I like the look. Looks like they will be battling BMtroubleyou and Ferrari. It looks like the Renault and Honda show this year. --Dave
It looks like last year's Minardi! (And if Mercedes doesn't get their engine act together, might be nearly as slow.) Frankly, I wish they had kept the orange.........
i always thought that they introduced the red as V-fone are coming in next year. with v- fone next year i could only think that the car will be red and white?, or similar to the old Marlboro car ... what try hards
I hate McLaren yet somehow I like the new colours. THey just need to put on some 22" chromies for the finishing touch
Just think... The car will reflect it's surroundings.... So it will be camoflauged when it's sitting on the grass....
You know it reminds me a lot of the Essex Lotus with black instead of blue. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Does anyone else think this is a waste of money? Developing a "revolutionary" new surface coating seems slightly excessive. I suppose that it may have less weight or provide better protection than previous coatings, which would have performance benefits, but if this was purely developed as a marketing tool, it seems somewhat wasteful to me. Perhaps there are other, better places for McLaren to put their development dollars. This is true especially when we consider that F1 budgets are out of control, and there is much talk of reigning them in. Although, to be fair, coatings are probably one of the few places left to look at as opposed to the other components (chassis, engine, tires, aero and driver). Regardless, it's neat looking. CW
Metallic paint (coatings) are a bit of a tricky point for F1 teams. I remember that when Jaguar unveiled their metallic British Racing Green they'd found the original paint added something like 4-5 pounds to the overall weight of the car. That's a lot in F1. Dupont was able to get that weight down somehow or another without sacrificing the overall quality. I'm sure it required quite a bit of effort ($$$) to make it happen. None the less it's probably the only situation in the last few years where F1 development has had an impact on road car technology as I'm sure Dupont applied their knowledge to other automotive coatings. Don't forget the sponsors are on the sides of the car not because they love F1 but do so ONLY as a marketing exercise. So, in my mind, YES it was worth every penny spent on the coatings. Regardless of where the McLaren ends up on the grid this year this livery has already gotten a lot of press. That's exactly what Johnny Walker and the others are paying for. The marketing departments on the teams will scour the car magazines and sports shows world wide and cut out any and all press regarding the team. They'll tally up the total monthly press clippings. They'll breakdown the amount of TV time the car gets and within what day part (needed to calculate the advertising rate) and then figure out how much it would have cost to purchase the space in the media. I.E. if they get a full page story on the car how much would have a full page add have cost? If they get a sixty second blurb on the news in Britain showing the car how much would have a sixty second add have cost. Then once that's all figured out they do a cost analysis reflecting how much the new coatings cost and also how much the sponsors are spending. This will be done throughout the year and at the end of the season the sponsors will have either come out ahead (I.E. they've spent less in sponsoring McLaren then buying all of that media) or they come out behind (it would have been cheaper to have bought all of that media. At the moment I'd say they're ahead.
Kimi's going to be sportin bling-bling chrome and gold chains on the podium this year. All seriousness aside, the look is what I expect from McLaren; cutting edge.
i'd rather them spend time and money on the chassis, engine, etc. something that can benefit the team in the terms of reliabilty and speed. no point going for some chrome colours in bid to get the press' attention and then park the cars the whole weekend in the garage during a race. then, it'll get the press attention for all the wrong reasons.
Senna21, Do you really think paint is the only trickle down technology? I'm not convinced that you're correct in light of aero, suspension, engine and tire technology advances in the past 20 years. Maybe so, though. I also understand that marketing departments spend all their time worrying about this kind of stuff. I was personally involved with the decision to sponsor an F1 team about 5 years ago. The company did, in fact, put in around $50M over a multi-year deal. However, it was probably the worst money they ever spent. Maybe the product wasn't marketing "friendly", and I suppose there are plenty of reasons why. Of course, it's great that they've got something that looks fresh. When chrome dips became available for helmets...WOW! That's not to say that all marketing is useless or wasted (I'm sure Gilette's new 5-blade fusion is a real stunner), but just like a corporate jet, it is difficult in many cases to continue to justify it. F1 is, probably should, and I hope will continue to be the preeminent, cost-no-object technology development bed. However, a good looking car that isn't reliable is worse than an ugly one that wins! Regardless, I'm sure that Ron Dennis and McLaren have worked diligently this past offseason. They don't want to be the perennial number 2 finisher, I'm sure. CW
Such an ironic comment on a Ferrari chat site ... 21 years they finished 2nd or worse, and after a few short successful years many have forgotten and now bashing a team that won only 7 years ago. I'd be more humble guys, this year looks no different to 1981 so far ... Pete
Chrome-like coating on body panels is a miniscule expense in the grand scheme of F1 budgets. Kimi probably spends more on party supplies.
Cool looking livery. Atleast they tried something different. I mean look at BMW-Sauber's livery. It bores the pants off me.
Ron Dennis slams accusations of 'bling' image at McLaren http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=27109
^Lol on the new uniforms. I like the chrome, evokes more of the silver arrow feeling than the increasingly fading color they've been using in recent years. BUT, the car is way too busy overall. It's a schmorgasborg (sp?) of shapes and sponsors to start with, then they just add to the confusion with a complex paint job. Kind of like the make-up on a Tijuana who4e... there's just too much.
LightGuy, You are correct when you say that this is probably a "miniscule" part of the overall budget. F1 has an incomparable largesse when it comes to spending and appearances. I remember reading something that said the top teams have a guy who re-paints the transporters after each outing. Now maybe that was an exaggeration, but it's well known that the top teams do have million dollar (and up) budgets for paintwork on transporters and paddock equipment. And, look at those transporters for a second. They're multi-level, million-dollar rigs. Beautiful stuff, of course, but ... is THAT really where the $ should go? I'm sure each team has a reputation to uphold and an appearance to keep. They do it for themselves, sponsors and guests. Ok, fine. If the sponsors keep paying for it, and the team keeps winning even though it spends millions of dollars on this stuff. Is it absolutely necessary? Probably not, but it is a luxury that makes being at the track more comfortable and possibly more efficient. But, it appears that F1 spending is out of control. And, this is just one more example. Now, you're right that the $5M (or however much was spent to develop this "revolutionary" new coating) is a drop in the bucket, but if the total budgets were, say, only $50M, all of a sudden it looks high in relation. PSk...are you saying I'm not humble? CW
I just saw pics from the car's first outing in full livery and i must say it looks great. The front view is striking. http://www.crash.net/news_view.asp?cid=1&id=125341
