Alonso doesn't know what colour his McLaren is

McLaren driver Fernando Alonso has admitted that he isn't sure what colour his new car is amidst speculation that it could be orange. He is also not concerned about the colour, hoping only for a fast competitor.

There have been plenty of hints on social media pointing towards an orange livery, and with the team changing the car name from MP4/32 to MCL32 due to the departure of Ron Dennis, they could bring in an orange livery, something Dennis has been opposed to in the modern era. Dennis was also the mastermind behind the MP4/x concept, when he merged his Formula 2 team with McLaren.

"I do not know, what I've read is that it may be something orange, black, white," Alonso said. "I asked Eric Boullier the question with the excuse of the decoration for my helmet and he said, 'you'll see in the presentation'. I hope what it is, is fast, the colour is not the most important thing."

McLaren will enter their third year in partnership with Honda this year and while they have struggled, they have been making progress, with many fans hoping to see the team win again soon. Executive director Zak Brown has said that McLaren won't win in 2017, but Alonso thinks it is too early to make predictions.

"I think we have to be cautious, I have that read Zak [Brown] said that this year it will be difficult to win, well… who knows?  I'm keeping a positive mind. I'm better than ever, I'm preparing as never and I'm going to go for it and who knows what will really happen, I'm going to do it all. 

"Be careful, the last races last year we were a second or second and a half off Mercedes so we must be cautious. We will see at the end but it's too early to make predictions."

McLaren are set to unveil their car on Friday 24th February, just days before pre-season gets underway.

Fergal Walsh