Ferrari has announced that it will unveil a special livery ahead of the Miami GP with which it will race during the next race weekend.
It is not the first time in recent years that Ferrari has presented a special livery, but this time Ferrari announces that it will race in Miami with ‘fresh and unexpected colours’ on the occasion of a special occasion. The Ferrari SF-24 will have two special historic blue colors: Azzurro La Plata and Azzurro Dino.
Ferrari wants to celebrate its 70 years of presence on the American market. However, the exchange of the traditional ‘Rosso Corsa red’ also refers to a special symbolic period for Ferrari.
Azzurro La Plata is a light blue color, it is the national racing color of Argentina. It is the color worn by Alberto Ascari, Ferrari’s first F1 champion. The Italian legend wore a blue jersey and blue helmet, he called it his lucky color and won his world titles in 1952 and 1953.
John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini also raced in light blue racing suits in the 1960s. Even Ferrari employees in Maranello wore blue overalls in this specific color. Azzurro Dino is a slightly deeper blue color once worn by Clay Regazzoni in 1974 before Ferrari switched to its traditional red racing overalls.
It is remarkable that the colors Azzuro La Plata and Azzurro Dino were not initially found on the American car market, but were introduced by Ferrari in 1964. CEO Enzo Ferrari then had a conflict with the FIA. Ferrari had a new car ready, but the FIA did not want to homologate it. Enzo Ferrari withdrew his team in protest and he no longer wanted to drive in ‘Corsa Rosso’ in protest.
Ferrari ultimately fielded two cars for the last two races of the year, but it competed under the ‘North American Racing team’. As announced by Enzo Ferrari, the cars were painted in a different color: blue with a white stripe through the middle. Ultimately, the hatchet between Ferrari and the FIA was buried and the well-known Ferrari red returns.