03 July 2023 , 18:00
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McLaren will don a special livery at this summer's British Grand Prix as they celebrate past successes.
The team are currently enjoying a lengthy 60th birthday celebration and will continue those at their home race in just under a fortnight at Silverstone. A one-off Chrome livery, created in association with Google their primary partner, will be on show on the McLaren MCL60 F1 cars, driven by home favourite Lando Norris and Australian Oscar Piastri.
The chrome-McLaren era spanned eight years from 2006 - 2014. The highlight of that period was the 2008 world championship won. by Lewis Hamilton, which remains the most recent of the 12 driver's championships won by the team. During that season Hamilton also won a rain-soaked British Grand Prix which is still regarded as one of his finest wins.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown said: “It’s no secret that racing fans love McLaren’s classic chrome livery. Google Chrome wanted to bring back elements of this iconic livery to celebrate our team’s history at the British Grand Prix, and we’re excited to be able to give our fans what they want.
"I’m sure this livery will bring back great memories for many of our fans, and I can’t wait to see it out on track at our home race.”
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The livery was unveiled on July 3 at a special media event at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking. Norris will celebrate the return of chrome with a special helmet design and bespoke boots whilst he and teammate Piastri will also wear special race suits.
Last season Norris finished sixth at his home Grand Prix, but McLaren have not enjoyed even a podium finish since 2010 when Hamilton finished second to Mark Webber and his Red Bull. Hamilton's win in 2008 is also McLaren's last at the famous Northamptonshire circuit.
McLaren head to Silverstone off the back of their best result of the season at Austria. The Woking-based outfit have struggled this season, often leaving Norris and Piastri to battle in the midfield. At the Red Bull Ring though Norris was classified in fourth after some post-race penalties.
He said: “A very good day! I was a little bit surprised we had the race pace that we did, and it was great to be fighting the Ferraris and Red Bulls. More importantly, we beat both the Astons and Mercedes, which was our main goal today. Overall, a good day and good points.
“It’s one of those tracks which is easy to get punished on. We kept it on track and didn’t really make any big mistakes, with some good racing at times. The team has done a great job again. Thank you to everyone back in the factory for bringing the upgrade because that definitely got us in the points today. A big cheers to them.”