'Leaked' McLaren 2019 photo was a fake

McLaren has denied that a teaser image of its 2019 car revealed a major new sponsorship.

Late last season, the struggling British team announced a minor on-car deal with Coca-Cola.

"I think they are a great entry into the sport," team boss Zak Brown said at the time. "They will help bring a younger audience and it's great for McLaren.

"Hopefully it will be a successful partnership that will go on into the future."

And according to the supposedly leaked teaser image, it looked as though Coca-Cola was indeed continuing and ramping up the deal for 2019.

It was claimed that McLaren uploaded an image to its Facebook page that showed the orange 2019 car with prominent Coca-Cola branding on the rear wing.

But McLaren says the image was not leaked, but actually a fake. The team said it was never added to its official Facebook page.

"It's a fake that was made by an amateur," a source close to Carlos Sainz told the Spanish sports newspaper Marca.

"The real images will not be seen until February 14," the source added.

McLaren confirmed that the image was a fake.

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