McLaren made a woeful British Grand Prix decision that F1 cannot let happen again

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I was at Silverstone for the 2026 F1 British Grand Prix, and it was crystal clear from the grandstands that a new rule is needed to ban McLaren’s error after their special livery.

McLaren opted to reflect on their heritage at the 2026 British GP by using a one-off livery on the MCL40 inspired by their very first F1 car, the M2B from 1966. The outfit’s founder, Bruce McLaren, also achieved their first point with P6 in the 1966 British GP from 13th on the grid.

To mark the anniversary of Bruce’s point at Brands Hatch 60 years ago, McLaren abandoned their trademark papaya design to use a white livery on the cars that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri piloted to P4 and P11 respectively during last Sunday’s 2026 British GP at Silverstone.

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F1 must ban special liveries after McLaren’s British GP design made them look like Cadillac and Haas

McLaren were frustrated by having older-spec Mercedes engines at Silverstone, but the full extent of their struggles throughout the British GP weekend could be blamed on the MCL40 lacking the speed that Norris and Piastri required to achieve more at the team’s home track.

READ MORE: Leclerc wins the 2026 British GP under the safety car after Verstappen’s crash

At least most of the fans packed into the grandstands around Silverstone could not tell when the McLarens of Piastri and Norris – who is the second-best-loved driver at his home race behind Lewis Hamilton – were on circuit due to the mistake that they made with their livery.

While celebrating Bruce’s first point in F1 in the 1966 British GP was well-intended, McLaren painting the MCL40 white for the 2026 British GP ensured their car was easily mistaken for a Cadillac or a Haas. The green stripe on the nose also made the car look like an Audi head-on.

Despite Silverstone’s record-setting crowd loving Norris – who even has his own grandstand, which hosted more than 16,000 fans alone – many simply did not realise that the defending drivers’ champion was on track until his fluro yellow helmet flew past right in front of them.

In contrast, the grandstands all around Silverstone erupted on almost every lap the moment that Hamilton came into sight, even in the distance, in his red Ferrari with his yellow helmet peeking out from behind the Halo. Silverstone knew instantly whenever the home hero was on his way and greeted Hamilton as such, while Norris was often just another car going past.

In fact, McLaren’s livery was so simple and uninspiring that their car looked like the show car that supermarket giant M&S used for a random fashion walk on Thursday ahead of the race weekend. Had McLaren simply borrowed M&S’ show car, you would have struggled to know.

Now, Formula 1 must take action and ban teams from having special liveries – even for well-intended reasons like McLaren’s British GP throwback design – when they are so similar to a design that a rival squad already uses. F1 must ensure that every team has a unique design, which McLaren have with their papaya look but scrapped to be another sheep in the crowd.