Formula 1 journalist Ben Anderson has revealed that McLaren’s recent unveiling of their 2024 livery left the media “stunned”, because of its similarities to their 2023 design.
Whilst the Woking-based outfit are yet to take the covers off their actual car for the upcoming season, they did show the world the colours they’d be racing in.
For 2024, McLaren are going to run a solely papaya and black livery, with blue no longer being included.
McLaren are the first team on the grid to unveil their livery, whilst the actual car will have its covers removed on Valentine’s Day (February 14).
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According to Anderson, the new livery failed to really shock the journalists in attendance, to the extent that even McLaren CEO Zak Brown cracked a joke.
Speaking on The Race F1 podcast, Anderson said: “Suddenly everyone was ears pricked and having to get their game faces on to do full McLaren chat because this is all there’s going to be until we get going.
Co-worker and fellow journalist Edd Straw replied: “And you got to be shocked by the orange and black McLaren that looks basically the same as it did last year. It’s very nice but it’s not new.”
Anderson added: “Well, it was quite funny because they got Zak [Brown] and [Andrea] Stella to unveil the show car that was there on the stage and they peeled back the covers and to complete silence and Zak even said, ‘Hold your applause!’.
“And I was tempted to say, ‘Oh, well we’re all just stunned into silence’ but you’re right, it looks, let’s call it iterative in terms of the livery progression of last year to this year.”
Regardless of whether their livery for 2024 does look incredibly similar to last season’s design, McLaren will still have a strong look for the new season.
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There is no doubting that it’s a big year for the British manufacturer, given that they are now on an upward trajectory following their hugely successful upgrade at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix.
Since that race, McLaren have arguably been Red Bull’s biggest threat and remain so ahead of the new campaign.
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both took the fight to Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in the second half of last season, with the general expectation being that they could do the same this year.