By Adam Tate, Associate Editor
McLaren dropped a big hint with the teaser poster for their car unveiling this season. It’s orange and black theme is believed to indicate a return to the firm’s classic papaya orange livery, famously introduced by company founder Bruce McLaren.
The iconic orange hue has often been used as a testing livery for the team, such as the case of Pedro de la Rosa’s car above. It has also been used for special edition road cars like the F1 LM that celebrated the team’s victory at the 1995 24 hours of Le Mans.
McLaren has had a long history of darker liveries of black and grey for the past 20 years with their chrome period under Vodafone title sponsorship as a notable exception.
The Honda engined cars have been black, and while they have looked menacing, it is clear under American Zak Brown’s leadership, the team is looking to the past as a way to move forward.
There hasn’t been an orange colored car on the grid since Spyker in 2007 and Arrows in 2002. It looks like McLaren will finally rectify that with a bright splash of color for 2017.
