New McLaren MCL39 breaks cover, hits the track in camo

McLaren has fired the first shot in the 2025 Formula 1 season, unveiling its new-spec MCL39 contender during a special shake-down session at Silverstone on Thursday morning.

While the car’s full livery won't be revealed until the F1 75 Live event at London’s O2 arena on February 18, Team Papaya offered a tantalizing glimpse of its new machine, sporting a striking one-off camouflage design.

This temporary livery, blending McLaren's signature papaya orange in a geometric pattern with black swathes, is a clever workaround to the restrictions in place before the official launch.

In terms of the MCL39’s design, there was little to take away from the images supplied by McLaren, save for that fact that the car looks like a straightforward evolution of its MCL38 predecessor, although updates are assuredly lurking under the hood.

Hitting the Track

The MCL39 took to the Silverstone circuit as part of a restricted filming day, with drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on hand to test the new machine.

Norris, who narrowly missed out on the 2024 drivers’ title to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, was the first to drive the car.

Team boss Zak Brown hailed the occasion as “a big milestone” in McLaren’s quest to defend its hard-won constructors’ championship and fight for the drivers’ crown.

©McLaren

“It’s great to get our championship challenger, the MCL39, on track for the first time and to launch the culmination of the team’s hard work,” said Brown.

“We must be realistic that every team will have made progress over the winter. Last year highlighted just how much the grid has closed up, which is a brilliant thing for the sport.

“We believe we have made further steps forward since the championship-winning MCL38, but we won’t know where we sit in the standings until we get into qualifying in Australia [the season opener].”

Stella's Focus on the Challenge Ahead

Team Principal Andrea Stella echoed Brown's sentiments about the intense competition.

“Whilst we finished last year as champions, 2024 highlighted how highly competitive the grid is, which is something that will carry through to this year’s championship,” Stella commented.

“We therefore must keep focused to compete at the front in this tight field. It’s going to be an exciting but incredibly challenging year ahead.”

©McLaren

The Italian praised the team's efforts in preparing for the season.

“The team have worked extremely hard to prepare as best as possible for the start of the season. We learned a lot from our battles last year, so we take this and use it to push our goal for the year.

“We learned a lot from our battles last year, so we take this and use it to push our goal for the year. It’s going to be an exciting but incredibly challenging year ahead.”

Driver Reactions

Norris, excited to be the first to drive his team’s new charger, praised the striking camo livery.

“It’s exciting to hop in the MCL39 for the first time and see what it can do on track, ahead of pre-season testing in Bahrain,” commented the Briton.

“It’s a fun one and it’s great to be able to showcase something different ahead of our full livery reveal at the official F1 75 launch,” said Norris.

©McLaren

Meanwhile, his teammate Oscar Piastri, entering his thrid season with McLaren, shared his enthusiasm for the day’s event.

“It’s great to get behind the wheel of the MCL39 for the first time ahead of us putting it through its paces in Bahrain,” said the Australian, referring to the upcoming pre-season testing.

“The camo livery looks cool and I am excited to showcase what we’ll be racing in this season at the official livery reveal next week.

“The margins at the top are likely to be incredibly tight but I’m excited by the room for growth after two seasons in the sport.”

Aiming for Glory

McLaren’s 2024 season marked a historic resurgence as the team clinched its first constructors’ championship in 26 years. However, the drivers’ title eluded them as Norris finished runner-up to Verstappen in a season-long battle.

With the MCL39 debuting at Silverstone and the team riding high on momentum, McLaren has its sights set on achieving the elusive championship double in 2025.

Should they succeed, it would be their first since Mika Hakkinen led the team to glory in 1998.

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