Sauber to race with a one-off livery at Barcelona

Formula One's Hinwil-based outfit Sauber is set to disrupt the grid at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix with a visually radical one-off livery inspired by the digital world.

Sauber drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto will race with a one-off colour scheme that is referred to as “Glitched Out”. The special design reimagines the team’s C45 in a pixelated cascade of green and black, created in collaboration with KICK.

This marks the second special livery activation by the team in 2025, following the Miami “Art Car” earlier this season. With each race offering its own cultural canvas, Sauber revealed that they will remain "committed to pushing creative boundaries on and off the track."

Sauber explained that the Barcelona-special livery "redefines the team’s 2025 gradient base with a glitching pixel texture that appears to be dynamically loading onto the car. With KICK’s branding rooted in square pixels, this livery blends digital aesthetics with cutting-edge design."

"The vehicle seems caught mid-transformation – part machine, part graphic interface. Even the iconic poker chip wheel has been reinterpreted in pixel form, reflecting a car that’s not just been repainted, but fully reprogrammed."

In addition, drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto will carry the glitch motif onto their race suits and equipment, with the team’s pit environment also undergoing a digital upgrade to reflect the livery’s theme.

Reflecting on the special livery, Sauber's Chief Commerical Officer Stefano Battiston expalined: "With this special livery, we wanted to embrace disruption. Barcelona offers us a moment in the calendar where we can challenge expectations – and this design does exactly that.

‘Glitched Out’ is not just a look; it's a declaration of how motorsport can evolve and intersect with the worlds of gaming, streaming, and digital identity. It’s edgy, deliberate, and unmistakably KICK."