McLaren presented a completely new paint job for the Monaco Grand Prix race weekend, replacing the normal papaya with the orange and powder blue colors of Gulf Oil to ride on Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo’s cars.
The team also decided to tweak its paint job for the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi and worked with main sponsor British American Tobacco’s Vuse brand to create a bespoke design using artwork by UAE artist Rabab Tantawy.
While one-off liveries are common at championships like IndyCar due to sponsorship commitments, most teams in F1 tend to stick to the same design throughout the season.
McLaren Racing CEO Brown felt that from time to time showing off the unique livery is of great value. However, he felt it was important to keep them contained to ensure that after a “great” fan reaction, they stay special through 2021.
“I think doing it on a very limited basis, like we did, is the right balance,” said Brown when asked by Motorsport.com about plans for future one-off liveries.
“We want to preserve our identity and make a special paintwork something special. And if we do this all the time, it loses its peculiarity.
“[Abu Dhabi] was sponsored. I think there is some liveliness, brings great messages. In this case it was an artist from this field, so a great opportunity to draw attention to different topics.
McLaren MCL35M AbuDhabi GP livery
Photo by: McLaren
“Of course our fans are happy to support us. You can see a lot of Gulf hats and shirts walking around. Another way for great fan engagement. Everyone voted with a thumbs-up, so to speak, with their enthusiasm for it. “
“This is something we want to and will do, but not on a high-frequency basis, because you lose your own identity and it loses its uniqueness.”
Alfa Romeo and Red Bull were the only other two teams to come up with redesigned paint jobs last year.
Alfa Romeo incorporated some additional green elements into its usual design to celebrate its home race in Italy at Monza, while Red Bull paid tribute to outgoing motor partner Honda by switching to a white paint design for the Turkish Grand Prix, which is the colors of Japan resembled.
