(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

McLaren's Formula 1 team arrived in the UAE this week with a very different look - one created not by designers in Woking, but by nine superfans flown in from around the world to help shape the team's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix livery.

The one-off design, unveiled at a private launch event in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night, is the result of VELO and McLaren's 'Live Your Fandom' campaign, which placed fans“front and centre” of the team's final race weekend of the season.

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“This is us celebrating them - celebrating the many people around the world that support us every weekend,” driver Lando Norris told guests during the reveal event.“It's always cool when we do something different, especially when the fans... are the ones who created such a thing.”

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Papaya colours, personal memories

The livery features bright, nostalgic colours and fan-written references to McLaren milestones. Norris joked that the car was now covered in“celebrations of achievements", including pit-stop times, race wins and constructors'-championship references.

Team CEO Zak Brown said it was the“right moment” to hand design power to the fans.“Everything that we do is really around our fans. He noted that McLaren's return to the iconic papaya colouring years ago happened because“that's what our fans wanted”.

For the nine selected superfans - chosen from hundreds of global applicants - the process began at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC), where they took part in a collaborative design workshop.

“We were all in a boardroom setup with sticky notes,” said Liam Edwards, 28, from the UK.“We'd write down what McLaren meant to us; teamwork, constructors' championships, papaya army, and those words were implemented on the car.” His own contribution,“back-to-back constructors' championship", appears on the bodywork.“It represents the people behind the scenes... engineers, marketing, hospitality, security - it's for them as well”.

Shanty Abdala, 29, from Mexico, said her main contribution was the phrase 'papaya family'.“It's this family that McLaren fans are,” she explained.“We created this family that was able to provide a little part of the fans to everyone.”

The colour palette - bright blues, yellows and oranges, also came from the sticky-note workshop.“That's where the inspiration comes from,” Edwards explained. Seeing the palette translated onto a full F1 car left him“still very surreal”.

A season's memories printed on a car

McLaren's second driver Oscar Piastri saw the livery for the first time during the reveal.“It's cool... very unique!” He noted how the design brings this season's memories together with the people who lived them.

VELO's global head of consumer and customer engagement, Steve Pinnard, said the aim was to turn“fans into co-creators” and thank the global McLaren community for their passion.“Velo is about championing unexpected experiences,” he added.

McLaren's chief commercial officer Matt Dennington said fans remain“the lifeblood of our sport”, and the takeover spans the whole weekend - the car, drivers' race suits, garage and digital channels.“It's been a staple of our partnership in innovating and pushing boundaries.”

A dream moment for the fans

Many of the superfans described the experience as life-changing.“This is definitely the most insane moment of my life,” said fan Mark Emily on stage. Abdala, who flew in from Mexico City for the reveal, said she felt“like I'm in a dream”.

Edwards said he still couldn't believe he was seeing their collective design on a car that will race in the season finale.“It's so cool to see our design on the car that will be used in the final race... It's incredible.”

Livery built from loyalty

Brown said the team's“hundreds of millions” of fans worldwide are integral to McLaren's modern identity. Norris added that the team's achievements -“whether it's pit stops, the wins, the constructors two in a row", were only possible because of fan support.

The Abu Dhabi livery is McLaren's final tribute of the season to that support - a car covered in the words, colours and stories of the people who cheer it on. As Norris put it:“It's nice that we've been able to give something back to them.”

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