McLaren’s vehicles, drivers and group will sport a retro look for the return of Formula One’s Monaco Grand Prix this week with a particular one-off livery in the colors of sponsor Gulf Oil International.
The mixture of orange stripe and powder blue has a explicit resonance for motorsport followers, with Hollywood actor Steve McQueen famously racing a Gulf-liveried Porsche 917 in the 1971 film ‘Le Mans’.
The Gulf reference to McLaren dates again to 1968 and the group’s late founder Bruce McLaren.
“It’s cool. I didn’t want another excuse to get excited for Monaco so I’ve bought to regulate myself, avoid wasting vitality for subsequent weekend,” said Australian Daniel Ricciardo, a winner in the principality with Red Bull in 2018.
British team mate Lando Norris told reporters after a presentation at McLaren’s old Albert Drive factory that the car, usually decked out in papaya and a darker blue, would be the best-looking on the grid.
“I said to (McLaren Racing CEO) Zak (Brown) it was even better than our current livery but he didn’t sound so convinced by that,” stated the 21-year-old, whose helmet design will likely be “old fashioned, a bit of a throwback”.
Monaco, a glamorous highlight of the season since the 1950s, was not held last year due to COVID-19 and will be the championship’s first street race since 2019.
“At this point we only intend to run it at Monaco. I think if you’re going to have a special livery you need to keep it special,” Brown stated of the paint job that may also function on merchandise.
“We don’t wish to confuse the followers and sort of lose our id.
“But at the identical time I believe to do one thing a few instances a yr that’s particular creates some pleasure and a few further engagement with the followers.”
The team will be wary of what happened to Mercedes in 2019 when the champions celebrated their 125th year in motorsport with a retro livery and dressed team members in period costume.
The weekend at Hockenheim turned into a nightmare, with team boss Toto Wolff saying afterwards they would not be “making any other big splashes in future”.
Brown, whose group are holding off Ferrari for third in the championship after 4 races, had no such issues.
“When these guys put their helmets on, they’re going to overlook what the racecar appears to be like like aside from a steering wheel and two tyres in entrance of them,” said the American. “I’m not worried at all.”
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News right here
