This 2026 Lamborghini F1 Livery Proves the Raging Bull Belongs on the Grid (Even If It Never Happens)

The 2026 F1 season marks the biggest technical reset the sport has seen in over a decade, with new power unit regulations that push electric deployment even harder and a reshuffled grid that includes Audi’s factory entry and Cadillac arriving as a legitimate constructor. It’s the kind of moment when the paddock genuinely opens up to new possibilities, when manufacturers who’ve been sitting on the sidelines start doing the math on whether an F1 program could actually make sense. Lamborghini will almost certainly remain on those sidelines, because spending nine figures annually to race in a series where your parent company already fields a team (Audi, also owned by Volkswagen Group) would be corporate redundancy at its most wasteful. But that didn’t stop designer Daniel Rodriguez from asking what a Lamborghini livery would look like if Sant’Agata Bolognese decided to crash the party anyway. If it did, it would be the third bull-based team on the track after Red Bull and Racing Bulls!

Rodriguez’s concept wraps a 2026-spec F1 car in Arancio Borealis and gloss black with a geometric lattice pattern that pulls directly from Lamborghini’s current design vocabulary. The hexagonal graphics echo the Revuelto’s taillight treatment and the angular obsession that defines the brand’s styling language, flowing from dense at the cockpit to sparse at the rear wing. Italian flag accents trace the halo and nose cone, sponsor logos for Macron and Eni add commercial credibility, and the raging bull emblem sits on the rear wing endplates where it would photograph beautifully in the pit lane even if TV cameras never caught it. The renders are good enough to pass for official press shots, lit with the kind of moody amber-to-black gradients that Lamborghini’s own marketing team would approve.

Designer: Daniel Rodriguez

What makes this livery work is that Rodriguez doesn’t try to make the F1 car look like a Lamborghini road car, because that’s impossible and also beside the point. An F1 car is a regulatory sculpture shaped by wind tunnel data and the FIA’s technical rulebook, and no amount of vinyl wrap changes that fundamental reality. Instead, the livery translates Lamborghini’s graphic and color vocabulary into a form factor that has nothing to do with mid-engine supercars, and it does so in a way that feels both authentic to the brand and appropriate for the paddock. The Arancio Borealis orange sits somewhere between molten lava and a traffic cone, instantly recognizable as Lamborghini without requiring the car to sprout scissor doors or a V12 exhaust note. The gloss black creates genuine visual tension rather than just contrast, breaking up the body in a way that emphasizes the car’s aerodynamic surfaces instead of fighting them.

The hexagonal lattice pattern running down the sidepods and over the engine cover is the detail that sells the whole concept. Lamborghini has been obsessed with hexagons since the Aventador introduced them as a recurring motif back in 2011, and they’ve since migrated to every surface the brand touches. Taillights, grilles, interior stitching, wheel designs, all of it hexagons. Rodriguez takes that obsession and applies it to the F1 car’s sidepods in a way that creates visual density without cluttering the canvas. The pattern starts tight and geometric at the front, creating a sense of structural integrity, then gradually opens up as it flows rearward, giving the eye a path to follow from cockpit to diffuser. It’s a graphic solution that respects both the brand’s identity and the car’s aerodynamic purpose.

The Italian tricolor is handled with restraint, running as a thin accent stripe that outlines the halo and reappears on the nose cone. It’s subtle enough to avoid looking like a generic tribute to the brand’s Sant’Agata Bolognese heritage, but prominent enough that the car reads as distinctly Italian when parked next to Ferrari’s red. The sponsor integration is equally thoughtful. Macron, the Italian sportswear brand that already kits out Bologna FC and the Italian national rugby team, appears on the sidepods and rear wing. Eni, the Italian energy giant with deep motorsport ties, gets placement on the engine cover. Both partnerships feel plausible rather than fantastical, the kind of commercial relationships Lamborghini could actually secure if they showed up to the grid tomorrow.

Even the mandated wheel covers, which the 2026 regulations require for aerodynamic efficiency and which most teams treat as blank canvases or necessary evils, get the hexagon treatment here. It’s a small detail that maintains visual consistency across every surface, ensuring the car reads as a cohesive design rather than a collection of sponsor panels held together by regulations. The raging bull emblem on the rear wing endplates is rendered in white against black, a detail that would be nearly invisible during race broadcasts but would photograph beautifully in static pit lane shots and pre-race media coverage.

Will Lamborghini actually enter F1 in 2026 or beyond? Almost certainly not. The economics don’t justify it, the brand’s identity doesn’t need F1 validation, and their motorsport budget is better spent on GT3 programs that connect directly to road car sales. But Rodriguez’s concept does something more valuable than predicting the future. It proves that Lamborghini’s design language is strong enough to survive translation into a form factor it was never intended for, and it shows what the 2026 grid would look like with a raging bull parked next to the prancing horse.

