McLaren will be sporting a special ‘Triple Crown livery’ at the Monaco and Spanish GP that blends three tribute color schemes.
This year, McLaren will pay homage to its legendary heritage once more in Monaco. The Woking-based outfit is going to unveil its MCL 60 in the Principality on the following weekend with a unique Triple Crown livery.
The papaya, white, and black color scheme that will cover its F1 car is inspired by McLaren’s legendary victories in the three races that make up motorsport’s Triple Crown: the Indy 500, the Monaco Grand Prix, and the Le Mans 24 Hours.
More particularly, the tri-color design pays homage to Johnny Rutherford’s victory at the Speedway in 1974, Alain Prost’s triumph in Monaco in 1984, and the manufacturer’s victory at Le Mans in 1995 with the McLaren F1 GTR.
The shocking 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours victory by McLaren with the McLaren F1 GTR, which was making its debut in the illustrious event, was made possible by overnight rain and improved reliability, which enabled it to outperform the considerably quicker prototypes. This victory is represented by the car’s black front third.
The MP4/2 that Alain Prost used to win the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, the first of 15 victories for McLaren in Monaco, is represented by a “ice white” center, a tribute to the Marlboro-liveried McLarens of the company’s history.
The papaya back third of the car, when combined with the white, matches the full Monaco ’84 homage livery being run by Felix Rosenqvist in IndyCar, which is another way that the design echoes the classic Marlboro liveries.
All three color schemes for McLaren’s three full-time cars competing in the Indianapolis 500 have already been made public in their customized, personalized variants.
As the race that was supposed to start at Imola last weekend was postponed due to floods, McLaren will continue to compete with this Triple Crown livery for the Spanish Grand Prix, which comes just after Monaco.
McLaren wants to continue the Triple Crown festivities beyond the Monaco and Indianapolis 500 liveries with what it terms five “showcase films” that explain the team’s history while featuring interviews with some of the drivers who brought home those victories.
The F1 team comes to Monaco in the course of a challenging season, despite the fact that the livery honors McLaren’s lengthy and successful motorsport history and that its IndyCar team will start the 500 with all four cars on the first three rows.
McLaren got off to a slow start to the year by not having significant developments ready in time for its launch car, which didn’t arrive until the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April.
The most recent race in Miami saw McLaren perform the least competitively it has all season, albeit that was compounded by the configuration of the track; Monaco is anticipated to be more favorable for the car.
