Dubbed the MCL32, this Honda-powered Formula 1 racer looks nothing like we thought it would.
Before today’s unveiling, it was thought that this year’s McLaren-Honda car would look somewhat similar to last year’s model in terms of livery, however, the team decided that a new start deserve a completely new look.
What McLaren went with is an entirely new color scheme, featuring a custom shade of orange with a pearl sparkle, plus a contrasting satin black and white finish. Before you say that the car has lost its identity, fear not, because technically speaking, we’ve been seeing a similar livery on McLaren’s GT3 cars for quite some time now.
The MCL32 features a shark fin cover (typical to 2017 designs) and a very aggressive front wing, more so than the one seen on Mercedes’ new car – although the dagger-like design is similar.
With McLaren, the narrative for these past couple of years has been about how quickly they can catch up to Mercedes. According to BBC Sport, Honda F1 chief Yusuka Hasegawa hopes that the gap to Mercedes will tighten this year, while also calling the fact that the reigning world champions are rumored to have made solid progress with their 2017 car, as “unfortunate”.
While Hasegawa expects McLaren to be at the same level Mercedes were with their engine at the end of 2016, there’s obviously no telling how far the German team has progressed since then.
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