McLaren presented the design that will feature the MCL40 model in the race that marks the team’s thousandth participation in the Fórmula 1 world championship. The stage chosen for the celebration is the Mônaco GP, scheduled for next weekend on the streets of Monte Carlo. The commemorative look will also continue to be present on the cars in the next stage of the calendar, scheduled for the Barcelona circuit. The aesthetic modification revives the trajectory of the British organization since its debut in the highest category of motorsport.
The original planning predicted that the historic milestone would take place at the China GP. A sequence of cancellations caused by international diplomatic tensions in the Oriente Médio region changed the official schedule of Fórmula 1. The Bahrein and Arábia Saudita tests, scheduled for April, did not take place. Esse rearrangement of dates pushed the celebration of the thousand GPs precisely to the Mônaco track, where the founder began the brand’s history on the tracks sixty years ago.
All-New Design Highlights Woking Team’s Historic Achievements and World Records
The new MCL40 outfit maintains the traditional papaya orange and black colors, elements that characterize the English team’s recent visual identity. The graphics received a reformulated distribution on the fairing. The concept was officially named by the factory as “The McLaren Nunca Desiste”. The central idea is to transform the surface of the car into a mural that recalls the team’s most expressive moments on the tracks over the last few decades.
The graphic elements include direct references to world-renowned achievements. The chassis will bear mention of the achievement of the Tríplice Coroa in motorsport, an honor obtained for victories in the GP of Mônaco, the 24 Horas of Le Mans and the 500 Milhas of Indianápolis. The vehicle also bears marks that recall the historical record for the fastest pit stop held by Fórmula 1, obtained at the Catar GP in 2023, when mechanics changed the tires on Lando Norris’s car in just 1s8.
Trajetória victorious began with New Zealand founder on the streets of Monte Carlo in 1966
Bruce McLaren founded the team and drove the M2B model in the team’s first official participation in the championship, held in Monte Carlo in 1966. With that debut, the team established itself as one of the most traditional forces in world motorsport. The detailed retrospective highlights the size of the operation in the history of the category:
- 203 wins on Grandes Prêmios
- 561 podiums achieved by different drivers
- 13 world pilot titles in history
- 10 constructors’ world championships won
- 1 record pit stop of 1s8 set on Catar
The team’s last world titles took place in the 2025 season. The British driver Lando Norris was responsible for ending the Woking garage’s recent lack of achievements by winning the drivers’ world cup, also boosting the conquest of the constructors’ championship.
Escuderia overcame recent mechanical failures in China and seeks recovery in the championship
The race count for the 1,000th GP needed to take into account operational incidents from the current season. Durante the GP of China, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri faced severe mechanical failures. The defects prevented the two drivers from lining up the MCL40 on the starting grid alongside the other competitors on Sunday. The sports management of Fórmula 1 validated the team’s institutional participation in the event due to previous sessions, maintaining the statistical numbering that culminates in the Monegasque event.
The English team’s campaign in 2026 shows marked fluctuations between stages. The reaction process began in Japão’s GP, a race in which Oscar Piastri secured second place. The good phase extended to the Miami stage, where Lando Norris won the sprint race and shared Sunday’s main podium with its Australian teammate, finishing in second and third place, respectively. However, Canadá’s GP interrupted the positive sequence due to an abandonment due to Lando Norris’s failure and a strategic failure related to the rain forecast, which resulted in a null score for Montreal.
Posição in the table puts the team behind its main rivals in the 2026 season
The English team currently occupies third place in the constructors’ world championship. The current champion tries to reduce the distance to Mercedes, who leads the table, and Ferrari, runner-up in the competition so far. The technical committee assesses that the recent review in Mônaco serves as an extra stimulus for pilots to seek immediate reaction. Lando Norris won the street race from Monte Carlo last year, which provides a solid basis for setting up the car this weekend.