Formula 1 unveils new and simplified logo

Formula 1 fans know that this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marks the end of the 2017 season. However for this year, it also marks the beginning of something new. For the 2018 race season, F1 revealed that it will be using a simpler design moving forward.

According to Sean Bratches, who is the F1 Commercial Chief, the main reason for the change in the design is that the current design was no longer effective for both merchandise and the contemporary digital platforms. In order to be more functional for the digital age, many big name companies have gone on to simplify their brands. One such company is Coca-Cola. Bratches added that even Starbucks went that route in order to have a place in the digital age. He added that it meant that company needed to go a little further and retool in order to position itself well.

Talking about the new logo, F1 Marketing Head Ellie Norman shared that the basis for this new design was all about two cars racing on the circuit doing a battle on who reaches the finish line first. She added that aside from two cars that are crossing the finish line, another inspiration was the car’s low profile form. The new logo is both simple and bold, she said, and offers more versatility and flexibility. As such, she continued, this enables to company to apply it easily to the market today, especially one led by digital and mobile.

Looking back on the old logo, Bratches revealed that it became iconic because of the way the “1’ was hidden in the middle. The problem was, he added, the hidden number was in fact too subtle for a number of people.

Bratches disclosed that F1 continues to put the present logo in high regard and has become part of the company for 23 years. Given what the company plans for the future, the negative space of the “1” does not work that well in the digital age. The reality is that many people have looked at the logo for years and did not realize that the invisible space was in fact a “1,” he added.

The official launching of the new logo will occur just before the Australian Grand Prix, the official start of the 2018 season. In addition to the relaunch, Bratches stated, F1 will be introducing as well a new graphic package specifically for the television production. This new logo is expected to have a more responsive web platform as well as new social capabilities.

The Formula One World Championship is considered as one of the world’s premier racing competitions. Sanctioned by none other than the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA, the F1 is the highest class when it comes to single-seat auto racing.