The post This 2026 Lamborghini F1 Livery Proves the Raging Bull Belongs on the Grid (Even If It Never Happens) first appeared on Yanko Design.

Formula Pro simulator with ultra-realistic controls emulates F1 racing fun in your living room

In the world of Formula-1 world championships are won by the slender margin of milliseconds that turn into big margins after every passing lap. The level of engineering in the pinnacle of Motorsports is unparalleled, and the drivers competing for the top podium step do every little thing that gives them a strategic advantage over their rivals.

Personal training is a part of the drill to stay in top shape, but the real deal is to polish the skills and gain telemetry data in the racing sims that very closely mimic the nuances of each track on the season calendar. With the hybrid era, the need for simulating the real track conditions has become even more important, given the metamorphosis this sport is undergoing.  A good simulator plays a vital role in giving the F1 and F2 drivers a fair idea of areas to improve, or develop strategic maneuvers that can be finally implemented on the track.

Designer: Cool Performance

With over two decades of motorsport experience and trusted by over 250 professional racers, Cool Performance now brings its most advanced F1 sim racer for professionals and motorsports fans. Current F1 drivers who train their driving skills on the Formula Pro Simulator include Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Sebastian Vettel and Alex Albon. Founder Oliver Norris has designed the simulator from the ground up with tons of experience in his own Motorsports journey and his brother Lando’s last couple of successful F1 seasons.

The professional-grade simulator has a precision-designed cockpit and race seat to recreate the realism of FPV in the single-seater racer. To simulate the nuances of a Formula -1 car riding the tarmac, the simulator has a high-torque force feedback steering and a Leo Bodnar SimSteering 2 base. This lets the sim racer feel every little bump of the chicane or the minute grip changes when the car is steered off the racing line. Braking in Formula 1 is way more challenging than your average SUV. That is mimicked by the CP-S hydraulic pedals with an AP Racing master cylinder support, which can simulate 200 kgs of braking force. For that, you’ll require immense strength in your core and lower body.

Every little detail of this F1 simulator is narrowed down to the last millimeter, much like the Formula 1 cars. Right from the highly technical CP-S Formula steering wheel that has virtually everything right at arms distance for the driver, to the CP-S custom hydraulic pedals, nothing gets better than the Cool Performance’s option. Clearly, if you want to feel the realism and the tiny details of Formula 1, this is it. Each one of the Formula Pro F1 simulators is custom-manufactured and tested by Oliver and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs in Kent, United Kingdom.

Eager buyers can opt for a single curved screen setup or a multiscreen array for better realism. If you are a purist, then the UK-based manufacturer can create a bespoke version of the sim to fit your specific needs. The Formula Pro simulator price starts from $40,950 and can go higher depending on the add-ons demanded or the bespoke modifications required.

The post Formula Pro simulator with ultra-realistic controls emulates F1 racing fun in your living room first appeared on Yanko Design.

BYD Could Become Formula 1’s First Ever Chinese Team By 2027

BYD sold 4.6 million new energy vehicles last year. It operates in over 100 countries. It builds its own batteries, motors, semiconductors, and power electronics from the ground up. And yet, in the parts of the world where it most desperately wants to grow, a significant chunk of car buyers still see it as the affordable Chinese option. That perception gap between what BYD actually is and what consumers in Europe and North America think it is has become the company’s single biggest strategic problem. Formula 1, according to a Bloomberg report published this week, might be BYD’s proposed solution. The company is reportedly exploring an entry into the world championship, either by acquiring an existing team or by building its own from scratch.

It would not be the first automaker to use motorsport as a brand perception lever. Hyundai was a budget car punchline before its WRC campaigns rewired how people thought about its engineering. Honda’s F1 run in the late 80s and 90s turned sensible commuters into a byword for high revving precision. BYD has the technical chops to tell a similar story, and F1’s 2026 regulations actually play to its strengths. Roughly half the power unit’s output now comes from an electric motor, a huge jump from previous seasons. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been openly courting a Chinese entry, confirming that talks with manufacturers have already happened. The financial hurdle is real, with annual costs pushing $500 million and Cadillac’s grid entry fee alone hitting $450 million, but BYD pulled in $86 billion in revenue last year. The money exists. The motive exists. And the regulatory window has never been more aligned.

Image Credits: @grandprix

The 2026 power unit regulations are what make BYD’s potential entry genuinely fascinating from an engineering standpoint. The MGU K now pumps out 350 kW, nearly triple the previous 120 kW figure, meaning the electric motor is responsible for roughly half of total power delivery to the rear wheels. The sport has also mandated advanced sustainable fuels and significantly increased battery capacity requirements. For context, most current F1 engine manufacturers outsource chunks of their electrical componentry or partner with specialist suppliers for battery cells and power electronics. BYD does none of that. It designs its own lithium iron phosphate battery chemistry, manufactures its own electric motor architectures, and fabricates its own semiconductor chips in house. That vertical integration, the same thing that lets BYD undercut competitors on price in the road car market, could translate into a fundamentally different approach to building an F1 power unit.

