Mercedes will run a special livery at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend, adding blue accents to their traditional silver, black, and green W17 for both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. The one-off design promotes Mercedes-Benz's MANUFAKTUR customization program, which lets buyers personalize their road cars—a push the team is amplifying with matching race suits and custom AMG GT 4 Door Coupés on display through the Austin weekend.
It's the second special livery of the week, after Haas dropped their Godzilla-themed reveal Monday. The approaches couldn't be more different: Haas went full pop culture spectacle, Mercedes went premium showroom. One's chasing viral moments, the other's chasing buyers who can afford six-figure bespoke paint jobs.
With three US races now on the calendar and F1's American audience still growing, expect teams to keep using these weekends as brand laboratories. Performance still matters most, but the marketing battle runs just as hot.
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