Image via McLaren Racing (@McLarenF1 / mclaren.com)
The 2026 F1 British Grand Prix lands at Silverstone, and McLaren opened the special-livery cycle with the reveal of the weekend. In partnership with Google Gemini, McLaren is ditching the papaya for a one-off white-and-green heritage livery on the MCL40 that revives the colors of the McLaren M2B, the car that started it all when Bruce McLaren brought the team into Formula 1 in 1966. This is the team's home race and its 60th anniversary season, and the design ties both threads together: the M2B made its debut in 1966, and it was at the British Grand Prix that year that Bruce McLaren scored the team's first ever championship point. Sixty years later McLaren returns to Silverstone in the same white and green. We are tracking every British GP special livery reveal here and grading each one as it lands. For the sister trackers earlier this season, see our F1 Monaco GP special liveries breakdown, our F1 Miami GP special liveries breakdown, and our F1 Japanese GP special liveries breakdown.
Updated Tuesday June 30 with the McLaren white-and-green M2B heritage livery, the first reveal of the British GP weekend. We will keep updating this post through race week as new liveries, race suits, and helmet drops land.
1. McLaren · White-and-Green M2B Heritage Livery (Google Gemini)
Image via McLaren Racing (@McLarenF1 / mclaren.com)
McLaren just dropped the reveal of the British Grand Prix weekend, and it is the best special livery we have graded all season. The team set the papaya aside for a one-off that runs a mostly white MCL40 broken up by a British Racing Green stripe straight up the middle of the car, with green washing across the nose, the front wing, and the floor edges. It is a direct revival of the white-and-green colors of the McLaren M2B, the first car the team ever raced in Formula 1 back in 1966, and the whole thing is built to mark the 60th anniversary of McLaren's debut season. The reveal arrives in partnership with Google Gemini under the "Spark What's Next" tagline, with the Gemini four-color gem logo on the nose and engine cover, an iridescent rainbow shimmer worked through the silver detailing and the wheel rims, and a "Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team" sticker added to the car in honor of the founder. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri run matching white race suits for the weekend.
This is an A+ for us, and our favorite special livery of the entire year. Everything a one-off heritage livery should do, this one does. The white-and-green is a genuine archive pull rather than a loose theme, the green stripe over white is a clean, instantly readable identity that looks fast standing still, and the design has an actual story spine: McLaren scored its first ever Formula 1 point at the British Grand Prix in 1966, and the team chose to honor that exact moment, at that exact race, on its 60th anniversary. The Google Gemini integration is the rare sponsor partnership that elevates the look instead of cluttering it, with the iridescent gem detailing and the rainbow wheel rims giving the heritage base a modern, futuristic edge that reads as "where McLaren is going" sitting right on top of "where McLaren started." The "Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team" founder sticker is the kind of detail that shows the whole thing was made with real care. Heritage concept, clean execution, perfect race fit, and a forward-looking modern twist. There is nothing to dock.
The 1966 M2B Heritage Story Behind the Livery
Image via McLaren Racing (@McLarenF1 / mclaren.com)
The white and green is not a random throwback palette. It is the actual livery of the McLaren M2B, the first car Bruce McLaren entered in Formula 1 when he founded the team and brought it onto the grid in 1966. The M2B made its race debut at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix, and later that same season Bruce McLaren scored the team's first championship point at the British Grand Prix. Choosing to revive that white-and-green scheme at Silverstone, in the 60th-anniversary season, ties the modern team directly back to the moment it first put a point on the board. The Google Gemini partnership frames the heritage pull as a "Spark What's Next" story, the idea being that the breakthrough that started a six-decade legacy is the same kind of forward thinking the team wants to carry into its next era. It is a tribute that points backward and forward at the same time.
More Photos of the McLaren British GP Heritage Livery
Images via McLaren Racing (@McLarenF1 / mclaren.com)
Standard McLaren Livery vs the British GP Heritage Special
Before · Standard 2026 McLaren F1 livery
After · British GP white-and-green M2B heritage livery
Images via McLaren Racing (@McLarenF1 / mclaren.com)
The standard 2026 McLaren runs papaya orange as the dominant color with black accents and the team's full sponsor package. The British GP one-off throws the papaya out entirely and swaps in a white base with a British Racing Green spine, the M2B archive palette, plus the Google Gemini iridescent gem detailing and rainbow wheel rims. This is not an accent tweak or a partner stripe added to the regular car. It is a complete identity change for the weekend, and one of the most committed full repaints any team has run all season.