Think about what that means in practice. Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull Powertrains all develop their electrical systems with relatively traditional motorsport supplier chains. BYD would show up with an entirely self contained pipeline, from raw cell chemistry to finished power electronics, informed by producing millions of electric drivetrains a year at scale. Nobody in F1 has that kind of manufacturing feedback loop. Whether that actually produces a faster car is anyone’s guess, because high volume production efficiency and single lap bespoke performance are very different disciplines. But the potential for BYD to bring a novel engineering philosophy to the grid, one shaped by mass market EV development rather than wind tunnel obsession, is the kind of wildcard that makes the sport interesting. The last time someone brought a genuinely alien approach to F1 engine design was probably Honda’s split turbo concept in 2015, and that eventually won championships.

BYD also has something else that most F1 newcomers lack: a premium performance sub brand with an actual hypercar. The Yangwang U9 is a quad motor electric supercar that clocked a sub 7 minute Nurburgring Nordschleife lap, making it one of the fastest production cars to ever circle that track. It produces over 1,300 horsepower, uses BYD’s proprietary e4 platform with independent torque vectoring on all four wheels, and was reportedly tested at speeds north of 300 km/h. If BYD enters F1, Yangwang becomes the obvious brand to attach to the racing program, the same way Toyota runs its Le Mans effort under Gazoo Racing or Hyundai channels its WRC work through its N performance division. A Yangwang branded F1 entry would give BYD a clean separation between its mass market identity and its motorsport ambitions, while feeding technology back into its flagship performance car.

China’s track record in international single seater racing is worth acknowledging here, because it adds useful context to how hard this actually is. The team originally called China Racing joined Formula E in 2013 as the second team on the grid, won the inaugural Drivers’ Championship under the NIO banner with Nelson Piquet Jr. in 2015, and then proceeded to spend years stuck at the very back of the field. It got rebranded from NIO 333 to ERT, and was eventually sold to an American investment group that now runs it as Kiro Race Co. under a U.S. license. The one Chinese flagged team in electric motorsport lost its Chinese identity entirely. BYD entering F1 would carry the weight of that unfinished story, and the engineering credibility it brings to the table through its road car dominance would need to survive the brutal reality of competing against teams that have been doing this for decades.

Some AI generated concept renders have been making the rounds online, imagining a BYD liveried F1 car in a black, red, and white color scheme with the company’s angular logo across the sidepods. The renders are speculative, but one detail stands out: the Chinese flag painted onto the nose cone. That is a loaded visual choice, and a historically significant one in F1 terms. Alpine carries the French tricolore on its cars. Force India wore the Indian flag throughout its time on the grid. A BYD car flying the five starred red flag on its nose would frame this as a national arrival, a declaration that China’s biggest automaker is ready to compete at the highest level of global motorsport. BYD’s road car design language has been trending toward clean, sharp minimalism lately, so a livery built around deep red panels, exposed carbon weave, and restrained branding could actually cut through the visual clutter of an increasingly sponsor heavy grid. It would certainly look different from anything else out there.

The post BYD Could Become Formula 1’s First Ever Chinese Team By 2027 first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Bonkers F1 Off-Road Racer Concept Puts Senna’s McLaren MP4/4 on Monster Truck Stilts

What happens when you yank one of the most dominant Formula 1 cars in history off the smooth tarmac of Suzuka and hand it the suspension travel of a Baja 1000 trophy truck? Pascal Eggert decided to find out, and the result is equal parts sacrilege and beautiful.

Eggert, a Presentation Director at EA DICE in Stockholm (the studio behind the Battlefield franchise) and former Art Director at Crytek, clearly spends his off-hours channeling a very specific brand of automotive madness. His latest personal project, titled “Offroad Racer,” takes the unmistakable silhouette of a late-1980s Formula 1 car and reimagines it as a lifted, wide-track off-road machine that looks like it escaped from a fever dream involving Ayrton Senna, the Dakar Rally, and a really ambitious RC car collection.

Designer: Pascal Eggert

The primary variant wears the iconic Marlboro McLaren livery in all its red-and-white glory, complete with the number 3 on the nose cone, Honda badging on the rear wing endplates, Shell logos, Canon branding, and Goodyear Eagle tires. For anyone with even a passing knowledge of F1 history, that combination screams McLaren MP4/4, the 1988 car that won 15 out of 16 races with Senna and Alain Prost behind the wheel. It remains one of the most successful single-seater race cars ever built, designed by the legendary Gordon Murray and Steve Nichols, powered by a Honda RA168E turbocharged V6. Eggert has taken that iconic bodywork and done something beautifully absurd with it.

