What do you think of McLaren’s 2017 Formula One car?

“Within McLaren-Honda,” explains McLaren racing director Eric Boullier, “there’s a tangible feeling of progress.”

For the sake of the 2017 F1 season, we can only hope so. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the rather striking new McLaren-Honda MCL32, the team’s brand new Formula One contender for the 2017 season.

And first up, you’ll spot the colour. It’s an homage to McLaren’s 1960s roots, dubbed ‘Tarocco Orange’, that McLaren hopes is not only a “crowd-pleasing touch”, but also a colour that will help kick-start a “fresh chapter in the team’s history”.

We’re not given much information on the technical specs of the new challenger, but Honda’s chief engineer Yusuke Hasegawa noted how they’ve made huge changes to the RA617H power unit. “The main areas of change that we focused on has been to decrease the weight and lower the centre of gravity,” he said, “so as to improve the balance of the car, while generating more output from the internal combustion engine”.

The chassis has been updated to accommodate F1’s 2017 rule changes (more aero and mechanical grip), which in turn should make the whole grid faster and, hopefully, more exciting to watch.

Special shout out goes to Akebono, who – says Boullier – developed an all-new caliper and brake systems “to cope with the increased loads and forces that will face Fernando, Stoffel and the MCL32”.

Ah yes, Fernando and Stoffel, McLaren’s two drivers. Says Alonso: “Now, at a moment of significant regulatory change, we need to capitalise on that period of uncertainty to push forwards, and I’m confident we’ve got the expertise to do just that.

“I’ve lost none of that all-important hunger every F1 driver needs,” he added. “We still think the start of the season will be a challenge – we can’t ignore the fact that we’re coming from a significant step behind the current front-runners – but I’d like to think we can target the second half of the year as a time when we’ll really be able to start making useful performance steps."

Stoffel Vandoorne added that he likes the fact the MCL32 “looks like a proper McLaren”, and that 2017 is “my opportunity”.

McLaren finished 6th last year in the Constructors’ Championship with a points tally of 76. Behind Williams, Force India, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG (who scored a whopping 765). A long road doth lie ahead...