As part of an exclusive deal that the Woking-based squad has signed with British company Seamless Digital, McLaren cars will run with the new technology in practice sessions for the remainder of the season.
By using the new technology, McLaren has achieved a first by enabling the team to modify the branding on its cars during a race. The technology will debut at the USGP and be utilized up to the end of the current campaign, although only during practice sessions.
To deploy the technology, which enables branding or messages on panels next to the cockpit opening to be altered while the car is in motion, McLaren has agreed with British business Seamless Digital for several years.
Although it is being used experimentally this season, with Android branding one of those being run using the technology and initial logos related to its Google partnership, it is hoped that its use can be expanded in the future and could also be implemented in McLaren’s broader racing portfolio before F1.
Two display modules will surround MCL36 cockpits. They will be on each side of the driver, according to images released by the team.
According to Louise Evans, executive director of brand and marketing at McLaren, one of the most exciting advancements in digital advertising technology. The group anticipates that it will enable them to offer its partners more versatile branding alternatives.
We are eager to see how this will affect the more significant business since being able to switch out the brands on our automobiles is a game-changer in our market, Evans said.
For its other racing endeavours, which include IndyCar, Extreme E, and, starting in 2023, Formula E, the team is considering implementing the technology.
When it added the Google Chrome browser’s branding to its wheel hubs earlier this year, McLaren claimed another advertising first. Lighted intersections were tested in the team’s postseason testing from the previous year.
Seamless Digital created the technology that will be in use starting this weekend. “This is only the beginning of flexibility on automobile branding and motor racing assets,” CEO Mark Turner remarked.
“By making sure the technology runs on a Formula 1 car, we have already broken the hardest area to innovate and are going to disrupt advertising throughout F1, motorsport, golf, US sports, and ultimately wider more popular use,” says the company.
According to Turner, marketers utilize the screens to “deliver situationally appropriate messaging.” To cater to local markets or account for changes in regulations, several sponsors already change their logos and designs from race to race.
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