The track width has been stretched dramatically. Long-travel double wishbone suspension arms sit fully exposed at both the front and rear, made from what appears to be tubular steel framework that would look right at home on a desert pre-runner. The ride height is jacked up considerably, giving the car enough ground clearance to tackle terrain that would shred a real F1 car’s floor in milliseconds. Up front, a pair of compact headlights sit recessed into the nose, giving the machine a menacing, almost insectoid face when viewed head-on. And at the back? The entire rear end is stripped bare, exposing a complex engine with a tangled web of exhaust headers, intake trumpets, and mechanical components that give the concept an incredibly raw, mechanical honesty. There is no rear bodywork hiding the powertrain. Everything is on display, and it looks glorious.

The rear wing, meanwhile, stays faithful to its F1 roots, mounted high on twin supports with the Marlboro branding proudly running across its main plane. It is a beautiful contradiction: a component designed purely for high-speed downforce on a vehicle that looks like it wants to jump dunes and spit rooster tails of dirt. A pretty audacious render below shows the car in full flight on a circuit, a helmeted driver hunched low in the open cockpit, flames erupting from the exposed exhaust. It captures the raw energy of the concept perfectly.

Eggert also presents a second colorway that swaps the Marlboro livery for a darker, moodier Martini Racing-inspired scheme. The base shifts to black with the signature blue, red, and light blue stripe work running across the bodywork and rear wing. This version, photographed in dramatic low-key studio lighting, feels like the nighttime counterpart to the Marlboro variant’s daytime bravado. Red LED taillights glow through the exposed rear mechanicals, and the overall effect is significantly more sinister. If the Marlboro version is the weekend warrior, the Martini edition is the car that shows up uninvited to a hillclimb at midnight.

What makes this project so compelling is the tension between two completely opposing design philosophies. Formula 1 cars are perhaps the most track-specific machines ever created, engineered down to the millimeter to extract performance from perfectly manicured asphalt. Off-road racers, by contrast, are built to survive chaos, to absorb impacts, to maintain composure when the surface beneath them is actively trying to destroy them. Eggert has found a surprisingly coherent visual language between these two worlds, borrowing the aggressive aero surfaces and low-slung cockpit from F1 while grafting on the muscular stance, generous wheel travel, and exposed mechanicals of desert racing.

It helps that Eggert brings serious professional chops to the table. His career spans time at Crytek, where he rose to Director of Visual Design and served as Art Director on titles like The Climb, before moving to DICE where he has worked on Battlefield V and Battlefield 2042. The man understands how to make vehicles look both believable and aspirational, and that game-industry sensibility shows in every render. The weathering on the bodywork, the subtle dirt accumulation, the realistic tire textures: everything is dialed in to sell the illusion that these machines actually exist somewhere, parked in a dusty garage, waiting for their next outing.

The post This Bonkers F1 Off-Road Racer Concept Puts Senna’s McLaren MP4/4 on Monster Truck Stilts first appeared on Yanko Design.

TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E5 x Formula 1 Edition brings real-time race telemetry to your wrist

The 2026 Formula 1 season with sweeping technical changes is just a week away, and motorsport fans are counting down to lights out in Melbourne. TAG Heuer marks the moment with the Connected Calibre E5 45MM x Formula 1 Edition, a smartwatch designed to translate the sport’s precision and telemetry-driven intensity into a wearable format. As the official timekeeper of Formula 1, the brand’s latest release feels less like a themed accessory and more like a digital extension of race weekend.

Priced at $3,850 and available from March 3 through the brand’s online channels, the watch builds on the existing Connected Calibre E5 platform while introducing exclusive Formula 1-focused software and design elements. Housed in a 45mm grade 2 titanium case with a black DLC finish, it features a fixed ceramic bezel engraved with a tachymeter scale—a direct reference to classic racing chronographs. The screw-down caseback carries special Formula 1 engraving, while the textured rubber strap reinforces its sporting intent. Water resistance is rated to 165 feet, making it suitable for daily wear beyond the paddock.

Designer: TAG Heuer

The 1.39-inch OLED touchscreen delivers a sharp 454 x 454 resolution, ensuring clarity for both everyday functions and race-specific graphics. Powered by the Snapdragon Wear 4100+ platform and running on Wear OS, the watch supports GPS, heart-rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and a wide range of fitness modes. A 430mAh battery provides up to 24 hours of typical use, including around one hour of sports tracking, and fast charging allows a full recharge in approximately 90 minutes, practical for users who rely on it throughout the day.

The Formula 1 integration is where the watch distinguishes itself. Owners receive real-time updates across practice sessions, qualifying, sprint events, and race day. Notifications include session start alerts, grid formations, and race results, complemented by subtle audio cues inspired by trackside sounds. The experience is designed for professionals who cannot follow every lap live but still want immediate access to key developments.

