Once upon a time, F1 liveries would excite fans as there would be unique designs with different colors on display. With time, however, weight-conscious F1 teams stopped adding paint to their challengers and displayed exposed carbon fiber, which became a meme at the start of 2024. Oscar Piastri recently recreated that ahead of the US Grand Prix.
McLaren introduced a special livery in the build-up to the race in Austin this weekend, and Piastri appeared in a video on Instagram about the same. He was tasked with reacting to the one-off design but added a twist by pointing out the several ‘chrome’ parts in the MCL38.
The caption of the post read, “How would you describe our Austin livery, OP?”
In response, Piastri pointed out ten different areas on the car featuring chrome accents, including parts that displayed the logo of Google Chrome, which is one of McLaren’s sponsors.
“Chrome, chrome, even more chrome….” the Melbourne-born driver went on. It was a direct nod to the famous meme video that circulated within the F1 community earlier this year when most cars featured a significant amount of exposed carbon fiber to make them lighter.
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Returning to Piastri and his chrome elements, he pointed out the rear wing, the coke bottle area of the engine cover, the sidepods, the headrest, the air inlets, the nosecone, the tip of the nose, and the front wings.
A fun way for McLaren to introduce its new special livery, which it hopes will lead them to victory in Austin on Sunday.
