The Woking-based team has made a change to its new season launch process for 2024, as in previous years it revealed both the livery and launch specification of its new design simultaneously.
This time, McLaren has chosen to showcase its tweaked colour scheme in a bid to boost its marketing potential at a time of year when new car launch news has been relatively quiet in recent seasons, while February has become compacted with team launches.
The MCL38's livery is broadly similar to the look McLaren has run since it took much of the initial colour scheme off 2022's MCL36 to save weight.
But compared to the MCL60 car that scored nine podiums in 2023, the new livery features more orange on the front wing and on the rear of the engine cover, with a geometric slash switch to black sidepods further forward taken from the special livery McLaren ran at the Singapore and Japan races last year.
The light blue touches that have featured on McLaren's last two cars have been removed for 2024, with the team opting for a darker blue more like the one it used in the years running up to 2022 solely around a decal for sponsor DP World.
A nod back to another of McLaren's temporary liveries in 2023 – and its long-standing car look from the mid-2000s to mid-2010s – can be seen in the chrome driver number decals that will be used on the nose and engine cover of the team's 2024 car.
The MCL38's launch specification design will be revealed by McLaren on 14 February, with the car's moniker restoring the numbering system used before 2023's MCL60 was named in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the team's founding, but skipping the unused MCL37.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said his team is "delighted to launch our 2024 Formula 1 livery ahead of the new season – the design looks awesome, and I can't wait to go racing and see it come to life on track next month".
Speaking to select media, including Motorsport.com, ahead of the livery reveal, Brown also outlined his thoughts on the year ahead for McLaren, as well as why the tweaks to the colour scheme have been made.
"I'm feeling confident," said Brown. "I think all the men and women at McLaren have done a fantastic job in the off-season.
"Of course, it will be a continued development, so we're not done. We're just done with our launch spec car but expect continued improvement over the course of the year.
"I think the car looks spectacular. It's in response to the feedback that we get from our fans.
"Obviously, papaya is very important to us, so we want to make sure that we're very distinctive, that when you see our car, you know it's a McLaren.
"And then, of course, I think we've got the greatest set of commercial partners. So, you want to have a car that's striking, where Chrome and Cisco and OKX, etc [can be seen and] jump off the race car.
"And I'm so excited to see Lando [Norris] and Oscar [Piastri] in it. They're both fully recharged and raring to go."
Speaking in a McLaren press release, Norris said he was, "looking forward to the new season ahead".
"It will be my sixth in Formula 1," he continued. "And I'm hoping to carry the momentum we gained as a team at the end of last season to hit the ground running in Bahrain.
"The new livery looks great with the inclusion of segments from last year's enhancements, I'm sure the fans will love it as much as me.
"Everyone at the factory has worked incredibly hard in the off-season, and I can't wait to get behind the wheel of the 2024 car to challenge our competitors towards the front of the grid."
As he prepares to enter his second campaign as an F1 race driver, Piastri said: "The 2024 livery looks really cool and I'm looking forward to racing in the iconic colours of McLaren for a second season.
"I made some special memories with the team in my rookie year, securing two podiums and a sprint win.
"I'm going to work hard alongside the whole team to take those results into the start of the new season and compete well with our competitors to give the fans more memorable moments."