A standout feature is the dynamic Race Track watch face, which adapts to the championship calendar. As each Grand Prix approaches, the display updates with a stylized outline of the upcoming circuit, along with the corresponding national flag. Whether the race is at Silverstone Circuit, Circuit de Monaco, or the Red Bull Ring, the dial evolves to reflect the season’s progression across 24 venues. The companion smartphone app expands on this by offering detailed schedules, team standings, and calendar information, presenting data in a clear, structured format rather than overwhelming the interface.

 

Importantly, the watch does not sacrifice everyday usability for thematic design. Standard smartwatch features like notifications, contactless payments, music controls, and customizable watch faces remain fully accessible. The motorsport elements feel integrated rather than decorative, aligning with Formula 1’s identity as a technologically advanced championship.

 

 

 

 

 

The post TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E5 x Formula 1 Edition brings real-time race telemetry to your wrist first appeared on Yanko Design.

Formula 1 ‘Closed Cockpit’ Concept shows the future of the Halo as a Safer Enclosed Canopy

In the 2021 Italian GP, Lewis Hamilton nearly had his head crushed when Max Verstappen’s car literally climbed on top of his, with the car’s bottom grazing past his helmet and onto the protective Halo. Later on, Toto Wolff of the Mercedes team breathed a sigh of relief, also reflecting on how much he fought against the addition of the Halo to the F1 car design. This isn’t the first time a Halo has saved a life. Leclerc’s helmet showed the battle scars of Fernando Alonso’s tire from a similar incident in the Belgian GP in 2018.

The Halo has played a controversial but incredibly pivotal role in F1. Most teams hated it, but now thank its presence in the face of nearly fatal accidents. The FIA also dabbled with the idea of a closed cockpit for even safer driving, but the ideas were all shot down because a closed cockpit proved to be more harmful in the event of a bad crash. What if the driver couldn’t exit a blazing vehicle? Or get out swiftly in the middle of a race? Designer Olcay Tuncay Karabulut has a clever fix to these questions. Dubbed the ‘Canopy’, this design detail takes the Halo and gives it a set of upgrades… in a way that still makes it safe for drivers to exit vehicles.

Designer: Olcay Tuncay ‘Karabulut’

As much as the Halo obscures a driver’s vision, it’s also incredibly good at obscuring dangerous obstacles that could smack the driver at forces of nearly 10 Gs. There’s no way a helmet could protect against something that powerful. The advantage the Halo has had over most closed cockpits, is that the two sides make it easy for drivers to enter and exit vehicles. More components, more details, and more safety can often mean more time required to exit a car. The seatbelt, as safe as it’s claimed to be, has been responsible for multiple people being trapped in cars longer than they need to be. For the FIA (the regulating body for the Formula series), the closed cockpit has had the exact same set of problems.

Olcay’s ‘Canopy’ concept addresses this by borrowing from the closed cockpit designs of a jet. The canopy hinges at the front, opening and closing to allow the driver to enter and exit on demand. However, in the case of an emergency, multiple panels in the canopy can be pushed out to provide different points of egress. If the canopy ever breaks or fails, simply ditch any of the transparent panels on the top or the sides and the driver can easily make an exit, just the way they would through the Halo.

Olcay’s design relies on a robust canopy built using Carbon-Ti, a strong carbon-fiber, titanium, and aluminum alloy known for its ability to withstand pretty much any sort of abuse. Unlike the Halo which is Y-shaped, the Canopy is H-shaped, with panels on the front, top, and the sides. The front panel acts as a windshield, while the top and side panels can be ejected during an emergency exit.

Is the Canopy better than a Halo? Well, yes and no. Sure, a closed cockpit is way more secure than an open one. We all remember Felipe Massa getting struck by a loose spring in the 2009 Brazilian GP. A canopy would absorb that impact, shielding the driver from damage. However, that impact would also crack the glass, obscuring the driver’s vision and probably making them less safe. In the rain or in muddy conditions, drivers keep their vision clean by simply peeling away protective film from their helmet visors whenever it gets dirty. There’s really no way to peel mud or water away from a canopy, so this would be a nightmare in rainy races… provided the sheer force of wind pushes any dirt or debris away from the clear glass. We’re also completely sidestepping the potential worst-case scenario where the Canopy along with its ejectable panels fail to open, trapping the driver in a nightmare situation with really no exit until someone intervenes.

Olcay’s justification for designing the canopy is to protect the driver from any form of tiny debris that the Halo would miss. Sure, the Halo keeps the driver safe the way a car’s roll cage keeps drivers safe in regular vehicles. But the Halo would do nothing to stop shrapnel from the car in front of you flying towards your face or body. The enclosed design of the Canopy provides 360° cover, although yes, it needs to be sufficiently tested.

