Mercedes reveal blue MANUFAKTUR livery for United States Grand Prix at Austin

Mercedes go blue for Austin

Mercedes has become the latest Formula 1 team to present a revised, one-off livery for this weekend's United States Grand Prix, revealing the scheme on social media on Wednesday ahead of the event at the Circuit of the Americas. Formula1.com reports that Kimi Antonelli and George Russell will race with tweaked car liveries on their W17 machines, with flashes of blue added to the team's usual silver, black and green colour scheme. ¹

The blue accents replace the sections that are normally silver, which adorn the top of the car including the nose. RacingNews365 describes the change as a surprise livery switch and notes the revised look is a collaboration with MANUFAKTUR, Mercedes-Benz's luxury individualisation and customisation program offered across Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Maybach vehicles. ⁴

The German-language and Russian-language motorsport coverage of the announcement is consistent with the English reports: Sports.ru states that Mercedes will use a special livery in Austin and attributes the design to MANUFAKTUR, the manufacturer's factory car-customisation programme, relaying the team's own social-media message that the team is wearing blue in Austin. ³

The details: suits, cars and weekend activations

The livery reveal is only part of the activation. According to Formula1.com, Mercedes has also created matching race suits for both Antonelli and Russell, as well as personalised AMG GT 4 Door Coupés, with plenty more activations planned through the weekend at the Circuit of the Americas. ¹

MANUFAKTUR is Mercedes-Benz's cross-brand car customisation programme, and the Austin livery is explicitly designed to shine a light on it. RacingNews365 characterises the programme as a luxury individualisation and customisation offering spanning the Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Maybach model lines, which places the special F1 livery within a broader brand campaign rather than a performance change to the car itself. ¹⁴

A second special scheme in quick succession

The blue look follows a recent precedent from the team. RacingNews365 notes that just two rounds earlier, Mercedes celebrated its partnership with Malaysian oil company Petronas by flipping its Petronas teal accents with the usual silver that adorns the top of the car, including the nose. On that occasion the silver-topped car carried teal elsewhere; this time the sections that are normally silver will wear a shade of blue. ⁴

Mercedes is not the only team running a special look in Austin. Formula1.com points out that the reveal came after Haas' Godzilla-themed livery reveal at the start of the week, with the Silver Arrows the latest team to present a revised, one-off scheme for the United States Grand Prix weekend. ¹

Where the announcement sits

This is a livery and brand activation announcement, not a car upgrade: nothing in the team's reveal or the surrounding reporting indicates any change to the W17's technical configuration. RacingNews365's look ahead to the weekend focuses on competitive matters entirely separate from the livery, including discussion in its podcast of Max Verstappen being viewed as the favourite for the United States Grand Prix, which underlines that the special scheme is a promotional centrepiece rather than a performance story. ⁴¹

Yahoo Sports' report on the reveal, filed under the headline 'Mercedes switches things up with stunning livery for the US Grand Prix' on 21 October 2026, adds no further detail beyond confirming coverage of the same livery change, but its appearance alongside the Formula1.com gallery and RacingNews365's report corroborates the announcement across independent outlets. ²¹⁴