Zak Brown defends McLaren's Formula 1 livery after mixed reception

The team had heavily hinted at a return to the traditional McLaren orange colours for the MCL32, increasing anticipation for its launch on Friday.

While some embraced the new look, others mocked it as being reminiscent of backmarker teams such as Virgin and Spyker.

Brown is convinced the design will appeal to McLaren's hardcore fans.

"It was ultimately a dozen people involved in the whole process," he said.

"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.

"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 - 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."

As well as the change of livery, McLaren has ditched the MP4 chassis naming convention used since 1981 and switched to MCL from 2017.

Brown, who was brought in as executive director following the departure of chairman Ron Dennis, said it was important to make changes that indicated the start of a new era, but without forgetting the team's heritage.

"Our past is awesome and we must never forget our past, that is who has made who we are today," he said.

"We see change in management: companies change logos, companies change names, so I think it is natural progression that over time you hit the reset button along the way.

"I love walking up and down the boulevard and seeing the Senna and Hakkinen cars.

"It is something we are very proud of and I hope we create another era like that moving forward."