McLaren launch new F1 car: 2025 challenger revealed with camo livery
The reigning Formula 1 constructors’ champions, McLaren, have become the first team to launch their 2025 car ahead of the new season.
The MCL39 made its track debut at Silverstone in an interim “camo” livery, with the season-long race livery set to be unveiled at F1’s season main launch event in London on Feb. 18.
McLaren made use of a promotional filming day to put the first miles on the new car before official testing takes place in Bahrain from Feb. 26 to Feb. 28. The first race of the season takes place in Australia on March 16.
The one-off livery, described by McLaren as a “striking geometric camo design in shades of papaya and black,” was necessary to allow the team to debut its car in front of media before F1’s official launch event next week.
All 10 teams have agreed to keep their actual liveries under wraps until the event in London, but that does not prevent new cars making their track debuts either in a different livery (or in private) ahead of time.
In the wild ⚡️#McLaren #F1 pic.twitter.com/LEXMrKWiaK
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 13, 2025
“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,” Lando Norris said. “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.”
McLaren won last year’s constructors’ title in a close battle with Ferrari, while Norris finished second in the drivers’ championship behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The team made significant progress after an upgrade at last year’s Miami Grand Prix and went on to take six victories — four with Norris and two with Oscar Piastri.
“I have been working hard in the off-season to ensure I am ready for the season ahead,” Piastri said.
“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.
“As a team, we can take great momentum into 2025 after such a brilliant year in 2024. A big thank you to everyone back at base and trackside for all the hard work that’s been done so far.”
McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes the competition among teams will be even tighter this year after his team won its first constructors’ crown in 26 years in 2024.
“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.”
Williams is set to launch its car on Feb. 14 at Silverstone, while Haas will complete a private test of its new car on Feb 16. at the same circuit.
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Source: espn.com