The Best Looking F1 Cars Of All Time

[Music] it's one of the classic f1 debates what are the best-looking f1 cars ever and is of course entirely subjective particularly as fans of different ages tend to prefer different eras and therefore feel attached to some cars more than others but it's still fun to have the argument particularly when liveries are factored into the mix as well in making Auto Sports a selection we try to spread the joy across the constructors and periods though some were beyond help you won't find any cars from the terrible 2009 to 2016 skinny period here so here's Auto Sports top 10 best looking f1 cars number 10 Lee GA j/s 11:15 many Lee Jays were distinctive and the g10 livery to Jess 1115 was probably the most iconic of them all and the fin to the rear of the large side pods added to the French flair the je s 11 the first loose yet to have a Cosworth DFV instead of a match or a v12 engine made a sensational debut at the 1979 Argentinean Grand Prix Jacques Lafitte qualified on pole by over a second and then won the race which he followed up by leading his team make Patrick deaf a air to Alisha a one two in Brazil the car van lost its edge particularly when Williams perfected its fw7 but the improved 1980 version remained competitive Didier Pironi won the Belgian GP and probably could or should have won in Monaco Britain and Canada as well while the feat scored a lucky victory in Germany both versions looked cool but we rather like the sleek J s 11:15 without the front wing a setup often used in 1980 number nine the Alfa Romeo one five eight and 159 the maserati 250f is usually considered the archetypal 1950s grand prix car even though it appeared in quite different forms during its long career the vanwall deserves an honourable mention but we've gone for the first great Formula 1 sir the Alfa Romeo one five eight actually appeared in 1938 as a watcher eight roughly equivalent to f2 but became a frontline GP car after World War two it went unbeaten for five years between 1946 and 1951 with Giuseppe Farina and one Manuel Fangio taking the first two f1 world drivers titles with the 1500 CC Alfa Gio Aquino Colombo's design was purposeful and well proportioned and that grille is one of the most distinctive of the front-engined GP era the colored nose bands off the news to differentiate the teams cars set things off perfectly as an added bonus we'd also argue that the supercharged straight-8 engine which eventually produced around 400 horsepower is one of motorsports best sounding engines along with the BRM v 16 and matt Rafi 12 number 8 McLaren mp4 14 a number of Adrian Newey era MacLaren's could have made it onto this list and we've gone for the 1999 version that despite several blunders Mika häkkinen used to take his second f1 well title the mp4 13 had returned McLaren to the top of f1 the previous year and the team pushed things harder for its successor the oil tank and hydraulic system were moved and a shorter gearbox helped the car lose weight the mercedes v10 engine was also lighter and lower the car was trickier to drive than its predecessor pakkun and crashed out of the lead of both the San Marino and Italian GPS and there were some reliability issues all that's helped Ferrari to win the Constructors title but lead driver Michael Schumacher missed those six races after breaking his leg at the British GP and Hakkinen pipped Eddie Irvine to the drivers crown at the Suzuka finale the grooves Tire era was not eff one's finest but the McLaren's were invariably among the best-looking of the time and the mid height narrow nose neat side pods and west livery helps get the mp4 14 onto our list number seven the williams fw 14 be one of the great f1 cars the fw 14 b combined active suspension and traction control to move the technical goalposts in 1992 Nigel Mansell won 9 of the 16 races which was a record at the time on his way to the drivers title one of the most dominant machines in f1 history the FW 14 B was only beaten to pole position once by a head and Senna at a Canadian Grand Prix it also looked fantastic particularly with Mansell's red v adding an extra splash of color to the already iconic blue yellow and white Williams scheme of the time the FW 14 B had an attractive low nose which were soon to go out of fashion partly due to the much more ugly Benetton's the body was also smooth and uncluttered bargeboards and complicated aero flicks hadn't yet arrived in some ways the 1993 FW 15 C was a neater machine but we don't think it's quite as imposing as the FW 14 b and had to use narrower rear tires due to a rule change aimed at controlling lap times number six the Brabham bt 45 b the 1975 bt 44 be arguably had a cooler overall shape complete with high airbox but for us the bt 45 b's red martini livery just edges it ahead of its white four bear a red martini B t44 B would probably have climbed even higher in our ranking Brabham had switched from the Cosworth DFV to Alfa Romeos flat 12 for 1976 which had created some packaging issues for designer gordon murray the original bt 45 was a bit awkward and had a mediocre season but the 1977 b version included aero revisions that helped make it much tidier the bt 45 b was also competitive and should or could have won the Monaco French and British GPS a mystery fuel pickup problem costing John Watson at both Dijon and Silverstone Murray's bt 46 for 1978 was neater and more successful especially when a giant fan was famously strapped to the back for the Swedish GP but its nose was not as aggressive as the distinctive Brad front wings on the PD 45 number five the Lotus 72 not many cars get to wear two of motor sports greatest liveries but the revolutionary Lotus 72 did in gold leaf