Sometime during the week, it had leaked out that McLaren were about to change their livery.
The current livery can only be described as mostly shiny, mostly silver with splashes of red to show off the sponsors colours. The speculation started earlier in the week when it was suspected they would change to a silver and black colour swatch. This probably would not have looked a little off and most likely depict a much darker image than McLaren would want or have ever presented before.
What is in a livery?
The McLaren livery is iconic, everyone remembers the Day-Glo orange and white. When you see those colours whizz past you, you know that it can only mean one team. You have to have that appeal to the fans and by choosing something different to everyone else is a pretty good way of standing out.
What could be said for a change in livery?
Team do it all the time, new sponsors come and go, perhaps a change in engine manufacturer or a partnership with another team. Many things could prompt the change but why move from something that is so recognisable to something not so much. A dark Formula 1 livery just doesn’t seem to be a ‘stand out from the crowd’ type of car and so it would have probably upset a few McLaren fans, if not the whole Formula 1 racing world.
Livery change dismissed
McLaren were quick to pick up on this rumour-monging and dismissed the claims of a livery change. Good for them to be honest, when people start hinting at things as drastic as this you have to be hot on settling it quickly and that is exactly what McLaren have done. So props to McLaren for the clearing up of this debacle, I hope this is a decent example of what a Formula 1 team should be doing when it comes to defending their dignity. I would, however, quite welcome a day of historically iconic liveries from all teams, for nostalgia’s sake and the dream to believe that those cars contained now legends, what a way to take me back to my childhood in an instant. We hardly ever get the chance to repaint our karts new colours so you’re safe in the knowledge that they are still the same great karts you’ve been enjoying for years. So why not book a session now and have a blast.