Ferrari announces historic livery change for Miami Grand Prix

Ferrari is to run a Formula 1 livery featuring blue at the Miami Grand Prix to pay tribute to its historical place within American motorsport.

The one-off livery will be directly unveiled in Florida ahead of the race weekend on May 3rd-5th, will feature two shades of blue that the team describe as "referencing Ferrari's rich heritage and remain cherished by fans."

Azzurro La Plata is the national racing colour of Argentina and was the one worn by Ferrari's first world champion Alberto Ascari, with the two-time champion wearing a pale blue jersey and helmet.

Drivers such as John Surtees, Lorenzo Bandini and Niki Lauda also carried the colour.

Azzurro Dino is a deeper shade of blue with Clay Regazzoni the last Scuderia driver to wear it in 1974, before the team transitioned into the familiar red suits.

A Ferrari not in red

Ferrari has not always used its iconic red in F1 grands prix, which was originally simply the colour assigned to Italian cars in motor racing.

British cars were given green - hence British racing green, French entries blue and the Germans were given silver, one reason why Mercedes is called 'The Silver Arrows'.

Back towards the end of the 1964 world championship, Enzo Ferrari was furious that the FIA had refused to homologate the 250 LM for use in sportscars.

So, in protest, his cars were entered under the 'North American Racing Team' division of Ferrari, and ran in blue and white colours.

Surtees picked up the 1964 title in Mexico using the colours.