Brown: Orange livery for history and fans

McLaren opted for an orange livery in 2017 to acknowledge its history as well as in response to fan feedback, according to executive director Zak Brown.

The MCL32 was unveiled at the McLaren Technology Centre [MTC] in Woking on Friday, with the 2017 car featuring a predominantly orange and black livery. It is a clear change from previous silver and black designs, and Brown says the desire of the fans was central to the new color scheme.

"We went through a variety of designs and ultimately it was in response to fans," Brown said. "We've had so much outreach from the fans saying: 'We want to have some orange, we want to have some orange.'"

Explaining how the final livery was approved, Brown says a number of different aspects were introduced into the design.

"It's hard on livery, it was ultimately a dozen people involved in the whole process. If you show them through tons and tons of liveries, you've got lots of different opinion. For the diehard McLaren fans they'll notice the arc at the back is the McLaren speed mark. Picking up on that we think the orange stands out – it's quite a bright orange, and when you walk up on the car you see the black is a different type of finish.

"We wanted something that was elegant, impactful, also a lot of TV work done... when you look at it from the front it's going to look like an orange car. Not until you turn it to the side will you pick up its not fully orange. I think it's one of those that's pretty subjective as to what is a great paint scheme and what isn't a great paint scheme. Personally we love it and if you asked 100 people, hopefully the majority will love it,but you'll get some different views."

With McLaren changing the chassis name from MP4 to MCL, Brown (pictured) says there was a balancing act between respecting the past with the livery but also looking to the future.

"Our past is awesome and we must never forget our past, as that is what has made us what we are today. When companies change management, companies change logos, companies change names, I think it is a natural progression over time you press the reset button. The great Bruce McLaren produced a great team and then the torch was passed to the MP4 era and now we have the MCL era.

"It is exciting times and we are very proud of our history. I love walking around up and down the boulevard [in the factory] seeing the [Ayrton] Senna cars and the [Mika] Hakkinen cars, which is something we're very proud of and something I hope we create another era of that."

Brown says McLaren has been changing behind the scenes too following the departures of Ron Dennis and Jost Capito, believing it needed to turn the factory into a more welcoming environment.

"I'm not anticipating any [more] changes... unless I don't do a good job! Which hopefully I have because I'm loving it.

"What you see is where we're at. We're very happy with the executive team and the collective group. Ways of working, everyone is different. I like to walk the factory floor and say hi to the guys and gals every morning. The MTC is kind of like "Star Wars," but we've maybe been a little bit too Darth Vader and need to be a little bit more Luke Skywalker."