McLaren Honda have revealed a new livery for the MCL32 featuring the team’s heritage orange colour.
The MCL32 is the first McLaren Formula 1 race car since 1980 to not include the ‘MP4’ (Marlboro Project 4) prefix in its name.
McLaren is kicking off a new era after the departure of its long-time boss Ron Dennis, with executive director Zak Brown having taken over at the role.
After weeks of speculation, the much anticipated launch confirmed McLaren will run with an orange branding this season.
“It is awesome,” said Brown. “It is a special day for all of us, first time in a car launch. I think it is a beautiful piece of art and I cannot wait to see Fernando and Stoffel go around the track.
“It was a collective group – we went through a variety of designs and ultimately it was in response to the fans, we have had such outreach from fans ‘we want to have orange’.”
He added: “I am a McLaren fan – we are going to get there. This team is highly frustrated that we are not winning races.
“We have a new package – it takes a bit of time. 2015 was a very difficult year, 2016 wasn’t a great year by McLaren standards but it is forward progress – and that is what we want to see in 2017 – forward progress. ”
The Woking-based outfit had run an orange livery during pre-season testing in 1997, 1998 and 2006, although a full orange livery had only been raced in Formula 1 from 1968 to 1971.
McLaren enters the third season of its partnership with Honda, hoping to take a significant step forward after two disappointing years.
The team’s fortunes improved in 2016 compared to the previous year – when it scored just 27 points – but it was still unable to compete near the front and finished down in sixth place in the constructors’ championship.
Honda’s new engine will feature a revised architecture and a new layout for this year, the Japanese manufacturer moving away from the ‘size zero’ concept with which it returned to the sport in 2015.
McLaren has retained Fernando Alonso for 2017, but the two-time champion will be partnered by Stoffel Vandoorne, who replaces Jenson Button.
The 2009 champion ended his Formula 1 career at the end of 2016 campaign, although he still has a contract with McLaren for next year.
Vandoorne, the 2015 GP2 champion, is already a point-scorer in Formula 1, having replaced Alonso in last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix, following the Spaniard’s massive accident in the first race in Australia.
So the future is looking bright for McLaren. New driver line-up. New boss in charge. New chassis name. Plus a bold orange look. Can the team fight back to competitiveness? Only time will tell.
New stories on the McLaren MCL32:
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-reveals-its-2017-f1-challenger-876638/
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2017/2/mclaren-revive-orange-livery-with-mcl32.html
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/10770041/mclaren-unveil-orange-mcl32-as-team-hope-for-improvement-in-2017
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/02/24/pictures-new-2017-mclaren-car-finally-appears/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39075183
Official unveiling on the Honda-powered car:
http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/2017/car-launch/all-new-mclaren-honda-mcl32-breaks-cover-1274445/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=CarLaunch2017
https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/835082680832245760
https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/835087110809997312
Fernando Alonso says McLaren are aiming for respectability in the third year of their collaboration with Honda.
The team hasn’t finish higher than fifth place since Honda returned as its engine supplier at the beginning of 2015. Its last win came at the end of the 2012 season.
“We still think the start of the season will be a challenge,” said Alonso. “We can’t ignore the fact that we’re still coming from a significant step behind the current front-runners.”
“But I’d like to think we can target the second half of the year as a time when we’ll really be able to start making useful performance steps. The aim is to look respectable this year – and I’d like to think we can achieve that.”
Alonso said the new MCL32, launched by the team today, “appears to be really promising”.
“The new regulations seem to be well thought-out, and the cars look fast and aggressive,” he added.
Alonso’s new team mate Stoffel Vandoorne said “It’s really nice to see a McLaren looking like a proper McLaren.”
“The livery is a great mix of the past and the future: the orange of the 1960s and ’70s, but pushed forwards. I really like it.”
“As for the car itself, it looks great. There are so many beautiful little details – the gills on the nose hangers, the bargeboards, the front wing – it all looks incredibly well finished and thoroughly thought-out.”
Vandoorne will start his first full season of F1 this year having started one race for them in 2016. “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for my whole life,” he said.
“My preparation has been long, intense and meticulous. I’ve spent the winter training ferociously hard, I’m fitter now than I’ve ever been, and I’m raring to get going.”
Source: F1Fanatic.co.uk
Fernando Alonso has downplayed hopes of McLaren making a sudden return to the sharp end of the Formula One field in 2017, saying that it will not be until the second half of the year that they can ‘start making useful performance steps’.
McLaren have struggled since re-joining forces with engine partners Honda in 2015, finishing ninth in that year’s constructors’ championship and sixth last year – and Alonso admits it will be hard to get back to the front quickly.
“We still think the start of the season will be a challenge – we can’t ignore the fact that we’re still coming from a significant step behind the current front-runners,” the Spaniard said at Friday’s launch of McLaren’s new MCL32.
“But I’d like to think we can target the second half of the year as a time when we’ll really be able to start making useful performance steps.
“The aim is to look respectable this year – and I’d like to think we can achieve that.”
Alonso insisted progress is being made, however, adding: “I think there’s a lot to admire about what we’ve achieved over the past 12 months. Sure, the results haven’t really showcased it, but we’ve really made progress, and I think the whole team has gelled together through those difficult times.
“Now, at a moment of significant regulatory change, we need to capitalise on that period of uncertainty to push forwards – and I’m confident that we’ve got the expertise to do just that.”
Jonathan Neale, McLaren’s Chief Operating Officer, was also keen to temper heightened expectations for the start of 2017.
“The journey ahead isn’t going to be easy, and I’ve emphasised that to everyone,” Neale said. “We’ve made progress in the past 12 months, but we’re not where we need to be and we expect on-track competition to be fierce.
“Do I believe we’ll be back at the front this year? Realistically, probably not quite yet, no. But do I think we’ll continue to make meaningful improvement as a team? Absolutely.
“And that’s our aim: to make progress by establishing the proper and correct, if sometimes difficult, changes that are needed to go forward.
“We can’t predict where that will leave us – particularly on the eve of a new season of regulatory upheaval and uncertainty – but as a team we have many talented and driven individuals and we’re restless about continuing to do whatever is needed to make us competitive.”
Source: Formula1.com