F1: McLaren Takes the Lead as First Team to Reveal 2025 Car Design

McLaren has revealed its MCL39 Formula 1 car at a Silverstone season launch event, becoming the first team to show off a 2025 design, albeit with temporary restrictions on its livery. As all 10 teams are committed to only fully revealing their 2025 liveries at the F1 75 Live event at London’s O2 arena on Tuesday, McLaren can at this stage only show off the MCL39 in a distinctive one-off camouflage colour scheme. This uses the team’s traditional papaya orange corporate colour arranged in a geometric print design along with black swathes.

McLaren held a filming day at Silverstone on Thursday, with Lando Norris taking the wheel first before Oscar Piastri had his turn. As the reigning 2024 F1 constructors’ champion, the team used the session to capture promotional content while also putting the MCL39 on track for the first time.

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Filming days, limited to 200km, provided teams with an early chance to check their newly assembled cars and identify any minor issues. While primarily a marketing exercise, these sessions also helped engineers fine-tune the car’s initial performance before official testing began.

F1: McLaren MCL39 First Look 

Images revealed by the Woking-based team show the MCL39 retains some of the key elements pursued across McLaren’s previous designs and continues with the pull-rod front suspension layout. Other key differences to the MCL38 seem to affect the bodywork around the engine cover, with a visual difference in its more ovoid air intake.

Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, said: 'Today is a big milestone in our journey in the fight for the 2025 title. 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. 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. We’re a team that never stops racing and we’ll be giving it our all to bring both Championships back to Woking.'

Lando Norris, Driver, McLaren F1, said: '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. The camo livery is 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.'

Oscar Piastri, Driver, McLaren F1, said: '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. 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.  I have been working hard in the off-season to ensure I am ready for the season ahead. 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. Winning Grands Prix early in my career has given me the taste for success and I want much more.'

F1: McLaren's Championship Run

McLaren’s triumphant 2024 season, which ended a 26-year wait for a constructors’ championship, has fuelled hopes of a long-awaited drivers’ title. Despite Lando Norris’s determined challenge, he fell short against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, extending McLaren’s wait for a drivers’ crown since 2008.

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McLaren are determined to defend their Constructors’ Championship title after securing their first triumph in over 20 years last season. Alongside this goal, the team are also aiming for their first Drivers’ Championship since Lewis Hamilton’s victory in 2008.