McLaren is the latest team to unveil its livery for the upcoming 2026 F1 season. The MCL40 will now take to the track for filming day on February 10, before pre-season testing gets underway at Bahrain from February 11.
- 2026 F1 season to start with Australian GP on March 6-8
- McLaren to use Mercedes power unit
McLaren 2026 F1 livery design details
2026 marks a significant overhaul for F1, with the new rules essentially hitting the reset button. But historically, McLaren has always opted to carry forward its championship-winning designs. Carrying forward this tradition, following its 2025 F1 title victory, McLaren’s 2026 challenger will sport a familiar papaya livery, with black accents and small hints of teal.
“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,” said McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella.
“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.”
Norris to use Number 1
McLaren will continue with its successful driver pairing of reigning world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Together, the two helped McLaren clinch last year’s constructors’ title, defeating Mercedes by 365 points. The team has also confirmed that following his maiden F1 drivers’ title, Norris will carry No. 1 this season.
Following pre-season testing, the 2026 F1 season will officially get underway with the Australian GP on March 6-8.
