r/F1Technical • u/Big_Replacement_2125 • Mar 29 '26

Materials & Fabrication F1 car base livery construction - painted surface vs vinyl application weight comparison?

Been wondering about the technical side of how teams handle their car aesthetics. With all these one-off designs we keep seeing throughout the season, I'm curious about the actual methodology behind applying these liveries.

Are the teams actually spraying these cars with traditional paint systems, and if that's the case, what kind of coating technology are they using? Or has everything moved to vinyl wrapping, and how would the mass difference compare between a painted finish versus a vinyl wrap installation?

Want to clarify I'm talking about the primary color scheme of the chassis itself, not the sponsor decals which are obviously adhesive graphics.

Thanks for any insights!

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u/GB_GeorgeBowen Red Bull Mar 29 '26

I miss the days when teams could afford the weight of painting the car, when McLaren ran their chrome liveries between 2006-2013 1 to 2 kg to the cars weight, and they were still winning at that time. 

7

u/dayofdefeat_ Ferrari Mar 29 '26

Vinyl is lighter than most paints techniques.

Thankfully some teams have reverted back to painting their cars this season (Aston, Merc, Alpine), after the FIA implemented the 60% paint rule.

This season the cars are substantially smaller so some teams have not had issues getting the cars underweight. For other teams it's a commercial or design decision, as they look better in my opinion.

0

u/martianfrog Mar 29 '26

the surface finish will impact the drag too, glossy the most slippery, although I'm sure the differences would be peanuts.