McLaren F1 launch 2026 livery

By Teagan Crump

The reigning world champions have unveiled their 2026 F1 livery in a broadcast from the Bahrain International Circuit just days ahead of the first official pre-season test.

The MCL40 follows the same papaya and black colour scheme that the MCL39, potentially hinting that McLaren want to emulate the same successes that they saw last season.

At the reveal, CEO of McLaren Zak Brown said:

“We’re delighted to present our 2026 challenger’s livery from our second home, Bahrain. The iconic papaya continues on the MCL40 as we keep our tradition of carrying championship-winning liveries through to the next season. Racing performance is also at the forefront of design when exploring creative routes, and we’ve balanced creative direction with aero considerations to create this striking 2026 competitor.

“Thank you to all our committed shareholders and partners, without whom we simply wouldn’t be able to go racing, to our fans for their continued support, and to our team of people who have worked tirelessly to get us to this point in the exciting new era of Formula 1. We’re all excited to see it hit the track.”

Team Principal Andreas Stella, also stated:

“It’s fantastic to reveal the livery for our 2026 challenger, the MCL40, as we reach an important milestone in our team’s incredible work and dedication before we begin racing this year.

“2026 marks a new challenge as we take on a new era of Formula 1 regulations. We also go into the season as an independent challenger facing five top manufacturers who all want to beat us. While we have the benefit of the lessons learned from our success in the past few years, the whole grid is restarting from zero and our past achievements count for nothing.

“Our objective is to hit the ground running, and we have the best combination of team, driver pairing, collaboration with Mercedes HPP, partners, and fans to be able to do this. We will continue to focus on creating the conditions to succeed as we approach our biggest challenge to date. It should be a fantastic season of racing for the fans, and we’re excited to get going.”

As reigning World Champion, Norris has a lot of pressure on his shoulders. However, he seemed confident when he said:

“It's good to be back in Bahrain to reveal the livery for this season. The design looks great and I'm excited to continue racing in the colours which were part of our huge success last year.

“To win the Championship with the team I've been with since the beginning was incredible. We're coming into this year as World Champions and I'm excited to see what we can achieve in this new era of Formula 1.

“A big thanks to everyone who's played a part in designing and building this car to get us to this milestone. A shoutout to all of the fans who show up week in week out and thank you to our partners for their support. I'm ready for this year and I can't wait to get back on track and keep pushing forward.”

Oscar Piastri also said:

“The new livery on our MCL40 looks excellent, and it’s great that we have carried through our championship-winning design from 2025. It’s always fun to race in a papaya car. Thank you to everyone back at the factory, our fans and our partners for their support.

“We’ve got a big challenge ahead with the new regulations, but I come into this year with a lot of positivity and ready to tackle this new era of Formula 1 head on. We’ve taken a lot of good learnings from last year, so I am feeling stronger than ever, and I look forward to seeing what we can achieve this year – let’s do it!”

McLaren's new livery will be making its official debut at the Bahrain pre-season test from February 11th until 13th and February 18th until 20th.

All images: McLaren F1 Team