McLaren Racing, the British motor racing outfit, has announced its continued collaboration with the technology behemoth, Google, as the primary partner of the Formula 1 Team.
Furthermore, Google has also been welcomed as an official partner of the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team.
McLaren will utilise 5G-enabled Android devices and Chrome browsers at both the track and McLaren Technology Centre to enhance operations and performance.
During the previous season’s Qatar Grand Prix, McLaren set a world-record pit stop time of 1.8 seconds. This feat was accomplished with the assistance of Android phones, tablets, and smartwatches used by the pit crew, allowing for quick video analysis and secure feedback sharing to improve pit stop performance.
Additionally, McLaren Racing will harness Google Cloud’s AI technologies to visualise race data and provide insights throughout the team, including radio sentiment analysis.
Both teams will collaborate to employ AI for process optimisation, continuing the partnership’s focus on innovation for competitive advantage.
Branding of Google Chrome, Android, and Pixel will be prominent on McLaren MCL38, pit crew overalls, team kit, and driver overalls of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Google Pixel branding will also be visible on Extreme E race cars and suits of drivers Cristina Gutierrez and Mattias Ekstrom.
Matt Dennington, Executive Director, Partnerships & Accelerator, McLaren Racing, said, “We’re delighted to expand our partnership with one of the world’s most recognisable brands ahead of the 2024 F1 season. Thanks to the expanded partnership, we will continue to benefit from Google’s products across the team and ensure our focus remains on high performance on track.”
Nick Drake, Vice President, Global Marketing, Google, said, “McLaren deeply values innovation, performance, and inclusion — values that resonate deeply with Google. By seamlessly integrating the best of Google services, like our ground breaking AI platforms, Android, Chrome, Google Cloud and Google Pixel, across their teams in the office and in pit lane, we believe these tools will help take McLaren’s race day performance to new heights this season at every level of racing.”
Google LLC, an American multinational tech company, specialises in AI, online ads, search engines, cloud computing, software, quantum computing, e-commerce, and electronics. Google has been actively involved in sports sponsorships in recent years – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Premier League (PL) clubs such as Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC (LFC), and the Football Association (FA), the governing body of football in England.
McLaren Racing Limited, based in Woking, England, is a Formula 1 powerhouse. It’s the second oldest and second most successful team, securing 183 race victories. McLaren holds 12 Drivers’ Championships and 8 Constructors’ Championships. It’s a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority stake. For the 2024 F1 season, McLaren announced partnerships with Hilton, DP World, Dropbox, Optimum Nutrition, Ecolab, Workday, Airwallex, OKX, Estrella Galicia 0,0, and Alpinestars.
The 2024 FIA F1 season marks the 75th Formula One World Championship. It is set to feature a record twenty-four Grands Prix to be held globally. The season kicks off in March and wraps up in December. The action begins at the Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, on March 2.