McLaren to take on Indy 500 with special Triple Crown tribute

The McLaren IndyCars will stand out at this year’s Indianapolis 500 where the team will run special liveries paying tribute to its Triple Crown winners.

The usual black and orange cars of Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi will race the same colours carried by the cars which brought the Triple Crown to McLaren at the ‘Brickyard’ this May.

These special tribute liveries will be revealed this Friday ahead of the Long Beach Grand Prix this weekend.

The Triple Crown is one of the biggest feats in motorsport, only being achieved after scoring wins at all three of the iconic Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Pato O’Ward leads McLaren teammate Felix Rosenqvist at an Indy road event last year. Image: McLaren

Four-time Monaco Grand Prix winner, 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans victor and 1966 Indianapolis 500 champion Graham Hill remains the only driver ever to claim the Triple Crown, but McLaren has also achieved the feat as a constructor.

The team’s run to the arguably the greatest motorsport achievement started in 1974 when Johnny Rutherford drove an all papaya McLaren 25th on the grid to a 22s victory in that year’s indy 500.

A decade later famous Frenchman Alain Prost mastered the Monaco streets to give McLaren its first of a record 15 victories at the principality.

The 1984 Monaco Grand Prix was only held across 34 laps as torrential rain saturated the circuit, but it is extremely memorable, being known as the emergence of Ayrton Senna to the F1 world.

Johnny Rutherford reunites with his 1974 Indianapolis 500 winning McLaren at the McLaren Technology Centre in 2018. Image: McLaren Brazil

Although Senna drove an uncompetitive Tolman-Hart from 13th to first, a count-back to the last completed lap before the race-ending red flag ensured Prost lifted the winner’s trophy.

Prost would go on to win the race four times and Senna a record six, and both contributed to McLaren’s record-breaking success at Monte Carlo with wins also arriving in 1985, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 98, 2000, 02, 05, 07 and 08. 

The last part of the Triple Crown left to conquer was the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and the team scored victory on debut in 1995.

In one of the wettest races in the event’s 100-year history, JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya drove the McLaren F1 GTR to victory after 298 laps around the famous Circuit de la Sarthe.

To celebrate that occasion, O’Ward’s #5 McLaren Chevrolet IndyCar will run an all-black livery at this year’s Indy 500, similar to the dark livery used by Lehto, Dallas and Sekiya.

Rossi will have the honour of racing the same all papaya livery Rutherford used on his M16C/D to win the race 49 years ago.

Alain Prost in a McLaren MP4-2 TAG leads Nigel Mansell as the field navigates its way around the saturated Monte Carlo streets in the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix. Image: LAT Images

Rosenqvist’s #6 McLaren Chevrolet will stand out carrying a representation of the iconic red and white livery seen on Prost’s MP4/2 IN 1984.

The fourth McLaren Chevrolet IndyCar taking part in the Indianapolis 500 driven by Tony Kanaan will carry a livery inspired by the Triple Crown.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown said these tribute liveries will be the perfect way to celebrate the team’s 60th anniversary at the famous Indianapolis 500.

“We are proud to have achieved motorsport’s prestigious Triple Crown as a constructor,” he said. 

“In our 60th year, we are shining a light on the legacy of the team that Bruce McLaren built and role this plays in fuelling our ambitions for the future of the team.

“As a life-long McLaren fan, I fondly remember watching Alain Prost’s dramatic 1984 Monaco victory and the incredible moment when the team conquered Le Mans on its debut entry. 

The Yannick Dalmas, Masanori Sekiya and J.J. Lehto McLaren F1 GTR BMW makes a pitstop during the victorious 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans. Photo by LAT Images

“Meanwhile Johnny Rutherford’s first Indy 500 win in papaya is one of the most important moments in McLaren Racing history. 

“I can’t wait to see our four-car, star-studded lineup flying the colours of our Triple Crown victories at this year’s Indy 500.”

The 2023 Indianapolis 500 will be held on Sunday, May 29.

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