colors it won both the constructors and drivers titles in 1970 though Jochen Rindt lost his life at Monza before he knew he was champion then in the famous black and gold of John player special for 72 on consecutive Constructors crowns in 1972 and 1973 with Emerson Fittipaldi taken the driver's championship in 1972 it's the most successful car on this list in terms of world championship f1 wins with the remarkable 20 victories the wedge-shaped wonder which helped set the template for future single seater designs with its side mounted radiators changed a great deal during its sixth season life in f1 which version you prefer is open to debate but we've gone for the 1973 72 e with the rear wing hung way out the back before rule changes moved it to a less outrageous position the distinctive helmets of Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson added to the appeal and helped produce some iconic images this was also the time of fat rear tires and huge variety in the appearance of f1 cars creating many other candidates for this list including the Ferrari 312 B shadow D n1 and McLaren m23 number four the Eagle t1 g although often pretty many of the cigar-shaped f1 cars of the 1960s like the beefiness one might expect from the pinnacle of the sport especially during the 1.5 liter era the 1962 stack pipe v rmp 57 very nearly made this list but it's Len Terry's ever-popular eagle Westlake that's our pick of the decade the first GP Eagle commonly referred to as the t1 G had the right combination of beauty and aggression the pointed nose helping to set it apart from its contemporaries the 3 litre car was quick to Dan Gurney won both the Brands Hatch Race of Champions and Belgian GP in 1967 the spar victory an average of a hundred and forty six miles an hour but rely ability problems prevented further success the Cosworth DFV engined Lotus 49 another possible for this list move the goal posts during the season and a lack of funding soon led to Gurney's team focusing on Indy car racing number three the Ferrari 641 we wanted to squeeze Adrian Newey's Layton House CG 901 onto this list but we've tried to get a nice spread of Eros and the two cars from one season just didn't seem right the McLaren mp4 5b that won both titles in 1990 was also a fine looking car but it's Ferraris contender that narrowly gets the nod several Ferraris could have made this top 10 including the 1964 one five eight and the 1995 412 t2 but we're in agreement with New York's Museum of Modern Art which chose to display a 641 the svelte scarlet car retained the groundbreaking semi automatic gearbox of John Barnard's visually similar 1989 640 its v12 tended to be outgunned by the V tens of Honda and Renault in 1990 but the chassis was a good one and alain prost battle to McClaren's Ayrton Senna for the world title that enthralling contest ended when Center crashed into frost at the start of the Japanese GP but it was the closest Ferrari got to ending its title drought until the Zhang tot Ross Brawn Michael Schumacher era number two the Jordan 191 well few teams have made such a big impact on their arrival in f1 as Jordan designer Garry Anderson's 191 was not only surprisingly rapid it was beautiful shapely curves which even extended to the distinctive nose in front wing and the simple seven up green livery made it an instant modern classic as a new team at a time when there were more f1 cars than spaces on the grid Jordan initially had to prequalify but the 1/9 one made that a relatively easy task for regular drivers and reattach Azeris and bertrand gash Oh Jordan scored his first points in the Canadian GP and the team ended up fifth in the Constructors table behind only big hitters McLaren Williams Ferrari and Benetton the one nine one also helped Michael Schumacher launch his f1 career with a stunning performance at Spa and the Cesare smite have won the Belgian GP had it not been for an engine failure so the 191 was never quite a winner but it is one of the best remember and most admired f1 cars number one the Lotus 79 groundbreaking design check iconic livery absolutely uncluttered lines definitely beautiful engineering yes the Lotus 79 which refined the ground effect concept ticks all the boxes for this list it's also even more impressive close up in the flesh than it is in the famous period images of Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson lower litre and sleeker the 79 won on its debut in the Belgian GP and finished 1-2 next time out in Spain it was only beaten to poll once during the campaign though the odd reliability issue and jump start penalty for Andretti at Monza meant it only won six of the 11 championship rounds that it started in 1978 by 1979 were the opposition had caught up in the ground effects stakes and the Lotus 79 was limited to four podiums even then it looked impressive in its green martini livery but it's the JPS liveried original that deservedly earns our top spot it still looks fantastic more than 40 years after it appeared and that's it for our list of the best-looking f1 cars of all time do you think any other cars should have made this list or do you think any of the cars we chose are overrated let us know in the comments below [Music] thanks to Duke for their footage of the Lotus 72 and if you want to see more check out the link in the description for their documentary if you're not winning you're not trying [Music]

Channel: Autosport

Views: 176,035

Rating: 4.6452398 out of 5

Keywords: F1, Formula 1, formula one, formula one 2020, F1 2020, Formula 1 2020, F1 news, F1 2020 season, F1 car, Autosport, motorsport tv, motorsport network, GP, Grand Prix

Id: BLeidkdKpRU

Length: 13min 3sec (783 seconds)

Published: Thu May 28 2020