McLaren drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris say they would like to see Formula 1 follow NASCAR in having a throwback weekend with retro race liveries.

NASCAR had its throwback weekend at Darlington last weekend, which was followed by McLaren hosting a special event to unveil an iconic Gulf livery that will be used as a one-off in Monaco. Speaking to select media including RACER at the site of the McLaren factory in Woking, Ricciardo says getting the whole grid to have a fresh look for a race weekend would add something different to the sport.

“It would be cool,” Ricciardo said when asked about a throwback weekend by RACER. “I’m aware it’s another expense for the team but that aside, for everything to be a throwback — not just our race suits, but casual wear, down to team hats, to properly do it — that would be cool for everyone to get involved. Spark it!”

His teammate Norris agrees, saying some of the other teams also have some iconic liveries they could run.

“The proper old school ones would be pretty awesome,” Norris said. “I think it’s nice we are the only ones who are doing it. More eyes on us, unless we both crash into Turn 1. For one race, make it a bit more exciting, it would be cool to see everyone do something like that.

“Especially when you have a Williams or Ferrari — I mean, Ferrari would just be red! – A lot of teams have had awesome and unique liveries over the years and it would be cool if everyone came up with their own.”

McLaren Racing CEO thinks throwback liveries would be good for F1 but believes there could be a different approach compared to NASCAR’s full field.

“Whether we do it as other sports do where everyone does it at the same time or when you are in your home country or you have a reason or an anniversary…” Brown pondered. “We don’t want to confuse the fans and lose our identity, but I think to do something a few times a year that’s special creates some excitement and some additional engagement with the fans.”