Red Bull recently scrapped their plans for a fan-designed livery at the Singapore and US Grand Prix, citing concerns about the added weight.

But McLaren has swooped in to unveil their own one-off paint job for this weekend’s race, with a design that harks back to their iconic red and white Marlboro-liveried glory days of the 70s and 80s.

Unlike Red Bull’s cancelled designs, McLaren’s new look is more of a colour swap than an addition of weight.

The refreshed look is part of McLaren’s ongoing “Legend’s Reborn” campaign, which kicked off earlier this year in Monaco with a green-and-yellow Senna-inspired livery. This time, McLaren pays homage to its historic rise to F1 dominance, plastering the names of 13 legendary drivers, including the late Ayrton Senna, around the cockpit area of the car.

For F1 fans, it’s a nod to McLaren’s early days, from Emerson Fittipaldi’s championship-winning M23 in 1974 to Mika Hakkinen’s reign in the ‘90s. That era’s red and white livery reached its zenith with the MP4 series, but after a brief stint in black, McLaren reintroduced papaya orange in 2017.

Now, while the design may feel like a tribute to the past, there’s a modern twist in the form of McLaren’s partnership with OKX, a cryptocurrency exchange. McLaren’s Chief Marketing Officer, Louise McEwen, added, “Following this year’s Senna campaign, this livery further embodies our partnership with OKX as we continue to deliver unique storytelling campaigns for McLaren fans and OKX customers globally.” 

It’s hard not to notice the irony here; where once tobacco sponsorship dominated F1’s liveries, today it’s cryptocurrency exchanges stepping into the spotlight. 

McLaren’s MCL38, now decked out in its striking white and orange, will have to do more than just look good this weekend. With Lando Norris trailing championship leader Max Verstappen by 59 points, the British driver has a mountain to climb if he hopes to make a dent in that gap. 

Fortunately, the high-downforce, high-temperature conditions of the Marina Bay street circuit are expected to play to McLaren’s strengths.

Photo Credits: Formula 1 Content Pool

Read more automotive news at AutoApp, or check out our latest videos on Ignition Labs TV and on TikTok!

The REBL CUSTMS campaign, meant to celebrate the team’s 20-year journey in Formula 1, had promised fans the opportunity to see their custom design grace the Red Bull RB20 on race day.

At first glance, the campaign seemed like a dream come true for F1 enthusiasts. Fans were invited to join Red Bull’s ‘Paddock’ fan community, submit their livery designs, and stand a chance to win a package that included flights, accommodation, race tickets, and their design on the race car itself.

The competition, which ran from 30 May to 19 June, garnered considerable excitement as five designs made it to the final voting stage.

But then came the rub: paint. In Formula 1, every gram counts. Added paint means added weight, and added weight means lost time on track. As the team explained in their newsletter ahead of this weekend’s race, it’s a compromise they simply weren’t willing to make.

“Unfortunately, when we came to the testing phase of what some REBL CUSTMS designs could look like on the RB20, we found the paint used to create these bespoke, full-car takeover liveries added unforeseen and undue weight to the bodywork of the RB20. As you can imagine, any additional weight compromises performance, and the team is prioritising making this car as competitive as possible for the remainder of the 2024 season.”

The weight issue isn’t new in F1, and it’s been a growing trend for teams to strip away as much paint as possible in favor of exposed carbon fibre. Back in February, when the liveries for this season were unveiled, Aston Martin, Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari were all quick to embrace the “less is more” philosophy, literally. If the paint wasn’t needed for sponsor logos or TV visibility, it was axed.

However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Red Bull’s REBL CUSTMS campaign. The first winner’s design, by Thai fan Chalaj Suvanish, debuted at the British Grand Prix. Suvanish was understandably thrilled, sharing, “I can’t quite believe it; not only do I get to attend an F1 race, I get to see the car I customised on track!”

Though Red Bull has decided to pull the plug on more F1 car liveries, the silver lining is that the winning fan designs will now appear on the team’s F1 Academy cars. Hamda Al Qubaisi, one of the academy drivers, will be driving with a fan-designed livery from Uruguayan artist Caroline Stock, inspired by Red Bull’s 2015 testing colours.

Photo Credits: Formula 1 Content Pool

Read more automotive news at AutoApp, or check out our latest videos on Ignition Labs TV and on TikTok!