F1 Journo Spills the Beans on McLaren’s Not-So-Secret Early Launch

With livery and car reveals being a treat to F1 fans usually reserved for the month of February every year, McLaren delivered a shocking, yet pleasant surprise when they revealed the livery they will be running in 2024 earlier this week. ESPN F1’s Nate Saunders was present in Woking during the viral impromptu event and has given an insight into what the team has been up to.

On social media, the iconic British team has been very strategically coy as they’ve built up the suspense about what’s to come this year. However, as Saunders revealed, much of the media was already in on it as they were present at the factory premises and had billed up a pretty good idea of what McLaren’s been teasing to their fans.

In the aftermath of the team revealing their 2024 livery on social media, Saunders spoke on the UNLAPPED podcast and explained how the team has actually played a marketing masterstroke. Talking about the early livery launch, he said,

“I’ve always felt that the team that did that kind of got the most press exposure because you’re really out on your and that’s the only car around.”

Safe to say, the Papaya team’s pre-season social media plans are working splendidly. As expected, the team’s livery launch has become a hot topic of discussion amongst the media and fans alike and the spirits within the F1 community is on an all-time high with anticipation skyrocketing for the season to commence this year.

After 2023 lift, McLaren aim to shine in 2024

At the beginning of the 2023 season, McLaren’s MCL60 was a arguably one of the least developed cars on the grid. Naturally, it was a disaster in terms of results. However, the team worked hard on understanding their concepts and soon, they made a spectacular comeback that caught everyone by surprise and left them in awe.

Things started looking very bright for the duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from the Austrian GP onwards, last year. Since then, the team has looked like the 2nd fastest car on the grid, on most occasions, and have wracked up an impressive tally of 9 podiums in 2023, tying equal second with Ferrari.

The mood within the McLaren garage can be exemplified by the moto they have adopted this year – “Whatever it takes.” After a highly promising season last year, the team is eager to make further inroads and potentially challenge the seemingly invincible Red Bull this year.

All eyes for 2024 will be on Lando Norris, however. The highly-rated Briton is yet to win an F1 Grand Prix despite being in the sport now for over half a decade. That being said, if McLaren do get it ‘right‘ the 24-year-old will be pushing harder than ever to get that particular monkey off of his back.

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• Lando Norris
• McLaren