News On F1 Forums - Talk Formula 1

The McLaren team today unveiled the new race livery for 2006.

McLaren Marketing Manager Ekrem Sami said of the new livery:

A lot of research and months of work have gone into creating this unique chrome finish.
We are always looking at innovative ways to allow our sponsor partners to differentiate their brands from the competition through their partnership with the team and this unique livery is designed to be extremely photogenic. Team McLaren Mercedes had the highest audited 'Share of TV Voice' in 2005 - and we hope that this new identity will contribute to us retaining that status.

Kimi Raikkonen said:

I have only seen illustrations of the new livery until now but they do it no justice. It looks fantastic and should create a bit of a stir when we drive it on tracks around the world. If we can make the car as fast as it looks then we will be in good shape.

Juan Pablo Montoya said:

Wow, what a beautiful looking car. I have obviously been testing the MP4- 21 quite a bit already but seeing the car like this is something else.

Looks nice!!

I particularly like the Johnnie Walker sponsorship.

Quite appropriate and ominous.

Sorry Kimi, JPM - Keep walking (back to the paddock)!!!

I like that BlinkyBill!!

And I can see red starting to creep in

Wonder what Kapel thinks of the new car

Looks real nice. Chromed out look makes it stand out. Brings new meaning to the term "Silver Arrows"!

I wonder how it will look in non-alcohol trim e.g. France, Bahrain[?], Turkey[?]. A big empty black blotch won't look right.

CB619 wrote:A big empty black blotch won't look right.

Anything looks good on a Mclaren


The new car looks Damn good if I do say so myself....

But I think Kimi let something slip about the new Mclarens Perfomance.....

If we can make the car as fast as it looks then we will be in good shape

Doesnt that tell you that the car is not as quick as it should be??

I think what Raikkonen was referring to was the fact that the car looks as slick as nails and if the car's as fast as it looks, then they'll be in great shape for 2006...then again, last year speed wasn't a problem for them, it was reliability.

mlittle wrote:I think what Raikkonen was referring to was the fact that the car looks as slick as nails and if the car's as fast as it looks, then they'll be in great shape for 2006...then again, last year speed wasn't a problem for them, it was reliability.

So what you are saying is that if the car is as reliable as it looks.......

<T-K> wrote:

mlittle wrote:I think what Raikkonen was referring to was the fact that the car looks as slick as nails and if the car's as fast as it looks, then they'll be in great shape for 2006...then again, last year speed wasn't a problem for them, it was reliability.

So what you are saying is that if the car is as reliable as it looks.......

You know that ole' saying, "Looks can be deceiving." Well.....if the car's as reliable as it is fast, then........it won't matter what the car looks like. But if reliability falters any....

I don't think the new car was fastest on any day in testing and it isn't reliable either.

And according to Julian's source (Bert ) they have been running the Mercedes at low revs and it still explodes

When you are having reliability problems you cannot focus on the speed

Only Alonso The Cute will save them

but could it be the Orange effect

True, true. But....Alonso doesn't head over to McLaren until 2007, so right now, it shouldn't be much of a concern for him.....unless Mclaren works out the reliability issue.

JayVee wrote:When you are having reliability problems you cannot focus on the speed

Absolutely, speed and reliability are almost inseparable, If you've got the speed you can wind the rev limiter back a few clicks and the reliability is exponentially increased, it worked for MS/Ferrari for a few years.

JayVee wrote:I like that BlinkyBill!!

And I can see red starting to creep in

Wonder what Kapel thinks of the new car

Well we all know it is a scientificly proven fact that red cars go faster providing that the cars are comparable of course.

So therefore, the following are facts:

A red hyundai excel is not faster than a red ferrari.
But A red ferrari is faster than a blue ferrari.
A mclaren with a tinge of red is faster than an orange mclaren.
And williams is faster than all of them combined . . . (hmmm was that a typo, prophetic dreaming or a dumb koala trying to make new friends?)

McLaren are clutching at straws. Their trying every trick in the book to compensate for a poor car. The shiny service is so they find it easier to find the car when it is beached on the side of the track. As I said before: Kimi will be Johnnie Walker in 06.

BlinkyBill wrote:[Well we all know it is a scientificly proven fact that red cars go faster providing that the cars are comparable of course.

So therefore, the following are facts:

A red hyundai excel is not faster than a red ferrari.
But A red ferrari is faster than a blue ferrari.
A mclaren with a tinge of red is faster than an orange mclaren.

I think it has something to do with sunlight, photosynthesis, and a certain pigment in the colour red, that helps them to go that little bit faster.....

Redhead wrote:Absolutely, speed and reliability are almost inseparable, If you've got the speed you can wind the rev limiter back a few clicks and the reliability is exponentially increased, it worked for MS/Ferrari for a few years

mlittle wrote:

<T-K> wrote:

mlittle wrote:I think what Raikkonen was referring to was the fact that the car looks as slick as nails and if the car's as fast as it looks, then they'll be in great shape for 2006...then again, last year speed wasn't a problem for them, it was reliability.

So what you are saying is that if the car is as reliable as it looks.......

You know that ole' saying, "Looks can be deceiving." Well.....if the car's as reliable as it is fast, then........it won't matter what the car looks like. But if reliability falters any....

....but if reliability falters, a good paintjob is necessary?

Maybe they figure that if the sun bounces off the car in just a certain manner, that it will blind their opponents into making mistakes and negating any possible problems with the MP4-21.