McLaren Built Just 10 Arturas To Celebrate Its 1,000th F1 Grand Prix

Sustained Success

McLaren is one of the most recognizable names in the business of supercars and racing. It was because of the latter that the former even exists, born first as a race team by legendary racing driver Bruce McLaren in the 60s. As a racing team, it had success in multiple disciplines in American road racing, European endurance racing, and its most famous endeavor, Formula 1.

McLaren has produced multiple world champions, including James Hunt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Alain Prost, Nikki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton, and, most recently, Lando Norris. That’s a 52-year history of producing winning drivers and cars, with no signs of stopping. Another milestone is about to be reached by the British brand in relation to its F1 story.

1,000 Grand Prixs

For the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix, McLaren Racing will be hitting the 1,000 Grand Prix mark, a feat only achieved by one other team, Ferrari. This makes McLaren just the second team to do so in the whole of Formula 1. In celebration, the supercar side of the business is commemorating the achievement with the launch of an extremely rare limited-edition version of the Artura, called the 1000GP edition.

The Artura 1000GP is the result of work done by the McLaren Special Operations (MSO) department, the group that builds the very special cars. The exterior features a special livery that takes a different approach to the team’s current F1 car, the MCL40. McLaren says the livery was designed to acknowledge the journey that led to the 1000 GP milestone. Furthermore, this special design reflects McLaren’s “perseverance as a team that met challenges head‑on, strengthened through adversity, and continued to push forward with the mindset that has always defined McLaren.”

Achievements Over The Years

MSO’s dedicated team of car builders carefully put the livery on the Artura’s hood, lower sides, and side mirrors. To balance the black-and-orange look, they also added an orange pinstripe to the front splitter and the rear lower diffuser. Inside the car is a special papaya metallic plaque to add an extra touch to this already special car. Only 10 special client cars will be available as MSO’s 1000GP Artura, with no listed price; we can expect it to be at the higher end of the pricing bracket.

In the 1,000 Grand Prixes that McLaren has participated in, the legendary team has nabbed 200 race wins and secured 10 constructors’ world titles, a testament to the engineering prowess the brand has always championed to the world. If you look at the statistics, Ferrari and McLaren aren’t far off, despite Ferrari entering the league 16 years before McLaren.