Formula 1 will run a pilot test of new branding to help fans identify drivers at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The branding will be applied to the ‘T-bar’ onboard cameras which are mounted on top of the car’s roll hoop. The drivers can be identified using the same three-letter abbreviations seen on the timing screens, which are positioned on the sides of the cameras as well as on the top.
The test is being run collaboratively by the sport’s governing body, the FIA, and promoter Formula One Management.
F1 has previously tried to enforce the use of drivers’ acronyms on cars. It revised its regulations on driver identification in 2017, the first year after Liberty Media took over running the series.
A new directive was introduced at the 2017 Spanish Grand Prix requiring teams to use larger numbers on their cars and display the drivers’ acronyms. The latter requirement was later dropped although Force India kept them in place until the end of the season, after being given a suspended fine for failing to adhere to the new requirement in Spain.
F1 also experimented with adding a digital display to the sides of the onboard cameras with a view to using it to show information regarding to tyre compounds or the fastest lap. It was tested by Force India after the end of the 2014 season. The idea was not adopted by F1, although IndyCar temporarily adopted a similar solution before dropping it.
Under F1’s current rules, teams are required to display the driver’s competition number and name, and distinguish between their cars by using different colourings on the onboard cameras.
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“In order that the cars of each competitor may be easily distinguished from one another whilst they are on the track, the on-board cameras located above the principal roll structure of the first car must remain as it is supplied to the competitor and the second car must be predominantly fluorescent yellow,” the rules state.
“The name or the emblem of the make of the car must appear on the front of the nose of the car and in either case be at least 25mm in its largest dimension,” it adds. “The name of the driver must appear on the external bodywork of the car and be clearly legible.”
Lance Stroll’s T-bar camera lettering, Spa-Francorchamps, 2025
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