Having revealed their livery in a surprise announcement on Jan. 16, the McLaren Formula 1 Team had their official launch of the MCL38 on Feb. 14. For the 2024 season, McLaren has painted their car their signature papaya color, which they fully incorporated into their brand in 2018 after a long history of featuring it in their cars since the 1960s. It would be a lovely story if the shade was not so ugly and inconsistent.
This season, paired with a good amount of exposed carbon fiber, the orange in the car is brighter than last year’s and passes as neon under the right lighting. Another improvement on the livery is that the team got rid of the light blue highlights that clashed horribly with the papaya shade and confused everybody with their irrelevance. The design highlight of the car continues to be the rainbow wheel rims that stand out beautifully as they spin during races, painted with the colors of one of their biggest sponsors, Google Chrome.
The team’s large list of sponsors, featuring Android and OKX, enables them to create a competitive car while also putting them under pressure to deliver good results.
McLaren is one of the most famous F1 teams in history, with eight Constructors’ Championships and 12 Drivers’ Championships to their name. The team also has a catalog of renowned drivers in their lineup, including world champions Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen and Lewis Hamilton, who won their last Drivers’ Championship in 2008.
For the past decade, McLaren has struggled to remain a top team and provide consistent results. Their 2023 season started horrendously with multiple technical issues and mediocre race finishes, yet their upgrades managed to turn their luck around and earned them fourth place in the season’s Constructor Standings. Now, they want to take the fight to Red Bull, which seems overly optimistic.
Despite no wins, their drivers had a promising season with eight podium finishes between the two of them. Lando Norris, who just signed a contract extension with the team, finished sixth in the Driver Standings while Oscar Piastri, who is entering his second season in the sport, finished ninth. McLaren CEO Zak Brown is determined to see Norris become a world champion with McLaren, but the British driver has yet to win a race after five years in the sport, something fans are eager for him to rectify sooner rather than later. After Piastri’s amazing debut season, for which he won Rookie of the Year at the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony, the possibility of him winning a race before his teammate looks very likely.
With less than a week remaining until the first race of the season, there is much suspense to see if McLaren can deliver on their promises and will be a championship contender.
