The Mercedes F1 team has explained why it chose not to use AMG’s ‘Red Pig’ tribute livery on its F1 car at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
This weekend marks the 55th anniversary of the launch of the famous AMG Mercedes Performance division. This division continues today and forms part of the name of the current Mercedes F1 team (Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport).
AMG rose to fame with a class win at the 1971 24 Hours of Spa, with the famous Mercedes 300 SEL 6.8 AMG finishing second overall.
Despite its enormous size, the car beat out much more agile machines and became famous as the “Red Pug”.
To celebrate the AMG anniversary, the Mercedes F1 team has created a special tribute livery that combines the current Silver Star elements with the 300 SEL AMG pattern on the front.
This livery was fitted to the show car in the fanzone of the Belgian Grand Prix and received great admiration from the fans.
However, the Mercedes F1 team has been reluctant to go with a special livery after a dismal result at the German Grand Prix, which used a special white color scheme to celebrate the 125th anniversary of motorsport.
But there were other practical reasons why the Mercedes F1 team chose to keep it just a show car.
Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff said: “We’ve been fighting three races in a row, so we couldn’t put a sticker on it. And also because of the weight issue, it doesn’t work either.”
“That’s why we did it to minimize the impact on performance.”
Rather than paint over the red livery, the Mercedes F1 team chose to tweak the cars of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell with big vintage car numbers and a special 55th anniversary sign.
The seal initially sparked laughter on social media for being the same color scheme as a popular adult website. The Mercedes F1 team eventually tweaked the design to first practice after being unable to perfectly match the logo to its normal livery.
Asked about the comparison to the adult website pointed out, Toto Wolff commented, “I wouldn’t have made such a connection. It’s been 55 years.”
“AMG is Mercedes’ performance brand and we are proud of it. I was able to drive that replica.”
