McLaren is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, which was marked in Formula 1 by branding its 2023 challenger the MCL60.
Ahead of the month of May, McLaren’s IndyCar arm is also celebrating the British brand’s rich history with three throwback liveries on its full-time entries, all commemorating a historic McLaren win in the Triple Crown, including victories in the Indy 500, Monaco Grand Prix and Le Mans 24 Hours.
The most eye-catching tribute livery is the iconic orange-and-white Marlboro scheme, which was a fan favourite in F1 for over a decade on cars of Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Niki Lauda.
The exact livery on the #6 Dallara Chevrolet of Felix Rosenqvist is a hat tip to the McLaren MP4-2, with which Prost won the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix.
Arrow McLaren SP Indianapolis 500 livery
Photo by: Arrow McLaren SP
Pato O’Ward’s #5 machine is dressed in full black as a throwback to McLaren’s 1995 Le Mans win. That year the brand’s all-black, Gordon Murray-designed McLaren F1 GTR triumphed in the hands of Yannick Dalmas, JJ Lehto and Masanori Sekiya.
The #7 car of Alexander Rossi is draped in papaya and blue to celebrate McLaren’s 1976 Indy 500 win, which saw Johnny Rutherford take his second Indy victory in a rain-shortened race aboard the McLaren M16.
“I am proud to unveil these iconic commemorative liveries, celebrating McLaren’s historic Triple Crown accomplishment for our 60th anniversary,” said McLaren CEO Zak Brown. “They look incredible and I cannot wait to see our guys race them on track.”
Arrow McLaren’s three full-time drivers will use the livery from next week’s open test on 19-20 April onwards, including practice, qualifying and the race itself on 28 May.
The team is entering four cars in the 107th running of the race, with Tony Kanaan running a fourth, one-off entry in what is meant to be his final IndyCar appearance.
Mexican O’Ward heads into this weekend’s Long Beach Grand Prix as IndyCar’s championship leader, heading Ganassi duo Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon after two rounds.
Arrow McLaren SP Indianapolis 500 livery
Photo by: Arrow McLaren SP