McLaren will have a very different look this weekend for the historic Monaco Grand Prix after revealing a special one-off livery in the colours of Gulf Oil.
The Woking-based team held a private media event last weekend, which was the first in-person event for many of the journalists since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The light blue and orange colour scheme is iconic throughout motorsport and there is a link with McLaren right back to the days of founder Bruce McLaren in the late 1960s and early 70s.
It will be the second time that the blue and orange strip will appear on a McLaren racing car, the first being back in 1997 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown stated that the design “Will be McLaren’s homage to Gulf’s celebrated race car design. We’re enormous fans of brave and bold design, and the striking Gulf blue is among the most loved liveries in racing, a celebrated piece of culture which transcends the world of motorsport.
“Design has always been important to McLaren – you see this in everything we do from our return to papaya to our stunning headquarters, the McLaren Technology Centre. We’re excited to exhibit this as a team and celebrate our proud association with Gulf in Monaco.”
Driver Lando Norris said that “I think everyone can agree it will be the best-looking car on the grid by a very long way. It’s awesome, it’s a cool opportunity for both of us, and especially at Monaco, so I think it brings it all together, it’s pretty unique.”
Daniel Ricciardo added: “Of course I love it. It’s cool. I didn’t need another reason to get excited about Monaco so I’ve got to control myself and save some energy for next week. Awesome. As long as you look good, that’s the first box you’ve got to tick and we’re certainly doing that, so I’m really excited.”
The iconic design will carry through to the drivers overalls, teams kit and the drivers will each wear bespoke helmets which will be raffled off for Mind Charity.
Fans will be able to see the new livery on track for the first time this Thursday as the Monaco Grand Prix weekend gets underway.