McLaren announce MP4-32 car launch date

2017 F1 season

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McLaren has become the fifth team to announce the launch date for its 2017 car.

The wraps will come off the new McLaren on February 24th, the same day as Ferrari’s new car launch.

Former team chief Ron Dennis, who instigated their MP4 naming convention in 1981, was replaced by Zak Brown at the team late last year. However the team has indicated the new car will continue its tradition and be called the MP4-32.

Fernando Alonso and rookie Stoffel Vandoorne have been confirmed as the team’s drivers. For the third year running McLaren remains the only Honda-powered team in F1.

They join Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Force India in confirming their launch plans for the new season.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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22 comments on “McLaren announce MP4-32 car launch date”

  1. After 2 years, they should really call it “MP4-32 First engine failure date”

  2. btw what does mp4 stands for(not the mp4 format)

    1. It means McLaren Project Four Chassis nr 32. now

      1. And dates back to when McLaren were merged with Ron Denis’ Project Four Racing back in 1981 at the behest of Marlboro.

    2. initially, it meant ‘marlboro project 4’ (back when marlboro was a title sponsor and paying for development), but it has since been changes to ‘mclaren project 4’…

  3. One of the interesting things to watch at this reveal, will McLaren finally have a title sponsor?

    1. Mr Brown confirmed recently that they have signed off a new livery. So perhaps a new title sponsor is coming? :O

      1. it’s orange, check the link for their twitter countdown at the top of the article

        1. Well, it has orange. Vandoorne posted an interesting teaser, but that is probably just a promo livery.

  4. I wonder when red bull will announce, I don’t see it on the calendar yet

  5. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but they haven’t actually said they are launching the MP4-32, just the 2017 McLaren-Honda. So maybe a change of chassis name now Ron has left?

    Looking forward to seeing this livery anyway.

    1. The article was only a few sentences long, here is one of them: “However the team has indicated the new car will continue its tradition and be called the MP4-32.”

      1. I stand corrected haha

        1. @deej92 lol!! You win :)

  6. Zak Brown has said that a title sponsor would be realistic by 2018 so it is unlikely we’ll see any significant new sponsors other than BP.

    Please make the livery orange – at the very least for testing!

    1. I’m hoping it’s like the teaser livery Vandoorne posted on twitter.

  7. I honestly don’t care about Mclaren’s title sponsor. Instead, I hope their car is capable of running in the upper mid field and has enough straight line speed to make an overtake.

    1. @todfod that’s the problem, they blame the engine when at this point what was holding them back was actually Mclaren themselves. The only chance they get to climb the grid is to beat all teams beside the top 3 on the massive cost implications these new 2017 cars implicate.

  8. Must not have paid attention to this image of the 2016 car previously. Can’t help but notice with that front end it looks like it could multitask as the front scoop of a backhoe. Could be my bias against this era of front wings showing.

  9. hoping that car is not black, would love to see some color on it and not so dull.

  10. Seeing how Honda’s initial foray in F1 engine building was a complete disaster both power and reliability wise, it seems logical to assume the new motor will have it’s own set of problems.
    McHonda will be happy being the 4th best team so they say – one thing they don’t lack is confidence! But they have yet to deliver and their time frame is a moving target. Probably 3 more years at best before they ca be competitive.
    Boasting about jumping from 9th to 6th this year is deceiving – it only happened because of ALO and BUT – in reality Torro was a better car even with a year old Ferarri engine!
    Zak Brown taking over will no doubt have a major impact on McLaren and set them back at least temporarily. He is already playing mind games with Alonso saying Vettel will be available at the end of 2017.
    I expect that if McHonda isn’t within 1/2 of a second of the top team whoever that may be, he won’t resign and could quit before the season starts. He has shown exemplary patience for a former WDC.
    I hope I am wrong – I’d love to see McLaren back on or near the top. But the marriage has been a disaster.

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