The Canopy tech was conceptualized for the year 2030, with 4 more years to test out the system. Current cars still use the Halo, and F1’s changes more or less revolve around the car’s power-train, moving from mainly fuel-based to an equal use of fuel and electric systems. Will we see something akin to this in future F1 cars? Well, Olcay’s work is entirely conceptual, but it bases itself in a stark reality that F1 still has ways to go when it comes to driver safety. After all, the Halo wouldn’t be able to stop what happened to Felipe Massa in 2009. Only a Canopy would.

The post Formula 1 ‘Closed Cockpit’ Concept shows the future of the Halo as a Safer Enclosed Canopy first appeared on Yanko Design.

Why Cadillac Designed Its F1 Camouflage to Actually Stand Out

Formula 1 teams revealed their 2026 testing plans weeks ago, creating a strange temporal problem. Everyone knows Cadillac will run at Barcelona’s closed-door shakedown on January 26. Everyone knows the real livery reveal happens during the Super Bowl broadcast on February 8. That leaves a two-week gap where the team exists in public view but hasn’t officially launched. Most teams would treat this like dead air.

Cadillac’s response was to design specifically for that liminal space. The testing livery features what they call “the Cadillac precision geometric pattern” in gloss and matte sequences, turning functional camouflage into brand vocabulary. They’re using the constraint of secrecy to communicate design philosophy, establishing that their approach blends automotive prototype discipline with motorsport theater. The giant Cadillac crest draped across the engine cover isn’t trying to hide anything. It’s declaring that the space between stealth and spectacle is itself worth designing for.

Camouflage As A Design Language

Cadillac didn’t reach for F1’s usual testing camouflage playbook. They reached for Detroit’s. The vertical geometric pattern running front to back uses alternating gloss and matte treatments, which is straight out of automotive prototype testing methodology. When manufacturers test pre-production vehicles on public roads, they use dazzle camouflage patterns to break up body lines and prevent photographers from capturing accurate proportions. The gloss-matte alternation specifically disrupts how light reads surface contours, making it harder to discern where one body panel ends and another begins. Cadillac has imported that exact technique onto their F1 car, establishing a visual link between their production vehicle development and their racing program before anyone sees them turn a wheel.

This matters because F1 test camouflage typically aims for generic obscurity. Teams either run bare carbon fiber (functional, boring) or apply random geometric patterns (functional, slightly less boring). What Cadillac did requires actual design development work. GM’s press release confirms the testing livery came from “a cross-continental collaboration” between their global design office and the F1 team’s operations spanning the US and UK. They committed design resources to a livery that will only exist for four days of closed-door testing in Barcelona between January 26-30. That’s an unusual allocation of effort for something most teams treat as throwaway content.

The monochrome palette reinforces the automotive prototype reference while giving Cadillac room to establish brand identity without committing to race colors. Black and silver create what GM describes as “a striking and premium appearance” linked to “a modern interpretation of the iconic Cadillac crest and shield”. Translation: they want you thinking about Cadillac’s luxury automotive positioning while accepting that you’re looking at operational camouflage. The cognitive dissonance is intentional.

Founder Names as Front-End Real Estate

Cadillac embedded the names of their founding team members from both the US and UK facilities onto the nose section. This is where the design brief gets interesting from a messaging perspective. F1 teams occasionally acknowledge personnel on liveries, usually through small decals or subtle typography. Cadillac made founder recognition a primary design element on arguably the most visible part of the car during front-facing photography. The nose gets scrutinized heavily during testing because it’s where teams often trial different aerodynamic configurations. Every photo analyzing nose geometry will also capture those founder names.

The positioning serves dual purposes: it humanizes what could have been pure corporate branding while reinforcing that this program exists because specific people made it happen. Cadillac can’t claim decades of F1 heritage like Ferrari or McLaren, so they’re building a founding mythology in real-time. The test livery becomes the origin story document. When people look back at Cadillac’s first F1 laps, those founder names will be visible in every archive photo. That’s smart long-term brand narrative construction disguised as a nice gesture.

It also signals confidence. Teams worried about looking amateurish during their debut typically minimize branding and keep things conservative. Cadillac put a massive crest across the engine cover and devoted premium nose real estate to personnel acknowledgment. They’re treating Barcelona testing like it matters as a brand moment, which suggests they believe their on-track performance won’t immediately embarrass them. Whether that confidence proves warranted remains speculation until they actually run, but the design choices indicate they’re comfortable being highly visible during the shakedown.

Designing for the Gap Between Testing and Launch

The Barcelona test runs January 26-30. The Super Bowl reveal happens February 8. Official pre-season testing in Bahrain starts February 26, where all teams must appear in their actual race liveries. Cadillac carved out a specific design approach for that middle window when they exist publicly but haven’t officially launched. Most teams would use placeholder graphics or early-reveal their race livery to fill that gap. Cadillac treated it as its own design challenge requiring a distinct solution.

