Why McLaren has taken its unprecedented off-road left turn

McLaren will be in distinctly unfamiliar territory this weekend as it makes its Extreme E debut. But this rugged left turn serves as a means to an end to inspire a greater good

Modern-day McLaren is a popular Formula 1 team that’s again heading in the right direction. It is also a youthful supercar business that has Ferrari and Porsche sweating. There have been tangents, of course; an on-off relationship with IndyCar and its sportscar successes – namely at Le Mans in 1995 and a domination of Can-Am that started 55 years ago.

Since its 1963 inception, though, McLaren has never been associated with bulky, high-riding SUVs. That is until this weekend, when Woking will make its Extreme E debut in Neom, Saudi Arabia.

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Author Matt Kew

Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.