McLaren will celebrate its 1000th race at the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix.
Only Ferrari has ever celebrated the honour in Formula 1, a team that has contested every grand prix season since the sport began in 1950.
McLaren unveil their special livery for the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix. Formula 1
Now the papaya team joins the club, 60 years on from when founder Bruce McLaren suited up for the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix. And they stand alone in getting there as reigning champions.
They had to wait as the shuffling of the schedule in the early part of the season shifted the team’s goalposts, but McLaren have brought a special livery for their celebrations.
Adorned with striking black and papaya highlights, and a prominent ‘1000’ emblazoned on the sidepods, both drivers will tackle the weekend in the newly unveiled machinery.
For the fans, the team has launched a dedicated merchandise collection featuring caps, shirts and bomber jackets that throw it back to classic McLaren aesthetics.
The name McLaren was first introduced on the grid in Monaco, a fitting full circle moment for the team.
“It’s all about people,” said CEO Zak Brown.
“When I started, the team had definitely gone through tough times. We were ninth in the championship, we didn’t have many partners and the partners we had weren’t very happy.
“Our fans were disgruntled, a lot of politics inside the racing team.
“What was great was our brand. It wasn’t in a great place but you can’t take away the history and heritage.”
“It started with our founder Bruce McLaren, a young guy, he wanted to build something incredible and he followed his dreams, he made it happen,” added team principal Andrea Stella.
Bruce McLaren founded the team back in 1966. Bernard Cahier
Why don’t we hear the New Zealand national anthem?
We’re stirring up the drama. Last year, New Zealand driver Liam Lawson copped some flak for agreeing that McLaren should play the Kiwi national anthem when the team wins a grand prix.
McLaren was the recipient of the inaugural “Driver to Europe” scholarship, handed out by the New Zealand International Grand Prix Organisation in 1958 to help young drivers break into international racing.
In 1963, McLaren founded Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd in a small workshop in New Malden, England and took to the track three years later with an entirely privateer-built car. He immediately became a motorsport icon, winning four F1 races until his untimely death at only 32 years old in a crash at Goodwood.
Some technicalities on this national anthem saga:
Yes, McLaren races under the British flag and has always been registered with a British racing licence. When McLaren raced in 1966, the national anthem of New Zealand due to British colonisation was ‘God Save the Queen’, not ‘God Defend New Zealand’. Now both are official anthems of the country, but God Save the King’ is very rarely used, if ever.
Founders do not dictate which national anthem should be used on the podium, but you know what – let’s bring some fun for the 1000th race of McLaren Racing.
Red Bull gets to hear the Austrian national anthem, Mercedes plays the German national anthem so why not hear the New Zealand national anthem in honour of McLaren, a pioneer of the sport for Australasian drivers.
How difficult it is to reach 1000, and which team is next?
McLaren has played the British anthem upon victory since the inception of the team. Hector Vivas
Only two teams have hit this milestone. Ferrari celebrated their 1000th race at the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix and after McLaren celebrate in the Monégasque principality, the margin to the next team looms large with Williams on 855 starts.
Both teams are the most successful in the paddock, Ferrari having won 16 constructors’ championships and McLaren winning 10.
Again with the purist technicalities, due to both McLaren drivers not starting the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, arguably this is McLaren’s 999th race start.
But they’re celebrating it in Monaco, so technicalities aside, this will be a big weekend in the streets of the principality for the team, and they’ll be hoping to brush off their gremlins from Canada to fight for victory.
The Monaco Grand Prix starts at 11pm, June 7 in Australia.