ooooIYKYK, ISSUE #oo34
Audi’s Formula 1 team reveal this week didn’t just announce its formal arrival to the Formula 1 grid. It made a statement—one about seriousness, yes, but also an underlying presence of aesthetic substance.
The reveal unfolded across multiple fronts. There was the physical event at Kraftwerk Berlin. There was the unveiling of the car—or at least a display version but wearing its finalized race livery. And there was the digital debut: the website for the Audi Revolut F1 Team, which presents the team no longer as a project, but as an updated brand ecosystem. Sponsor roles are articulated, Audi Sport’s competitive lineage sets the schema, and the tone is confident without being loud.
In recent months, Audi has been signaling a broader shift—one that positions design not as a byproduct of engineering, but as another leading force in shaping brand identity. That direction became explicit with the arrival of Massimo Frascella in mid-2024, assuming the newly created role of Chief Creative Officer. The title alone was telling. Audi has always been disciplined about design, but this seemed to signal its elevation to the same strategic tier as technology or motorsport.
We’ve seen that shift materialize quickly. First with the Concept C, which introduced a return to sharper, more architectural design language. Then with the R26 concept presentation—an almost ceremonial display that treated Audi’s motorsport past not as simple nostalgia, but as elements of a greater brand lexicon. This week’s Formula 1 reveal followed from that arc. While the team and the car were in the spotlight, the visual language was just as much on show.
That was definitely evident in the use of color. Audi F1’s core palette—Chalk, Titanium, Graphite, and the new Audi Red (sometimes referred to as “Lava Red”)—was presented deliberately with an installation of miniature helmets calling attention to each chromatic component.
Audi Red has already become a bit of a talking point. It’s hard to miss its warm, almost orange bias, which can be tricky to capture accurately. But Audi has history here. Mars Red on the original ur-quattro. Catalunya Red on the third-generation TT RS and RS 3. Motorsport adds another layer of logic. Ferrari learned long ago that “red” does not read as red on television. By pushing toward orange, the cars look red on screen—hence the distinction between Rosso Corsa on Maranello’s road cars and Rosso Scuderia on Formula 1 machinery.
If Audi is applying that lesson, it’s not simply copying Ferrari. Even here, it’s got a backstory.
Orange-Red and the rest of the Audi F1 color palette trace a direct lineage to the original Audi Sport tricolor scheme seen on the first quattro rally cars: Grey Brown (dark brown), Sand Beige and Blood Orange. Over time, those hues evolved into a more neutral black, grey, and red, but the underlying relationship remained—dark, light, and red in balance. That tricolor brand presence disappeared mid-way through the Audi V8 DTM era, not to be seen again in earnest until Audi Sport GmbH’s 40th Anniversary and then on the RS 6 GT badging. What we’re seeing with the Audi Revolut F1 Team is that same tricolor formula rendered now through a contemporary, technical lens. Less nostalgic. More precise.
Color, however, is only part of the story.
Historically, Audi Sport has also led the brand aesthetically. The current Audi Type font—now ubiquitous across the company—originated during the Le Mans era, debuting in the Audi Sport logo and on the flanks of LMP1 racecars, then eventually bleeding into the wider brand. As with quattro, aluminum space frames and laser headlights racing didn’t just result in the adaptation of competition technology. It also influenced the brand’s identity.
That pattern appears to be repeating.
A close look at the Audi Revolut F1 Team’s new website reveals a new typeface. We don’t yet know its name, but its differences from Audi Type are immediately noticeable. Most striking is the capital “A,” capped with a sharp, parallelogram-like peak. For those fluent in Audi’s visual history, that flourish isn’t random. Variations of that A appeared in Audi’s earliest pre-war marks and were later prominent on the red “football” logo that defined the birth of the quattro era in the 1980s.
It’s a small detail—an easter egg of sorts hidden by someone who understands the brand, encoded to delight those who share that passion.
Whether this font remains exclusive to the Formula 1 effort or migrates elsewhere remains to be seen. History suggests it won’t stay contained. My guess is that its first appearance outside of F1 will be Audi Sport GmbH. Interestingly, the F1 car itself carries no Audi Sport branding—no rhombus, no mention anywhere on the bodywork—and I hear that was intentional. Perhaps decision makers wish to make Formula 1 stand alone.
Still, it’s difficult to imagine Audi not channeling that competition pedigree into its RS road cars.
Which brings us to what’s next.
We’re now only weeks away from the debut of the next RS 5, with a new RS 6 to follow later in the year. Will it wear a rhombus rendered in this new trio of colors? Will its badges adopt this as-yet-unnamed typeface – preferably in italic? Time will tell.
Frascella’s influence is evident in how deliberately Audi is modernizing itself—by distilling down and reconnecting with the brand’s core DNA rather than layering on novelty akin to an over-stylized design with fake vents or cartoonish grates on a grille. If Frascella is successful, Audi’s next generation of competition cars—on track and on the road—will feel authentically unified.
NEXT UP THIS WEEK’S NEWS & FEATURES
CURATED PODCASTS & VIDEO CONTENT
Reaction IN REAL LIFE to the Audi F1 Car Launch | P1 Podcast
Why Audi’s Real F1 Car Is Still a Mystery | The Race
What We Learned from Audi and Honda’s Launches | The Race
Audi is About to Reset Everything | AutoEsoterica
Is the Q3 Audi’s Last Chance? | carwow
Auditography Bought & Restored the MOST IMPORTANT AUDI ever! | Auditography
Full Build Audi RS001 Group S Car | EPSmotorsport
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