There are 2 days left until the ‘unveiling’ of the first 2025 car, namely Williams. The British team will show the FW47 on Valentine’s day with a special livery before F1’s official London event on February 18th.
The Grove team will be followed by Ferrari, on track on February 19th but already with the first images after the event at the O2 Arena in London, published on their social channels. Surprisingly, however, the one to catch everyone off guard is McLaren.
Andrea Stella’s team have already revealed Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s challenger, the MCL39, as it takes to the track filming day.
Over the winter there have been the usual rumours about the technical team led by Rob Marshall and Peter Prodromou, who recently extended his deal as Technical Director, but not only that.
The Italian team principal is always keen to underline the strength and qualities of the group, rather than the individual element.
It is no mystery McLaren’s technicians have taken risks, aware that something special is needed in 2025.
On the occasion of the unveiling of the new name of the single-seater and the first laps on the track, McLaren has obviously also revealed the official uniforms for the 2025 season that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will wear.
The Woking team has presented the new suits defining them as Stealth mode.
The Woking team become the first team to unveil their 2025 cars – carrying out a shakedown at Silverstone.
McLaren’s MCL39 is therefore the first 2025 car to complete the first official laps of the season.
Lando Norris is the first to take the wheel for the British team.
A special livery is clearly being used for the occasion, as the official 2025 livery will be presented at the F175 event at the O2 Arena.
Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing: “Today is a huge milestone in our 2025 title journey.
“It’s fantastic to bring our championship challenger, the MCL39, to the track for the first time and launch the culmination of the team’s hard work.
“We have to be realistic: every team will have made progress over the winter.
“Last year highlighted how much the grid has closed, which is brilliant for the sport.
“We believe we have made further progress since the championship-winning MCL38, but we won’t know where we stand in the standings until we get to qualifying in Australia.
“We are a team that never stops racing and we will be giving it our all to bring both championships back to Woking.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal, McLaren F1:
“We are thrilled to see the MCL39 take to the track for the first time today at the Silverstone circuit.
“Although we finished as Champions last year, 2024 has highlighted just how highly competitive the grid is, which will be reflected in this year’s Championship.
“We must therefore remain focused to compete at the front of this tight field. It will be an exciting but incredibly challenging year.
“The team has put in a huge amount of work to prepare as best as possible for the start of the season.
“We learned a lot from our battles last year, so we are taking this and using it to achieve our goal for the year.
“My thanks go to the entire team for their work in preparing the car for today, as well as to our colleagues at Mercedes HPP for their continued partnership.
“We now turn our attention to the work ahead to ensure we maximise our time in testing before the first competitive session in Australia.”
Lando Norris: “It’s exciting to get into the MCL39 for the first time and see what it can do on track, ahead of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
“The camouflage livery is fun and it’s great to be able to show something different before the full livery unveil at the official launch of F1 75.
“Thanks to the whole team for the work they’ve done to get us to this point.
“This year will be more competitive than ever, so we have a lot to do to retain our Constructors’ title and aim for the Drivers’ title too. I’ve been back at the MTC to prepare for next season and the atmosphere is positive but focused.
“We’re looking forward to getting the car on track in Bahrain before our competitive debut in Australia and seeing where we are ahead of the other teams. It promises to be an exciting season.”
Oscar Piastri: “It’s fantastic to get behind the wheel of the MCL39 for the first time before putting it to the test in Bahrain.
“The camouflage livery looks fantastic and I’m excited to show off what we’ll be racing this season at the official livery launch next week.
“I’ve worked hard over the off-season to ensure I’m ready for the season ahead.
“The margins at the top are likely to be incredibly tight, but I’m excited about the scope for growth after two seasons in the sport.
“Winning Grands Prix early in my career has given me a taste of success and I want much more.
“As a team, we can build on a great momentum going into 2025 after such a strong year in 2024.
“A big thank you to everyone at the base and trackside for all the hard work so far.”
