Ryan Reynolds’ latest installment in the ‘Deadpool’ series gets the special livery treatment at Spa
This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix marks the last race before Formula 1’s annual summer shutdown. Each season the grid goes quiet in the summer for a few weeks, to give teams a chance to recharge their batteries before the final push.
The race also coincides with the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, the third film in the Deadpool series. Ryan Reynolds returns as Deadpool, while Hugh Jackman joins the fun as Wolverine.
The timing could not be better, from a marketing standpoint, for Reynolds.
Last year Reynolds was one of several athletes and celebrities who joined the ownership group of Alpine. That pairing offered some incredible marketing and branding opportunities, such as Esteban Ocon’s Deadpool-inspired helmet for last year’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix:
Esteban Ocon will be driving in a Deadpool helmet in Las Vegas ⚔
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 15, 2023
Ryan Reynolds became an investor in Alpine earlier this year pic.twitter.com/2H7M6EeNkF
This week at the Belgian Grand Prix, everyone at Alpine will get in on the fun.
The team unveiled a special livery for the race, inspired by Deadpool & Wolverine:
BWT Alpine F1 Team Deadpool & Wolverine
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) July 24, 2024
Introducing our exclusive livery for the #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/3GDJvrIPXT
According to a release from the team “[t]he A524’s livery has been entirely revised in striking Deadpool red and black with yellow slashes inspired by Wolverine’s adamantium claws.”
In addition, as Luke Smith of The Athletic reports, the team members will have special overalls for the week. Ocon will have a Deadpool helmet — perhaps the one he used last year — while teammate Pierre Gasly will have a yellow Wolverine helmet:
Love this from Alpine! Ocon and Gasly, plus the team mechanics, will all have one-off overalls coloured in Deadpool red.
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) July 24, 2024
Ocon has a red Deadpool mask-themed helmet planned, while Gasly will race with a yellow and black Wolverine design. https://t.co/dOpaP80XFp
Special liveries are not unusual in the F1 world, and movies have been used before as a theme. For example at the 2019 British Grand Prix, Red Bull ran a James Bond-inspired livery to mark F1’s 1007th Grand Prix:
Red Bull has a license to thrill this weekend as it celebrates F1's 1,007 race with James Bond!#F1 | #BritishGP | #JamesBond | #007 pic.twitter.com/RsLPbQZSur
— Motorsport Week (@MotorsportWeek) July 11, 2019
Williams also leaned into the Bond theme in 2015 with a livery promoting the release of Spectre:
As part of our #SPECTRE promotion this week, we will carry the @007 logo at the #MexicoGP https://t.co/eI9KcfdT7g pic.twitter.com/3Ajr5wzsgW
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) October 29, 2015
Perhaps the most memorable movie-inspired livery came back at the Monaco Grand Prix — the site of many special liveries, including movie-themed schemes — in 2005. That year Red Bull ran a Star Wars theme to help promote Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith:
Unfortunately for the team David Coulthard and Vitantonio Liuzzi both retired from the race.
Alpine, and Ryan Reynolds, will be hoping for a better result at Spa this weekend.
