F1 São Paulo GP: The Symbols Behind Audi's Special Livery in Brazil
· Yahoo Sports
The Audi Revolut F1 Team has done it again.
After their standout one-off livery in Singapore, Audi is introducing another special livery for the 2026 Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix. They're replacing their signature Titanium Silver Grey branding with a color scheme that imitates Brazil's national colors.
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The green-yellow-and-gold livery speaks volumes about São Paulo's street culture, architecture, and Brazilian identity. Let's take a deeper look inside the R26's colors and patterns this weekend.
The Piso Paulista patterns
The central design of the livery is a tribute to the Piso Paulista tiles that you can see on São Paulo's pavements. Piso Paulista is the iconic black-and-white geometric sidewalk paving pattern of São Paulo. It was created in 1965 by artist Mirthes Bernardes (the artistic name of Mirtes dos Santos Pinto) for a municipal design contest under Mayor José Vicente de Faria Lima's campaign.
The unique tiles have been an urban symbol across the city's sidewalks and are instantly recognizable to locals and tourists alike.
On the R26, the Piso Paulista patterns can be seen in gold tones on the car's forest green bodywork. You can see it mostly on the areas of the sidepods and body panels.
Moreover, the patterns appear beyond the car. Audi is also carrying Piso Paulista into the special race suits of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg, the pit crew uniforms, and their garage branding.
The Sampa Soul collection
The color scheme of forest green, metallic gold, beige gold, and yellow is part of Audi's larger campaign called the Sampa Soul collection. It's a special clothing and merchandise range that Audi co-created with Adidas for the São Paulo Grand Prix.
Sampa, of course, is a common nickname associated with São Paulo. This Audi-Adidas collection includes unique merchandise such as the Sampa Soul cap, driver jerseys, track tops, jackets, footwear, and bags.
It's Bortoleto's home race
The Piso Paulista livery and Sampa Soul collection are deeply connected to Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto, who is of Brazilian nationality. It will be great to see him don the São Paulo colors on his race suit and car, as he showcases his driving chops in front of his home fans.
In 2025, Bortoleto appeared in Brazil for the first time as an F1 driver, while racing for Kick Sauber. However, it was a weekend to forget for the Brazilian.
He crashed on the final lap of the Sprint Race on Saturday, resulting in significant damage to his car. The damage forced him to sit out qualifying, which meant that he would start at the back of the grid on Sunday.
Then, on Lap 1 of the main race, Bortoleto had a good launch, overtaking Lewis Hamilton and Franco Colapinto. He went wheel-to-wheel with Lance Stroll on Turn 9, but the two drivers made contact, which forced Bortoleto onto the grass and ultimately into the barriers. A suspension damage retired his car on Lap 1.
Here's to hoping that the home hero won't suffer the same fate this weekend.