The F1 star who drove an all-black Ferrari in a ‘secret’ test nearly 30 years before Sergio Perez

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Cadillac’s first-ever Formula 1 test occurred this week, with Sergio Perez jumping into a blacked-out Ferrari SF-23. Despite the long-standing tradition that the iconic Italian racing outfit always races in red, it isn’t the first time that a Ferrari F1 car has showcased a black livery.

Enzo Ferrari’s age-old quote of why the iconic rosso corsa colour is so important to the heritage of Ferrari still rings true today.

“Ask a child to draw a car, and certainly he will draw it red,” he said, highlighting the incredible legacy that his luxury automotive brand has built over the course of its history.

However, the long-standing tradition of Ferrari’s F1 cars featuring a red livery was broken by Cadillac, as they debuted the Italian constructor’s 2023 challenger in a fully black livery during their first TPC test as a constructor.

Cadillac’s ties to Ferrari as an engine customer allowed the team to take part in the test using one of their cars, which took place in Imola this week. It marks the first time in nearly 30 years that a black livery has featured on an F1 car built by the Prancing Horse.

READ MORE: How Sergio Perez’s Cadillac test times in old Ferrari F1 car compare to Charles Leclerc

Michael Schumacher tested a blacked-out Ferrari F300 ahead of the 1998 F1 season

The last time that a black livery has featured on a Ferrari F1 car came in the form of their challenger for the 1998 season, the F300.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was the man to take the reins of it, with the only identifying mark being the traditional yellow Prancing Horse on the tip of the nose.

Following the controversial ending to the 1997 season, which saw him disqualified from the championship for a move on title rival Jacques Villeneuve, Schumacher was keen to get back into the driver’s seat as soon as possible to turn the narrative around.

One of the reasons for Schumacher’s success with Ferrari boiled down to his ability to turn the Maranello-based outfit into his ‘own team’. This access is what allowed the Kaiser to successfully request a test at such short notice.

Unfortunately, the outing didn’t go entirely to plan. Schumacher was able to complete just two laps before the session was scrapped due to electrical issues.

It certainly wasn’t a good start to their 1998 title challenge, with the extracurricular test hoping to be the first step in them putting pressure on their on-track rivals.

McLaren had recently snapped up the talents of Adrian Newey, and they would prove to be successful as Mika Hakkinen went on to win his maiden F1 title at the final round of the season.

READ MORE: Guenther Steiner shares how Michael Schumacher completely ‘changed’ Ferrari after speaking to staff

Cadillac boss Graeme Lowdon previously outlined the reason for their TPC test with a Ferrari F1 car

In the weeks preceding Cadillac’s inaugural F1 test, team principal Graeme Lowdon outlined the reason for the brand-new constructor’s test with an older spec car.

F1 will see a new era of regulations that overhaul the current spec, but the 60-year-old explained to Motorsport.com how incredibly useful the test is for the engineers and mechanics at the team.

He said, “Actually, current team testing is kind of what we’re interested in. We want to use a car, because in all of the simulations that we mentioned, we try and make it as real to life as possible.

“I think everyone gets a little bit wrongly concerned that in some way we can get an advantage by testing someone else’s car or something. But we’re not testing the car, we’re testing the people.”

Cadillac have been trying to prepare their staff for the fast-paced working environment of a Grand Prix weekend by running their own race strategies in line with this season’s schedule.

The exercise involves every facet of their future on-site team, including engineers, strategists, and media staff across their bases in Charlotte and Silverstone.