Grade: A+
Not Yet Revealed (As of 2026-06-30)
McLaren is first out with a full British GP one-off, and as McLaren's home race on its 60th anniversary it was always going to be the headline reveal. The British Grand Prix is a home round for several teams on the grid, so we may see more one-offs, partner specials, or driver helmet drops land through race week. The following teams have not announced a British GP special livery or race suit yet:
- Williams, Aston Martin, and Haas are British-based teams that have run home-race specials before. None confirmed yet.
- Mercedes, the most successful team of the modern era and a British constructor, has not announced a British GP livery or suit.
- Ferrari, Red Bull, Audi, Cadillac, Alpine, and Racing Bulls have not announced British GP reveals.
- Watch for a possible Lewis Hamilton home-race driver kit. Fans were already asking about a Silverstone one-off for Hamilton back at Monaco, where Charles Leclerc ran a flag-inspired home suit.
If your team is missing from the ranked section above, refresh this post through race week. We update each time a new livery, race suit, or driver helmet drops.
The Verdict
McLaren has the reveal of the British Grand Prix weekend and, for our money, the best special livery of the entire 2026 season. The white-and-green M2B heritage one-off on the MCL40 is an A+ that pulls the team's actual 1966 debut colors out of the archive, lands them at the exact race where Bruce McLaren scored the team's first ever Formula 1 point, and times it to the 60th anniversary of the team's first season. The Google Gemini partnership adds an iridescent, forward-looking modern edge through the gem detailing and rainbow wheel rims without ever crowding the clean white-and-green base, and the "Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team" founder sticker is the kind of small touch that shows the whole thing was made with real intent. Heritage concept, clean execution, perfect race fit. We will keep updating these British GP rankings as more reveals drop through the weekend, including any partner specials, driver helmet one-offs, or a possible Lewis Hamilton home-race suit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is McLaren's 2026 British Grand Prix livery?
McLaren's 2026 British Grand Prix livery is a one-off white-and-green heritage paint scheme on the MCL40, produced in partnership with Google Gemini. The team sets aside its standard papaya orange for a mostly white car broken up by a British Racing Green stripe up the middle, reviving the colors of the McLaren M2B, the first car Bruce McLaren raced in Formula 1 in 1966. The design marks the 60th anniversary of McLaren's debut season and honors the team's first championship point, which Bruce McLaren scored at the 1966 British Grand Prix. It carries Google Gemini's "Spark What's Next" campaign branding, iridescent gem detailing, rainbow-edged wheel rims, and a "Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team" founder sticker.
Why is McLaren white and green for the British Grand Prix?
The white and green are the original colors of the McLaren M2B, the team's first ever Formula 1 car, which debuted in the 1966 season. McLaren chose to revive the scheme for the 2026 British Grand Prix because it marks the 60th anniversary of the team's debut season, and because it was at the 1966 British Grand Prix that Bruce McLaren scored the team's first ever championship point. Running the white-and-green at Silverstone ties the modern team directly back to the moment its Formula 1 story began.
What is the McLaren M2B?
The McLaren M2B was the first car Bruce McLaren entered in Formula 1 when he founded the team and brought it onto the grid in 1966. It raced in a white-and-green color scheme, made its debut at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix, and scored the team's first championship point at the 1966 British Grand Prix. The 2026 British Grand Prix heritage livery revives the M2B's white-and-green colors to mark the 60th anniversary of that debut season.
Is the McLaren British GP livery a Google Gemini partnership?
Yes. The McLaren British Grand Prix heritage livery was unveiled in partnership with Google Gemini under the "Spark What's Next" tagline. The Gemini four-color gem logo appears on the nose and engine cover, and the partnership frames the heritage throwback as a story about the breakthrough thinking that started McLaren's six-decade legacy carrying forward into the team's next era. The iridescent gem detailing and the rainbow-edged wheel rims are the modern, forward-looking layer over the white-and-green archive base.
Will Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri wear special race suits at the British GP?
Yes. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri run matching white race suits for the 2026 British Grand Prix weekend to go with the white-and-green heritage livery on the MCL40, carrying the same "Spark What's Next" campaign branding as the car.
When is the 2026 F1 British Grand Prix?
The 2026 Formula 1 British Grand Prix is held at Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England, with practice and qualifying running across the weekend ahead of Sunday's race. Silverstone is one of the most historic venues on the calendar and is the home race for several British-based teams, including McLaren.
Did McLaren run a different special livery earlier in 2026?
Yes. McLaren ran a retro orange-and-black throwback livery on the MCL40 at the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix to mark the team's 1000th Formula 1 Grand Prix start. The British Grand Prix white-and-green M2B heritage livery is a separate one-off, and in our rankings it is a much stronger design than the Monaco effort, landing an A+ against the Monaco livery's B-.
