Reigning F1 Constructors’ Champions McLaren have taken to the track at Silverstone with the MCL39 for a filming day ahead of the 2025 season. They are the first team to show off their new car, a day before Williams.
In a special one-off livery before revealing their 2025 F1 livery at the event in London next Tuesday, the team got a little bit of running in during the promotional day.
Since a shocking start to the 2023 season where the car was slow and extremely difficult to drive, the Woking-based team has produced one of the greatest recoveries in the history of F1.
From last in the standings in early 2023, a series of brilliant upgrades in Europe and Singapore saw them finish P4 at the end of that season.
After a solid but unspectacular start to 2024 that included two podiums in the first five rounds, a game-changing update at Miami moved them into a position of regular race-winning contenders. In the end, six wins between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri was enough for them to take the Constructors’ Championship by 14 points from Scuderia Ferrari.
McLaren will be hoping that the F1 MCL39 car is good enough to bring both championships home in 2025. They have not done that since 1998.
Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, said:
“Today is a big milestone in our journey in the fight for the 2025 title. It’s great to get our Championship challenger, the MCL39, on track for the first time and to launch the culmination of the team’s hard work.
“We must be realistic that every team will have made progress over the winter. Last year highlighted just how much the grid has closed up, which is a brilliant thing for the sport. We believe we have made further steps forward since the Championship-winning MCL38 but we won’t know where we sit in the standings until we get into Qualifying in Australia.
“We’re a team that never stops racing and we’ll be giving it our all to bring both Championships back to Woking.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal, McLaren F1, said:
“We are excited to see the MCL39 hit the track for the first time at Silverstone Circuit today. Whilst we finished last year as Champions, 2024 highlighted how highly competitive the grid is, which is something that will carry through to this year’s Championship. We therefore must keep focused to compete at the front in this tight field. It’s going to be an exciting but incredibly challenging year ahead.
“The team have worked extremely hard to prepare as best as possible for the start of the season. We learned a lot from our battles last year, so we take this and use it to push our goal for the year.
“My thanks go to the entire team for their work to get the car ready for today, as well as our colleagues at Mercedes HPP for their continued collaboration. We now focus on the work ahead to ensure we maximise our time in testing before the first competitive session in Australia.”
Lando Norris, Driver, McLaren F1, said:
“It’s exciting to hop in the MCL39 for the first time and see what it can do on track, ahead of pre-season testing in Bahrain. The camo livery is a fun one and it’s great to be able to showcase something different ahead of our full livery reveal at the official F1 75 launch.
“Thank you to the entire team for their work in getting us to this point. This year will be more competitive than ever, so we’ve got a lot to do to be able to retain our Constructor’s title and go for the Drivers’ as well.
“I’ve been back at the MTC prepping for the season ahead and the mood is feeling positive but focused. We’re all looking forward to getting the car on track in Bahrain ahead of our competitive debut in Australia and to see where we net out amongst the other teams. It’s shaping up to be an exciting season.”
Oscar Piastri, Driver, McLaren F1, said:
“It’s great to get behind the wheel of the MCL39 for the first time ahead of us putting it through its paces in Bahrain. The camo livery looks cool and I am excited to showcase what we’ll be racing in this season at the official livery reveal next week.
“I have been working hard in the off-season to ensure I am ready for the season ahead. The margins at the top are likely to be incredibly tight but I’m excited by the room for growth after two seasons in the sport. Winning grands prix early in my career has given me the taste for success and I want much more.
“As a team, we can take great momentum into 2025 after such a brilliant year in 2024. A big thank you to everyone back at base and trackside for all the hard work that’s been done so far.”
Photo Credit: McLaren Racing
