All 10 Formula One cars have now taken to the track for pre-season testing in Bahrain.

The time is right to present Telegraph Sport’s “official ranking” of all 10 cars and liveries.

Some will turn heads … others will turn stomachs.

10. Alpine A524

Alpine have embraced the exposed carbon fibre weight-saving trend of recent years and the results are mixed at best. 2022’s effort was pink and blue, 2023 was pink and blue with some black. This year black is the predominant colour with some blue and pink and the odd bit of white.

In short, it is a mess of a livery that lacks identity, especially at the front. The pink accents on the ‘wheel brows’ are a nice touch, though.

9. McLaren MCL38

For years McLaren fans urged the team to return to their traditional ‘papaya’/orange colours after 20 years in variations of red, silver and black – a legacy of a previous tobacco-selling title sponsor. In 2017 they listened but in the past few years the amount of papaya has been shrinking. It continues this year.

Zak Brown, their CEO, has been very good at getting sponsors on the car and generating income for the team. The problem is – as this livery demonstrates – it does not look very sleek. That said, there are none on the front wing, which alleviates the problem a tad. The Google Chrome wheel covers look quite good in motion.

8. Williams FW46

A team that does not have the power to bring in as many big-name sponsors is Williams. The ‘dark mode’ blue and black has been a good combination for them over the last few years, with the dominant white of previous seasons gone but for sponsors’ names.

The Duracell battery air intake over the drivers’ was a novelty when it was introduced but is probably starting to look a little tired. On aerodynamics alone, the valley towards the end of the sidepods going to the rear of the car is probably its best feature.  If you’re going for this combination of colours why not pick a single shade of blue? And make it dark. Sauber were once sponsored by Chelsea, so maybe an Internazionale link-up should be in the offing for Williams.

7. Red Bull RB20

If we were looking at just the aerodynamic innovation and consequent aesthetics without any paint on the cars I think the latest Red Bull design would be somewhere near the top. Those ‘torpedo tubes’ on the engine cover are not all that attractive but are certainly distinctive. As for the new-look minimal sidepod air intakes, well, you can only applaud Adrian Newey and his team.

A few years ago the matte-look paint gave Red Bull an advantage in beauty contests like this, but other teams have adopted it so it is less a point of difference. I get that the Red Bull livery (this being the 20th season of it) is their brand and branding and publicity is at the heart of why an energy drink has an F1 team… but it would be nice for them to break away into something a little different for once.

6. Haas VF-24

There is not much more that needs to be said for Haas’s ninth F1 car. You cannot go too far wrong with only using red, white and black on your car and, well, Haas have not.

There are not that many interesting flourishes and ideas design-wise but then this is a team who finished 10th last season and firmly expect to begin the season there, too. Would probably have been stronger if the white around the cockpit and halo were black.

5. Aston Martin AMR24

We are now into the top half of the grid and cars that actually look “good”. At least to my eye. Again, like McLaren Aston Martin suffer a little bit because of the sheer amount of sponsors plastered over their motor. There has, admittedly, not been a great deal of variation since the team came into existence in 2021.

Simplicity is often an advantage when it comes to making your livery look strong and Aston Martin have only plumped for a couple of colours on the main bodywork: their version of British Racing Green and white. Okay, with a tiny bit of yellow accenting. They’ve kept the exposed carbon fibre quite well hidden on this too, along the sidepods.

4. Mercedes W15

Since 2020, Mercedes have alternated between a black livery and their more traditional silver one. This year they have combined them both, resulting in a striking colour combination. From a front-on view the silver nose (with Petronas green as a buffer) contrasts with the black front wing and black halo.It looks strong.

Behind the driver it is a bit more a mish-mash of ideas. The downsides are no doubt the red Ineos airbox cover and the numbering system, which appears to be just black outlines over silver paint. A little weak. Design-wise the front wing looks like a neat solution/loophole around the regulations with its ‘floating’ top element. Will it work?

3. Ferrari SF24

I do not think the current Ferrari is as handsome as their special Monza livery last year, but it obviously takes some hints from that and the outcome is a good-looking one. Not quite as good-looking as the 2022 edition with its plain black front and rear wings, but the yellow and white stripes here give it a little character and a touch of the late-80s or early-90s about it.

As I have written many times before, every F1 car looks better with a carbon-fibre halo and this year Ferrari have, sadly, abandoned theirs. Perhaps when Lewis Hamilton joins next year they will increase the amount of yellow? A yellow halo?

2. RB VCARB 01

Given AlphaTauri’s name change to Visa Cash App RB you might have expected them to come up with a new brand identity and livery. As it is it looks they have returned to a variation of the livery which was used for Toro Rosso (it’s the same team...) back in 2018 and 2019, albeit with the introduction of a bold strip of white and a white front wing.

As with red, white and black, you cannot go too far wrong with red, white and blue, but you still have to use those colours wisely. And RB have done that indeed. Bonus points for having by far the best numbering typeface on the grid, too.

1. Sauber C44

The two best-looking cars of 2024 are the teams with, by far, the two worst names. A few years ago there were about four colours in use on F1 liveries and three of them were blue. Hats off to Sauber/Stake/Kick/the team which will become Audi/the team formerly known as Alfa Romeo for this effort.

Aston Martin clearly have the BRG thing sewn up so why not go for the most luminous shade of green that you can imagine? It is a colour that you normally see in pre-season testing with the flow-viz paint. Why not take that and run with it, and have everything else in black or exposed carbon fibre? Sure. Of course, the shade comes from the corporate colours of sponsors Kick, but you cannot argue with its distinctiveness.

You will never mistake the Sauber for anything else this year, will you? I’m sure the sponsors will be happy.