Oscar Piastri's 2025 McLaren F1 car makes track debut

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McLaren is the first F1 team to reveal its 2025 title challenger with its new car – the MCL39 – taking to the Silverstone circuit in the United Kingdom before its racing debut at next month's Australian Grand Prix.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown described it as "a big milestone in our journey in the fight for the 2025 title," with drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris – who helped McLaren win its first F1 constructors championship in 26 years last season – having both driven the car.

The full livery of the MCL39 was not revealed, with the final on-track look of all 10 teams' cars set to be shown for the first time at the 2025 official F1 season launch at the O2 in London, United Kingdom (UK).

It was also not an official test, the new racer on track purely for promotional duties, the first official pre-season testing of 2025 cars taking place in Bahrain on 26-28 February.

MORE: Australia's Oscar Piastri wins second Formula One Grand Prix in hard-fought Azerbaijan thriller

Testing for other teams, including Lewis Hamilton's euphoric first drive at his new team, Ferrari, in Italy, saw the icon driving using previous years’ cars, as permitted under the regulations.

McLaren showed off its new car by issuing a number of images of its track running at the Silverstone circuit, where the British Grand Prix will take place in July.

From the outside, the changes over the 2024 car are not significant, with 2026 set to be a bigger shake-up with this season the final year of a set of regulations running since 2022.

"It's great to get behind the wheel of the MCL39 for the first time," said Piastri in a statement issued by the team.

MORE: Piastri backs up win with second place at Spa

"The camo livery looks cool and I am excited to showcase what we'll be racing in this season at the official livery reveal next week.  

Piastri finished the 2024 season – only his second year in F1 – fourth in the drivers' championship, having won the Hungarian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix, the first of his F1 career.

"I have been working hard in the off-season to ensure I am ready for the season ahead. The margins at the top are likely to be incredibly tight but I'm excited by the room for growth after two seasons in the sport.

"Winning Grands Prix early in my career has given me the taste for success and I want much more."

MORE: Australia's Oscar Piastri wins his first Formula One Grand Prix

Towards the latter part of 2024, Piastri focussed on supporting team-mate Norris' title bid, as the Brit had an outside chance of challenging Max Verstappen before the Dutch Red Bull driver sealed a fourth consecutive world championship at Las Vegas.

"I've been back at the MTC [McLaren Technology Centre] prepping for the season ahead and the mood is feeling positive but focused," Norris said in a team statement.

"We're all looking forward to getting the car on track in Bahrain [for testing] ahead of our competitive debut in Australia and to see where we net out amongst the other teams."

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