Red Bull, Monza, 2022

F1 teams carry tributes to Queen Elizabeth II on cars at Monza

2022 Italian Grand Prix

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Formula 1 teams are carrying tributes to Queen Elizabeth II at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix following the British monarch’s death yesterday at the age of 96.

The Queen, who was the longest-reigning monarch in the history of the United Kingdom having spent 70 years as the British head of state before her death on Thursday, attended the first ever round of the Formula 1 world championship at Silverstone in 1950 with her father, King George VI.

Formula 1 and all 10 teams expressed their condolences to the British Royal Family and United Kingdom following the official announcement yesterday. Ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, a minute of silence was observed in the Monza pit lane involving all teams prior to the opening practice session.

Many teams – the majority of which have bases in the United Kingdom – are also carrying visible tributes on their cars this weekend.

Mercedes – who run two British drivers in their team including Lewis Hamilton, who was knighted by the new King, Charles III, last year – are running with a back ring around the roll hoop of their W13. Team members will also wear black armbands during the weekend’s track activities.

Red Bull observed a minute’s silence at their Milton Keynes factory, while all flags at their base have been lowered to half-mast for the next 10 days. Red Bull mechanics and team members are sporting black armbands and the team will not play music in their garage out of respect while the team’s social media channels will be limited. The RB18 will also feature a tribute to the Queen.

The Williams has added a decal to the halo on the FW44. Alpine, whose chassis factory is located at Enstone in the UK, will race with a black nose cone for the Monza race weekend, while McLaren will also run with a tribute on their MCL36.

Some major British-based sports, including the English Premier League and English Football League, have postponed their events this weekend as a mark of respect. However official UK government guidance has indicated there is no requirement for sporting organisations to cancel or postpone events in the UK during the official mourning period.

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Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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15 comments on “F1 teams carry tributes to Queen Elizabeth II on cars at Monza”

  1. Thank you Will for reporting the fact that Her late Majesty attended the very first World championship GP.
    I commented under one of yesterday’s articles that I hoped this fact would be remembered somewhere and it’s nice to see it on RaceFans.
    I hope F1 itself will note it over the weekend, if it hasn’t done so already.

    1. She did not attend

      King George VI, who attended the race with Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and guests Lord and Lady Mountbatten

      In 1950 Queen Elizabeth II was called Princess Elizabeth, the Queen Elizabeth that attended was her mother

      Nowhere does it say the Princess Elizabeth attended the race

  2. Queen Elizabeth II did not attend the 1950 British GP

    It was attended by King George VI, who attended the race with his with wife Queen Elizabeth. Who was Queen Elizabeth II mother. Elizabeth II was called Princess Elizabeth in 1950

    Princess Elizabeth did not attend

    Nowhere says that Princess Elizabeth attended

    1. A quick google will tell you she attended with her father King George VI.

      1. Ah nope self correction after digging further, you were correct. It was Margaret.

        Shame I can’t just delete my previous.

  3. I guess you have to be an non-Brit to ask the question: WHY?

    The race in Italy is not a British event, F1 is not a British organisation (Swiss or French probably). And the British queen has absolute no connection to F1 and F1 should not have any obligations towards any royals, British, Dutch, Saudi or whatever. And to top it off, the new king is certainly not a fan of F1 so why do all these teams these strange things?

    1. I think it’s an expression of celebritism as well as the Western European/American trend of fetishizing sadness and empathy. Queen Elisabeth II has been a huge pop culture figure and people cared about her the same way they care celebrities in general.
      F1 teams do those gimmicky tributes, because they are cool to do, and they assume it’s obligatory to show off your moral high ground.

    2. I think it’s just a show of sympathy towards a country in mourning. A lot of teams, drivers and F1 staff are from the UK.

    3. There’s never one thing. Some genuinely care, others believe it’s ‘what one does’, others succumb to social pressure, others cynically see it as a marketing benefit, and there must be countless other reasons. All of that is magnified by F1 basically being an English sport, with Ferrari guest starring for 70+ years.

    4. Formula One is headquartered in central London

  4. Nice gesture although underlining the UK bias this sport has. Liberty should work on that if they want this to become an inclusive worldwide sport.

    1. If an Iranian or Russian leader dies, they will obviously do the same as they are inclusive of all dictators.

  5. I agree @dutch-1
    bizarre pro UK supremacy on full display again, Would there be ‘mourning’ and stickers if the Japanese Emperor or Saudi King passes away? Highly doubtful.

    I understand that F1 is UK(more specifically south east England) biased as virtually every team is UK based, FIA f1 production crew is UK based and official broadcaster is UK based but I find the token grovelling and hero worship with stickers, one minute silence and “official mourning” because a 96 year old woman who passed away after living a life of immense wealth, luxury and privilege that 99.999% of plebs will never expenence frankly insulting and disgusting.

  6. Will they do this also for the Saudi royal family?

  7. Cultural appropriation…

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