McLaren to downsize iconic F1 motorhome
McLaren’s iconic Brand Centre motorhome will not return to the Formula 1 paddock in its original form, with the team working on downsizing the structure for later this season.
The three-storey Brand Centre had been a centrepiece of the F1 paddock since it first appeared back in 2007.
It featured 13.5-metres of solar glass facade on the front and included kitchens, catering areas, meeting rooms, driver rooms, and office space for marketing and media staff.
But as part of F1’s move to a more sustainable future, the huge logistics of transporting motorhomes on lorries around Europe has come under the spotlight.
With teams evaluating how to reduce travelling costs and the carbon impact of everything they do, McLaren has decided to scale back its famous motorhome.
Rather than start from scratch with an all-new structure, the team will refurbish and configure the Brand Centre for its return in a much reduced size.
The new motorhome, which will be renamed, is set to appear for the first time at the Monaco Grand Prix. It will need just eight trucks to be transported, rather than the 17 that the Brand Centre required.
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl said that sustainability had been the key driver behind the decision to change its motorhome.
“I don't want to go too much into detail but one focus was clearly to have a solution for us in place for McLaren in the future which is much more sustainable in terms of how to transport it, how to set it up, and how to use it," he said. "The clear objective was a more sustainable solution.”
Mclaren and Toro Rosso set up their hospitality centre
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Before the revamped motorhome returns, McLaren is using an interim solution which has appeared for the first time at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The change at McLaren comes in the wake of a push from F1 to try to move away from the extravagant motorhomes that had become the norm.
Last year, F1 managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn suggested it did not make sense for F1 to continue transporting motorhomes around Europe.
“We have our gin palaces with all the trucks that are needed to transport them,” he said. “So in the future, we want to move to a motorhome or hospitality facility which could be put up with far less impact in terms of logistics and transportation than we have now.”
Seidl said he was not against the idea of teams scaling things back – or even just using permanent structures installed at tracks.
“We would be very supportive regarding such a solution in the future,” he explained. “I see that more as a medium term topic, but the discussion is still ongoing on this.”
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