The MCL33 – the first car in McLaren’s 52-year history to be powered by Renault engines, following the team’s switch from Honda – adopts the papaya and blue colour scheme that the team's founder Bruce McLaren first introduced to F1 50 years ago, and which was revived during Alonso’s Indy 500 attempt last year.
According to the Woking team, the MCL33 is ‘a logical development’ of last year’s car, which has been ‘developed and refined’ with the benefit of a year’s experience of the current regulations. Much of the work on the new car has understandably gone into optimising the packaging of the new Renault power unit, and the incorporation of the new halo device.
“The MCL33 represents a fresh chapter for McLaren – one that clearly embraces our evocative history while also serving to guide our future,” said Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Executive Chairman and Executive Committee Principal, McLaren Group. We may have faced a tricky last few years, but this team has demonstrated time and time again that it emerges stronger from each and every challenge.
“And, for 2018, it’s not merely the colour of the car that marks the change: there’s a determination and commitment that exists within everyone who works at McLaren, and we’re fighting stronger than ever to return to the front.” Racing Director Eric Boullier said he was under no illusions about the challenge the team face to climb the pecking order in 2018, having finished ninth in the constructors’ standings last year.
The design, engineering and aerodynamic departments have done an incredible job delivering a new car with a new power unit in an extremely short timeframe,” said the Frenchman.
"We never took the easy route or looked to shortcut a process or a solution; and the result is a car that is neat and well-resolved. That said, we are under no illusions that it will be difficult to splinter the hegemony at the front; and that the midfield will be full of well-funded, experienced outfits with plenty to prove.
We are humble about the challenge ahead, but feel we’ve prepared well, have a solid package that we can build upon and exploit as the season progresses, and have two excellent drivers who will make the difference in races. At McLaren, we are all racers – pure and simple. We’re going to come out pushing, and we’re going to be racing as hard as ever.
The McLaren team was created by a brave pioneer, and has had bravery at its core ever since,” added Zak Brown, Executive Director, McLaren Technology Group. Whether it’s been with brave drivers, brave leaders or brave fortune, this team has always fought back. And we definitely view 2018 as the year when McLaren will move closer to the front, fighting teams and drivers as we improve our fortunes.”
