technology website.

Sadly, on the track, the car was one of the worst Honda ever produced, as they scored just six points - all through Jenson Button - throughout the 2007 season. Four of those points were scored at a rain-soaked Chinese Grand Prix.

But the livery itself has to score top marks.

Rating: 10/10

Image: Getty
Image: Getty

Red Bull - Faces For Charity (2007)

In 2007, Red Bull launched their 'Faces For Charity' campaign ahead of the British Grand Prix.

The team encouraged fans to upload portrait photos of himself and donate to Wings For Life, a spinal cord injury research charity.

In the end, over 30,000 people uploaded their photos on to the car - including cricket legend Andrew Flintoff and - strangely enough - West Ham midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker.

The livery at a close looked incredible, though it was understandably difficult to pick out the faces from a distance.

Rating: 7.5/10

Image: Getty
Image: Getty

Mercedes Heritage - German GP (2019)

Ahead of the 2019 German Grand Prix, Mercedes unveiled a new 'heritage' livery to celebrate their 125 years in motorsport.

The team honoured a race involving Mercedes in 1934, where the team scraped off the car's paint to keep it under weight.

The Silver Arrows paid homage to that scraped-paint look in 2019 up to the halo, with the entire front half of the car changed to white.

It was another simple but effective look, though it was a rare off-weekend for Mercedes on the track as Valtteri Bottas didn't finish, and Lewis Hamilton could only finish ninth.

Rating: 7/10

Image: Getty
Image: Getty

Ferrari 1000th GP - Tuscan GP (2020)

For their 1000th Grand Prix in 2020, Ferrari went back to their early roots by adorning a full burgundy livery.

It also had a bold 1000 logo on both sides of the air intake, with the team calling the livery a 'faithful reproduction' of what they had for their first-ever F1 Grand Prix in 1950.

It looked great on track in Mugello - coincidentally a track owned by Ferrari - though the Scuderia were uncompetitive throughout 2020 and Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel finished eighth and 10th respectively.

Rating: 7/10

Image: Getty
Image: Getty

McLaren x Gulf (2021)

At the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix, McLaren unveiled a special Gulf livery - a racing blue colourway with an orange stripe that pays tribute to strategic partner Gulf Oil International.

The livery dates back to Gulf's partnership with the team's founder Bruce McLaren in the 1960s, and it went down extremely well with fans - so much so that McLaren have brought it back in subsequent seasons.

Rating: 9/10

Image: Getty
Image: Getty

Williams x Gulf (2023)

Two years later, Gulf put the livery to a vote for fans of the Williams F1 team.

The end result kept its racing blue colourway but kept a darker shade of blue running down the sides. The front wing, meanwhile, was profiled orange and completed the look.

Not quite as strong as McLaren's attempt, but not far away either.

Rating: 8/10

Image: Getty
Image: Getty


McLaren x Ayrton Senna (2024)

McLaren unveiled another all-timer livery in 2024 when they paid tribute to the legendary Ayrton Senna.

Image: Getty
Image: Getty

Designed to mark the 30th anniversary of Senna's death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the car was painted in yellow and blue and also featured the iconic 'Senna' logo on the rear wing and either side of the front wing.

Oscar Piastri qualified and finished second in Monaco, while Lando Norris came home in fourth.

Rating: 10/10

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Formula 1, Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull Racing

Ryan Smart
Ryan Smart

Live in constant hope of the top flight as a Preston North End fan. Written in the past for SPORF, GiveMeSport and more.

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