GALLERY: Going for Gold - F1's greatest gilt-edged liveries

Sauber caused a stir on Monday as they revealed a brand-new livery in celebration of 25 years in F1 racing. Predominantly blue and white, the new car also features swathes of gold - a colour with a (ahem) ‘rich’ tradition in F1…

Brabham

The first of Jack Brabham’s self-built cars to race in F1, the BT3, did so in a distinctive blue livery with a gold nose and central stripe. The following year, however, Brabham switched to a scheme based on Australia’s national racing colours, pairing the gold with dark green.

Lotus

Lotus broke with tradition when they ditched their green colour scheme for the red and gold of their new title sponsors in 1968. The team’s black and gold cars of the Seventies and early Eighties would become just as iconic, though arguably their most eye-catching livery was the completely gold 56B driven by Emerson Fittipaldi for one race only at Monza in 1971.

Wolf

Black and gold proved a popular combination in the Seventies, with Canadian businessman Walter Wolf choosing to adorn his cars in the colour scheme.

Arrows

From their debut in 1978 to the end of 1980, Arrows ran in a stand-out all-gold livery, the like of which wouldn’t be seen again until Jordan did similar in 1996.

Williams

A new sponsorship tie-up saw Williams running gold highlights on their predominantly blue and white cars from 1994 to 1997.

Jordan

Eddie Jordan’s team ran a completely new colour scheme in 1996 after securing new backers, though initially the car looked more yellow than gold until the team made a few modifications to the paint job. Sadly the scheme only lasted one year, and in 1997 Jordan switched to an equally eye-catching all-yellow car.

Force India

Several years after Jordan's gold car, Force India (who were formed out of the very same team) revived the colour on their first car, the VJM01. The splashes of gold would disappear the following season.

Lotus Renault GP

To celebrate their tie-up with Lotus and hark back to the team’s rich history, Lotus Renault GP unveiled a black and gold livery for the 2011 season, complete with gold wheel rims. The scheme would last for a number of years.

HRT

They may have been perennial back-of-the-grid runners, but that didn’t stop HRT from adding a splash of gold to their livery for 2012 - their final year on the grid.

Sauber

Sauber debuted in F1 in black and have gone through numerous colour schemes over the years before landing on their recent, predominantly blue look. To celebrate 25 years in the top echelon of motorsport, they’ve added a touch of gold to the livery of their new 2017 car.