F1 News: McLaren Reveal New Livery For Monaco

This evening, McLaren revealed a surprise for the fans: a special livery and race suit for the Monaco GP. The iconic and well-loved Gulf Oil livery is a one off for next weekend.

The livery is a tribute to their historic partnership with Gulf Oil which dates back to the late 1960s. The two companies worked together in F1 and Can-Am racing back in the days of Bruce McLaren. Their partnership was renewed in July 2020 with Gulf Air coming on as a strategic partner.

The livery and race suit has received a huge amount of love and praise on social media, with the team revealing it in a YouTube premiere at 6pm BST this evening. You can watch Lando Norris with the big reveal here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i84MJBtGmyg

Zac Brown, McLaren Racing CEO, commented on the reveal, saying:

‘This will be McLaren’s homage to Gulf’s celebrated race car design. We’re enormous fans of brave and bold design, and the striking Gulf blue is among the most loved liveries in racing, a celebrated piece of culture which transcends the world of motorsport.’

Mike Jones, Gulf Oil CEO, also had something to say about the special partnership and reveal:

“Gulf and McLaren have a relationship that dates back to 1968 and is one of the most successful partnerships in motorsport. We are incredibly excited to pay tribute to this heritage with our classic livery design at the Monaco Grand Prix, the most spectacular and stylish event on the Formula 1 calendar… To see the reaction of both Lando and Daniel as well as the whole McLaren team to this livery has been really special and we are thrilled to unveil it to motorsport fans around the world. The distinguished racing blue and fluro orange Gulf colourways are iconic, so to mark our return to Formula 1 and showcase the livery in Monaco with McLaren is a great celebration of our bold and colourful place within the sport.”

The team have only once previously raced in the blue and orange livery, with McLaren F1 GTR, at the Le Mans 1997 race, where the team finished 2nd. McLaren have also launched a McLaren x Gulf merch collection for the livery, which you can get your hand on over on their website!