McLaren has emerged as the first team to reveal its livery for 2024 F1 following a rather unexpected announcement on Tuesday afternoon.
McLaren revamped their branding on social media on Monday, wiping out all of their previous posts on Instagram and shared a promotional video based on references that highlighted the team’s recent comeback and the tagline ‘whatever it takes.’
After that, on Tuesday evening, McLaren revealed its 2024 livery while the complete car—dubbed the MCL38—will be unveiled on February 15th.
The MCL37 was dropped to honor the team’s 60th anniversary, and the chassis’ name reverts to McLaren’s previous naming scheme for its cars following the MCL60 in 2023.
The 2024 colour scheme is based on the unique livery that was designed for sponsor OKX that was used in Singapore and Japan. Additionally, the livery features more papaya compared to the car from the previous year—a colour that McLaren has been sporting since 2018.
The sidepods and engine cover are deep jet black in contrast and there are small hints of chrome on the driver numbers. This alludes to the iconic silver chrome liveries that McLaren adopted from 2006 to 2013. Additionally, the team sported a livery with chrome highlights during the British Grand Prix as home favorite Lando Norris finished second in the race.
In a statement, McLaren CEO Zak Brown described the design as ‘awesome.’ He brought up the difficult start the team had in 2023 and its historic recovery after receiving an upgrade for the Austrian Grand Prix.
“We’re delighted to launch our 2024 Formula 1 livery ahead of the new season,” Zak Brown said. “The design looks awesome, and I can’t wait to go racing and see it come to life on track next month.
“We didn’t start 2023 as we wanted but Andrea and the team did a great job following the organisational restructure coming into action, and the hard work continues as we carry that excellent momentum into the 2024 campaign.
“I’m confident the exciting pairing of Lando and Oscar will continue to create more mega memories together after such an impressive second half of last year which saw the team finish fourth in the championship with 302 points.
“These are all steps forward from the year before as we continue our mission to push and compete at the front of the grid.
“We’re looking forward to achieving our ambitions and with our valuable partners and fantastic fans on board, they will play an integral part in the journey this season.
“We’re grateful for their continued support and know they also share our passion for success.”
Additionally, team principal Andrea Stella lauded the new livery and declared that the team’s goal with the new car was to finish at the front of the grid.
“After a busy and productive off season, we head into 2024 with our sights set on continuing our journey towards the front of the grid,” Stella said. “Last year allowed the team to set a strong foundation for the future through continued hard work, commitment, effort and talent.
“With our new infrastructure upgrades and people in place, we must continue to elevate our standards and incorporate high performance in everything we do.
“The 2024 livery looks great and I’m looking forward to seeing our exciting driver line-up of Lando and Oscar take the MCL38 to track next month.
“The support of our commercial partners and incredible fans will play an important part as we continue to remain united together as a team throughout the upcoming season.
“We still have a lot of work to do before we hit the track for the first race in Bahrain, but we’re all focused on delivering against our objectives and starting the season on the right footing.”
After a successful campaign last year, McLaren enter 2024 F1 with high expectations. The team concluded the season in fourth place and claimed seven podium places from the last eight races after a strong development push that gave them a solid claim to be the second-quickest team behind dominating champions Red Bull.
However, McLaren has not won a race since 2021 when Daniel Ricciardo won the only race with the MCL35M at Monza.