This approach mirrors product launch strategies in consumer tech, where companies often deploy teaser campaigns that reveal design philosophy without showing final products. Apple does this constantly with cryptic event invitations that establish aesthetic direction before unveiling actual devices. Cadillac applied that thinking to F1, using the testing livery as a teaser that communicates brand values (precision, Detroit heritage, automotive development discipline) while maintaining suspense about the race livery. The testing design becomes a prologue rather than a placeholder, giving them two separate moments of visual impact instead of one.

The gamble is whether anyone cares about F1 testing liveries enough for this strategy to matter. Cadillac clearly believes the Barcelona shakedown will generate significant coverage despite being closed to the public, likely because they’re the first new F1 team since Haas in 2016. They’ve got Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas driving, both former race winners with existing fan bases. Media attention will be high regardless of access restrictions. By creating a testing livery with actual design intent, Cadillac ensures that coverage focuses on their visual identity and brand positioning rather than just “new team testing in generic camo.”

The Super Bowl Gambit: Two Reveals, Two Audiences

Announcing a February 8 Super Bowl reveal for the race livery turns the testing design into an explicitly temporary statement. Cadillac could have just revealed the race livery now and run it in Barcelona, but separating the reveals creates narrative momentum. The testing livery establishes that Cadillac takes design seriously and imports automotive development discipline into F1. The race livery reveal during America’s biggest television event positions F1 as mass-market entertainment rather than niche European motorsport. Two different messages for two different audiences, with the testing livery handling the credibility building while the Super Bowl moment handles scale and spectacle.

The testing livery will also be on display at the Detroit Auto Show through January 25, giving Detroit-area fans a chance to see it in person before Barcelona. That’s a local market play that reinforces the “Detroit design heritage” messaging GM President Mark Reuss emphasized during the unveiling. Cadillac is working multiple audience segments simultaneously: F1 enthusiasts who’ll scrutinize Barcelona testing, Detroit locals who can visit the auto show, and mainstream American viewers who’ll catch the Super Bowl reveal. The testing livery serves the first two groups while building anticipation for the third.

Whether this layered approach actually moves the needle on Cadillac’s brand perception or F1’s American growth depends on factors beyond livery design. But treating the gap between testing and launch as a design opportunity rather than dead space shows sophisticated thinking about how modern brand reveals work across multiple channels and timelines. The testing livery exists because Cadillac recognized that the waiting room deserves its own design language.

The post Why Cadillac Designed Its F1 Camouflage to Actually Stand Out first appeared on Yanko Design.

LEGO unveils APXGP Team Race Car that replicates intricate details of “F1 The Movie”

LEGO has been steadily expanding its Speed Champions lineup, catering to both car lovers and collectors alike. After the success of its Formula-1 Series set, the brand is now shifting gears with inspiration straight from Hollywood. The latest addition is the official LEGO Speed Champions APXGP Team Race Car, a detailed 268-piece set based on F1 The Movie, the highly anticipated racing film starring Brad Pitt as veteran driver Sonny Hayes.

Designed for both motorsport enthusiasts and movie fans, this new release captures the cinematic energy of the fictional APXGP team with remarkable authenticity. The model’s sleek black-and-gold livery mirrors the on-screen race car, accompanied by minifigures of Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce, who look impressively lifelike in their race suits and helmets. These tiny yet expressive details, like the reflective visors and printed sponsor logos, help the build feel genuinely tied to the film’s aesthetic.

Designer: LEGO

At first glance, the car may remind fans of previous Speed Champions Formula-1 builds, but the APXGP racer distinguishes itself with refined proportions, wide Pirelli-style tires, and custom decals that add visual depth. The attention to realism extends even to the accessories; builders will find a wrench and remote control, subtle nods to the engineering side of racing. The wrench, in particular, doubles as a handy tool for applying stickers or separating tight bricks—an understated but thoughtful inclusion.

The completed model measures over 8 inches in length, 3 inches in width, and 1.5 inches in height, making it perfectly sized to display on a desk or shelf. Compared to previous Speed Champions F1 releases, this one feels more streamlined and minimalistic, emphasizing aerodynamics and elegance over bulk. LEGO recommends the set for builders aged 10 and up, though it’s clear that adult fans will be among its most eager buyers.

Perhaps the most welcome upgrade here is the addition of the driver minifigures. Earlier Formula-1 Speed Champions sets often skipped them, something fans always found puzzling, given how central drivers are to the sport’s drama. Including Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce not only enhances the storytelling potential but also connects this model to the F1 movie universe in a tangible way. Perhaps LEGO will release more movie- and motorsports-inspired sets with minifigures, as was evident from the affordable DeLorean set released last month.

