In all honesty, McLaren fans were left somewhat underwhelmed when the wraps were taken off the team's 2017 contender, the MCL32, on Friday.

Promised a retro look, fans - especially those of a certain era - recalled the Gulf Oil orange of the legendary F1, Indy and Can-Am cars of the late 60s and early 70s, what they got, according to comments on social media, was indeed retro, but a hark back to the liveries of Spyker and Virgin rather than the legendary cars of Bruce, Denny and Pete.

However, Zak Brown was quick to defend the scheme.

"It was ultimately a dozen people involved in the whole process," he told reporters. "We went through tonnes and tonnes of liveries and you get lots of different opinion.

"For the diehard McLaren fans, they will notice the arc at the back is the McLaren speedmark," he insisted, referring to the Kiwi. "Picking up on that, we think the orange stands out and is quite a bright orange. And then of course when you walk up on the car, you see the black is a different type of finish.

"We wanted something that was elegant, impactful," he continued, "and there was a lot of TV work done. So when you see it from the front, it will look like an orange car and it is not until you turn to the side that you pick up that it is not fully orange.

"I think it is one of those that is pretty subjective as to what is a great paint scheme and what is not a great paint scheme. Personally we love it, but I am sure that if you ask 100 people, hopefully the majority will love it, but you will get some different views."

Indeed, when the car took to the track today - for filming purposes - the orange looked a whole lot better than it did at Friday's launch, yet still a long way from what many fans were expecting.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Oldbuzzard, 27/02/2017 20:57

"The livery is very close the official colors of Harley-Davidson and any Harley fan will see it as such. Using the most iconic of all McLaren liveries, the butterscotch "orange", would have been a no brainer. That does not mean to imply there are no brains is Woking, although demoting Ron and losing Ekrem makes one wonder."

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2. Posted by mickl, 27/02/2017 11:43

"Still looks like a Manor car to me......."

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3. Posted by Hardliner, 27/02/2017 10:28

"You said it yourself, a car designed by a committee. Hope the engine is white hot................"

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4. Posted by jasman, 27/02/2017 10:03

"All indiscretions of livery are forgiven if you win. "

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5. Posted by Ro, 27/02/2017 9:07

"Yeah, a clearly visible car, one that reminds one of a baby's nappy (full). Bugger the colour, will the car go well ? "

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Brown defends livery

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