McLaren confirms ’graphite-grey’ livery change

McLaren on Tuesday confirmed reports it is tweaking its livery ahead of the Spanish grand prix.

Earlier media reports suggested the works Honda-powered team was set to drop the chrome from its identity, perhaps as it is too closely related to its Mercedes-linked past.

Some had even speculated that McLaren might return to the iconic, Senna and white and red of the highly-successful 80s, while others said grey and ’rocket red’ would in fact be the MP4-30’s new look.

"We have revised our car’s livery," a McLaren spokesman told us, "improving its visual impact, optimising it for not only bright sunshine but also for the floodlights increasingly used in twilight and night races.

"The result is a dynamic, predatory, graphite-grey colouration, complemented by McLaren-dayglo ’Speedmarks’ and keylines, reducing the reflection issues caused by our latest chrome-silver treatment," he added.