McLaren unveils 2024 colour scheme on old car

McLaren have become the first F1 team to reveal their new colour scheme for the 2024 season, albeit the Woking-based outfit unveiled the new livery on their 2023 F1 car.

The British outfit have stuck with their traditional papaya, combining that with black and a touch of chrome to create a striking livery, albeit they have now ditched running blue as part of their colour scheme.

The colour scheme features chrome elements with both the logo of sponsor OKX and the driver numbers appearing in chrome colours, which was more widely carried by the team from 2006 to 2014 before making a return at the 2023 British Grand Prix with Google.

McLaren heads into the upcoming Formula 1 season with an unchanged driver line-up on the grid as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri aim to continue building on the strong momentum gained from the second half of last season, which saw the team record nine podiums, one Sprint win and four Sprint podiums as well as a world record pit stop time of 1.8 seconds.

Commenting on the new livery, Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, said: “We’re delighted to launch our 2024 Formula 1 livery ahead of the new season. 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.”

Andrea Stella will lead the team for the second year after being appointed Team Principal in December 2022. The Italian’s F1 Technical Executive Team is completed by new arrivals Rob Marshall, Technical Director, Engineering & Design and David Sanchez, Technical Director, Car Concept & Performance, who both joined McLaren Racing in January 2024.

Peter Prodromou continues as Technical Director, Aerodynamics with over 30 years of experience in F1 and Neil Houldey supports in the role of Deputy Technical Director, Engineering and Design, after originally joining McLaren in 2006.

McLaren’s 2024 challenger, the MCL38, will be revealed on 14 February before heading to pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit on 21-23 February ahead of the opening race of the season at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix on 2 March.

Speaking of the expectations, Stella said: “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. 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."

Speaking of the new livery, Norris said: “I’m looking forward to the new season ahead, it will be my sixth in Formula 1 and I'm hoping to carry the momentum we gained as a team at the end of last season to hit the ground running in Bahrain. The new livery looks great with the inclusion of segments from last year’s enhancements, I’m sure the fans will love it as much as me.

“Everyone at the factory has worked incredibly hard in the off season, and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the 2024 car to challenge our competitors towards the front of the grid.”

Piastri commented: “The 2024 livery looks really cool and I'm looking forward to racing in the iconic colours of McLaren for a second season. I made some special memories with the team in my rookie year, securing two podiums and a Sprint win.

“I‘m going to work hard alongside the whole team to take those results into the start of the new season and compete well with our competitors to give the fans more memorable moments.”