New colors have been announced for the Formula 1 car in Miami

Miami will again be a big show for Formula 1 in 2024. Ferrari is also joining. The Scuderia, a traditional quality team, will not only be running events as part of the first American race of the year. There will also be a special paint job. And the color blue.

Ferrari confirmed this on April 23. “Azzurro La Plata” and “Azzurro Dino”, two classic colors from the deep history of the traditional brand, will appear on the SF-24, among others. It is still unclear what the scope of the special design will be. The model will be presented as part of the Miami show week starting April 28. Ferrari’s new model will also be presented in Miami on May 2 before the race weekend begins on May 3.

Two shades of blue have a long history in Formula 1. Azzurro La Plata is the traditional racing color of Argentina, but most importantly it was the color of the helmet and suit of two-time world champion Alberto Ascari. In the 1960s, the color was the traditional suit color for drivers such as John Surtees, Lorenzo Bandini, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Chris Amon, and even three-time world champion Niki Lauda wore it in his first year at Ferrari in 1974.

The slightly black Azzurro Dino was favored by pilots such as Arturo Merzario and Clay Regazzoni. However, starting in 1975, Ferrari drivers abandoned blue as their primary suit color and switched to red, occasionally white.

Blue Ferraris: Also customary in Formula 1

But it’s not just about racing suits. Blue cars really have a tradition at Ferrari. In this regard, 2024 is an important year. It has been 70 years since John Surtees was crowned world champion in a blue and white Ferrari. During that time, Ferrari ran the last two Grands Prix in the United States and Mexico under the banner of the North American Racing Team NART, the legendary team founded by Ferrari’s American importer Luigi Chinetti.

By the way, the history of that time was political. Team boss Enzo Ferrari was at loggerheads with international and Italian motoring associations in a dispute over sports car fraud and resigned his Italian racing license in protest.

So the cars ran the last NART race in 1964. Later the dispute was resolved and Ferrari went red again. NART may be an interesting footnote in history in Formula 1, but it can look back on prestigious racing in the United States and in sports car racing.

When it comes to custom painting, the Scuderia is slowly getting its taste. In 2022 and 2023 Monza drove with yellow accents. At the end of the season, white came to the car in Las Vegas in 2023. In any case, the Scuderia dared to go too far from the standard design, sticking to the red It remains to be seen if that will change in Miami. It is unclear if anything will change technically on the SF-24 in Miami. The first major update package is planned for Imola, but it can still be brought forward.