Set to launch in January 2026 for $28, the LEGO Speed Champions APXGP Team Race Car feels like a fitting tribute to the fusion of film and motorsport. It’s sleek, affordable, and full of character, and it’s a must-have collectible whether you’re a Speed Champions devotee, an F1 purist, or just someone who can’t resist a bit of cinematic speed on the shelf.

The post LEGO unveils APXGP Team Race Car that replicates intricate details of “F1 The Movie” first appeared on Yanko Design.

Officially licenced Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 racing wheel simulates every turn and bump to perfection

The lines between real racing and simulated one are blurring with every new advancement. The racing rigs with surreal force feedback, visually stunning displays and the 360-reality audio put you right in the middle of the action. Adding to the realism, a racing wheel enhances the experience by providing precise force feedback of every chicane and high speed bump.

For those who love racing F1 cars in the simulator at home, Sim Lab has revealed a sim racing wheel designed in collaboration with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team. The officially licensed gaming accessory makes every G-force and high-speed overtake as authentic as possible. It is the closest thing to driving the real thing. Something that the Silver Arrows drivers – Hamilton and Russel vouch for to learn track behavior and practice before the team lands at the paddock of every race circuit.

Designer: Sim Lab

Compared to other racing wheels designed for Motorsports, this one is far ahead in terms of sheer level of detail and realism. The gaming accessory is designed using the CAD data that the F1 team uses for the multimillion-dollar racers. Hardware used in the making is also the same as the real F1 steering wheel used by the team. It is handmade out of a carbon fiber shell keeping the weight at 1,240 grams in total, so that every vibration and force feedback is felt the same as Lewis would feel driving at 150 mph going into a turn.

For superior grip and control during long stints of gaming, the racing wheel features anti-static rubber silicone grips. The carbon fiber shifter paddles, magic buttons and clutch mechanism have the same realism. It doesn’t stop there, as the gaming accessory features a 4.3-inch LCD screen that displays complex data to replicate the real-time data Mercedes F1 car’s drivers see while driving around the circuit. For those who follow F1 closely, the inclusion of 25 controllable RGB LEDs for telemetry data is unbelievable, showcasing the level of detail put into this one.

For those wanting to recreate the real Formula-1 experience, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team Sim Racing Steering Wheel costs a whopping $2,500. You’ll need to add on other accessories like a wheelbase to complete the realism, so it’s going to be a costly affair only manageable by a few passionate sim racers and the odd gaming affectionate. The officially licensed racing wheel is going to be compatible with wheelbases other than Formula One including Simucube, Fanatec, Moza, Simagic Alpha, Asetek, and VRS.

The post Officially licenced Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 racing wheel simulates every turn and bump to perfection first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Pininfarina Racing Rig Concept might be the most Gorgeous Simulator Setup ever made

The problem with racing simulator rigs are that they aren’t designed by automotive designers, they’re designed by gamers. Most sim-racers are fairly utilitarian looking, with an almost bare-basics cockpit-inspired design focusing on real-world feel. The most aesthetic part is almost always the driver’s seat, and everything else looks like a naked chassis. Not the Pininfarina Formula though… designed by Fabio Bilotta, this concept piece brings the world of automotive art and gaming together to create a rig so unique it’ll garner stares the same way a hypercar does.

Designer: Fabio Bilotta

The Pininfarina Formula combines sleek aesthetics with user-centered functionality. Paying homage to the iconic shape of the Istanbul Air Traffic Control Tower, it embodies a blend of sophistication and dynamism. The secret to the Pininfarina Formula’s sculptural beauty lies in its meticulous material selection. Carbon fiber offers a perfect balance of strength and lightness, while reinforced plywood ensures long-lasting durability. Stainless steel adds a touch of class, and genuine leather elevates the experience with a luxurious feel.

The Pininfarina Formula models itself ergonomically on Formula 1 cars, positioning the user’s feet at shoulder height for optimal control and mimicking the posture of professional racers. But it doesn’t stop there. The setup is designed to adapt to individual needs. The pedal sledge and steering wheel housing are both fully adjustable, allowing users of all heights and preferences to find their perfect racing position.

Whether you prefer the immersive world of virtual reality or the classic experience of a traditional screen, the Pininfarina Formula caters to your taste. Its adaptable design seamlessly integrates with different gaming setups, ensuring you can enjoy your favorite racing titles in the way that suits you best. The setup comes without a wheel or pedals, giving you the ability to attach your own, based on your preferences as well as your budget… although if you’re splurging on a Pininfarina-inspired rig, is money really an object for you?!

Images via Automotive Design Planet

The post This Pininfarina Racing Rig Concept might be the most Gorgeous Simulator Setup ever made first appeared on Yanko Design.