What Is Azzurro La Plata and Azzurro Dino? Significance of Ferrari’s Historic Change to a Blue Livery for Miami GP

“Ask a child to draw a car, and he will draw it red”—Enzo Ferrari. And why only a child? If you ask even an adult what a fast car looks like, they’d probably describe what a Ferrari is like. Oh, and yes, one cannot forget the red when talking about Ferrari. As much as the word Ferrari is synonymous with racing, it is similarly synonymous with a red racing car. But can you imagine a blue Ferrari F1 car? Neither can we. 

But at the upcoming Miami GP, Ferrari will be bringing a new livery with different shades of blue added to it. Why blue, you may ask? We’ll answer that question as well. But for now, let’s focus on the two shades of blue that will be added to the car. They’re the iconic Azzurro La Plata and the Azzurro Dino. But what are these names? And exactly what shades of blue are they? We’ve got you covered.

Ferrari’s Iconic Blue Shades: Azzurro La Plata and Azzuro Dino 

Last year itself, we saw a couple of special race suits from Ferrari for the home races of its drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, where the national flag colors were added to the red race suit. And that is exactly how the story began for the Azzurro La Plata color. It’s a light shade of blue, which is the national racing color of Argentina. It was first showcased by the Ferrari Champion, Alberto Ascari, during his championship-winning seasons with the Scuderia, i.e., 1952 and 1953. 

Ascari considered the color his lucky charm and wore the Azzurro La Plata-colored overall and helmet. Niki Lauda wore the same color in the first year that he raced for Ferrari. The color was also featured on the race suits of many Ferrari drivers who raced in the 1960s, including the likes of John Surtees, Lorenzo Bandini, Ludovico Scarfiotti, and Chris Amon. Even the workers in Italy wore the same shade of blue as their work uniform.

Azzurro Dino, on the other hand, was made famous by Clay Reggazzoni. If you’ve watched the movie Rush, you must be familiar with Regazzoni and Niki Lauda’s teammates. The Swiss were the last of the drivers to adorn the Azzurro Dino in his racing suit, and from then on, the iconic Rosso Corsa took over. Since then, both Azzurro La Plata and Azzurro Dino can be optioned as colors of the Ferrari road cars.

The word azzurro in Italian means a lighter shade of blue. Generally, the shade of the sky on a clear, sunny day. The word La Plata is of Spanish origin and means silver. So the word Azzurro La Plata would be a light shade of blue mixed with a light shade of silver. Interestingly enough, Spanish is the language spoken in Argentina, so for the Argentine driver to adorn the Azzurro La Plata, it makes sense. 

The word dino is of Greek origin and means frightening. If one were to look at the Azzurro Dino color, it is a very striking blue. There is a darker shade to it despite having Azzurro in the name, but the color itself is lighter. The dark shade probably does justice to the name Dino, and no, dark is frightening. But why is Ferrari going blue? Is there a special reason? 

Why is Ferrari featuring a blue livery for the Miami GP?

Ferrari came up with a special livery for the night race in Las Vegas last year. However, Red Bull had a special livery for all the races in the US and will do the same this year. So is Ferrari trying to compete with Red Bull in the livery battle, as the performance battle seems to be nowhere near them? Not really. The Miami GP will be Ferrari’s 70th anniversary in the US marketplace, and the livery is designed to honor the same. 

Also, 70 years ago, in 1964, was the first time that Ferrari ran a blue livery. It was for the last two races of the 1964 season, i.e., the Mexican and the US GP. Back in the day, the teams used to paint the cars in the national colors. Enzo Ferrari had a fallout with the FIA, who denied the eligibility of the Ferrari 250 LM, and as a result, Enzo Ferrari handed over competitors’ licenses and promised never to race in the Ferrari Red. However, it didn’t last long, and the red was back.

But for the last two races of 1964, the Scuderia entered with a new banner under the name North American Racing Team, also known as NART, and raced under the American License. Hence, the car featured the national colors of America at the time, and it was painted blue and white. John Surtees won the 1964 championship in the blue and white Ferrari by finishing second in the Mexican GP. It will now be the first time since 1964 that we will see a Ferrari F1 car in blue livery. The livery will be revealed by Scuderia in the build-up to the Miami GP. However, no date has been set for the launch of the same.

The latest is that Ferrari has revealed the shirts that the drivers will be wearing at the Miami GP weekend, and they feature the Azzurro La Plata color. The Instagram video also showed teasers of the race suit that the drivers will be wearing. From the video, we were able to make out that most of the suit will be the Azzurro La Plata shade, with hints of Azzurro Dino in the form of stripes. The racing shoes that will accompany the suit are fully Azzurro Dino in color.

What do you think of Ferrari introducing this blue-shaded livery and suits for the Miami GP? Do you like it?