McLaren will reveal unique liveries across its four 2023 Indy 500 entries that celebrate motor sports’ Triple Crown.
To be revealed this Friday, April 14, the Arrow McLaren Chevrolet #5 of Pato O’Ward, #6 of Felix Rosenqvist, #7 of Alexander Rossi and #66 of Tony Kanaan will each run a unique colour scheme celebrating McLaren’s Triple Crown and as part of the organisation’s 60th anniversary.
“We are proud to have achieved motorsport’s prestigious Triple Crown as a constructor,” said McLaren CEO, Zak Brown.
“In our 60th year, we are shining a light on the legacy of the team that Bruce McLaren built and role this plays in fueling our ambitions for the future of the team.”
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The Triple Crown is widely regarded as the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the latter celebrating its centenary in 2023.
The liveries will celebrate a McLaren Triple Crown, the first commemorating the 1974 Indy 500 win by Johnny Rutherford in the McLaren M16C/D – the team’s first win and the second for a McLaren chassis, following Mark Donohue’s 1972 victory for Penske.
Alexander Rossi’s #7 VELO Arrow McLaren will be run in papaya as a tribute to Rutherford’s Brickyard breakthrough.
The second leg of the Triple Crown for McLaren is Alain Prost’s 1984 win at Monaco – the contentious, red-flagged race that saw the emergence of one Ayrton Senna, the pair going on to win multiple F1 titles for McLaren into the 1990s during a golden era for the team.
Felix Rosenqvist’s #6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren will run a ‘representation’ of Prost’s MP4/2 livery that won on the streets of Monte Carlo in June 1984.
The 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans is the third leg of the Triple Crown, won by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya at the wheel of the McLaren F1 GTR.
It was McLaren’s first attempt at the famous race at the Circuit de la Sarthe, with the adapted version of legendary designer Gordon Murray’s F1 road car outperforming its prototype opposition in one of the wettest editions of the enduro.
Current series leader Pato O’Ward’s #5 Arrow McLaren will run a tribute livery to the 24 Hours of Le Mans victory when it is wheeled out for the April 20-21 Open Test, through to this year’s Indy 500 itself.
“As a life-long McLaren fan, I fondly remember watching Alain Prost’s dramatic 1984 Monaco victory and the incredible moment when the team conquered Le Mans on its debut entry,” Brown added.
“Johnny Rutherford’s first Indy 500 win in papaya is one of the most important moments in McLaren Racing history. I can’t wait to see our four-car star-studded line-up flying the colours of our Triple Crown victories at this year’s Indy 500.”
This year’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is scheduled for Sunday, May 28, 2023.
The 2023 NTT IndyCar Series heads head to the Streets of Long Beach this weekend, April 15-16.