Nico Hulkenberg has taken a playful jab at former team Force India, joking that its new pink livery is one of the reasons he left for Renault ahead of this season.
Force India revealed pink colours on Tuesday as part of a new sponsorship deal with Austrian water company BWT. It is a radical departure from the team's previous silver and black livery and adds another bright colour to this year's grid.
On top of the new livery, drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon will wear pink helmets to reinforce the BWT partnership.
Responding to the announcement, Hulkenberg, who has new yellow and black overalls with Renault this year, posted a cheeky message about the new paintjob on Facebook.
Hulkenberg wasn't the only one to reference the new scheme. Haas driver Romain Grosjean joked that he would like to see Perez and Ocon in fully pink race suits this year.
Hope that the @ForceIndiaF1 drivers have got the same overall color as the 2017 livery ... 😉
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) March 14, 2017
Perez and Ocon also tweeted about the new look -- with Perez opting for three cryptic emojis and Ocon, who has taken Hulkenberg's seat for the new year, referencing the Pink Panther cartoon character.
😬😎😂
— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) March 14, 2017
New colour for 2017, as clever as the pink panther;)! What do you think about it?😜 #BWT @F1 @ForceIndiaF1 pic.twitter.com/HdCTyUDbPp
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) March 14, 2017