MCLAREN RACING, CISCO PARTNER TO DRIVE INNOVATION AND HYBRID SPORTING EXPERIENCES THROUGH EXPANDED PARTNERSHIP
>> Cisco Expands As An Official Technology Partner of McLaren Racing;
>> Industry-Leading Network and Collaboration Infrastructure to Enhance Speed, Scale and Power Across Team’s Technology Footprint
SAN JOSE, Calif. – McLaren Racing and Cisco, a leader in enterprise networking, video collaboration and security technology, have today announced a multiyear global partnership expanding Cisco’s role with the Formula 1 Team to become an Official Technology Partner. Through the partnership, the two organizations will leverage Cisco’s industry-leading solutions, innovation and expertise to enhance McLaren’s technological infrastructure on race day and at the team's headquarters, as well as to connect with fans around the world.
With the expanded relationship, McLaren will have Cisco's full portfolio of solutions at their disposal – across enterprise networking, Wi-Fi, digital signage, collaboration and more. Cisco’s decade-long leadership in developing purpose-built, innovative solutions in the sports and entertainment field will aid McLaren in its pursuit of the competitive edge needed to drive performance in a sport as lightening-fast as Formula 1.
"Cisco has been an incredible partner to McLaren Racing, and we are delighted to extend and grow this relationship long-term," said Claire Cronin, Chief Marketing Officer, McLaren Racing. "Webex technology is embedded throughout our team’s operations, helping us be connected and agile with our people who operate at race pace around the globe. As we enter a new chapter of our partnership, we will continue to drive innovation with an expansion of Cisco’s capabilities available to us."
As part of the partnership, Cisco will collaborate with McLaren to explore and pilot new and emerging technologies, such as working towards upgrading their raceday wireless deployment to Wi-Fi 6E (Extended), to ensure fast and reliable communications among all team members. Wi-Fi 6E offers more than twice the bandwidth of Wi-Fi 6, the current standard solution, and is purpose-built to deliver reliable, secure and fast connectivity in flexible, remote locations. In addition, Cisco and McLaren will continue to work together to develop the networking technology infrastructure at the team’s headquarters in Surrey – the McLaren Technology Centre. Cisco’s hybrid network solutions and cloud-based service DNA Spaces will allow the organization to optimize productivity.
"As a marquee team in one of the fastest-growing sports in popularity globally, we are proud to expand our relationship with McLaren Racing and bring to bear our full portfolio of technology and talent to help the team achieve even greater success," said Carrie Palin, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Cisco. "McLaren Racing shares our unceasing commitment to innovation, and we believe that together we can push the boundaries of what’s possible in order to develop the most connected F1 team in history."
Today’s announcement builds upon an existing relationship between McLaren Racing and Webex by Cisco, the Official Collaboration Partner of the F1 team. Over the past year, Webex’s industry-leading suite of cloud-based collaboration tools and emerging technology solutions, like Webex Hologram, have enabled McLaren to overcome geographical boundaries to create virtual experiences that bring fans and partners even closer to the action and enable immersive co-creation between design engineers, drivers and crews from tracks around the world. The expanded partnership will see McLaren Racing continue to leverage Webex to implement flexible and secure hybrid working environments, while also creating even more opportunities for fans around the world to connect with the team throughout the 2022 Formula 1 season.
For more than a decade, Cisco’s sports and entertainment solutions and expertise have been relied upon by hundreds of industry-leading venues, teams, events and organizations around the world, including SoFi Stadium, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, City Football Group, Riot Games, the National Football League and many more.
About McLaren Racing
McLaren Racing was founded by New Zealand racing driver Bruce McLaren in 1963. The team entered its first Formula 1 race in 1966, since then McLaren has won 20 Formula 1 world championships, more than 180 Formula 1 grands prix, the Le Mans 24 Hours at its first attempt and the Indianapolis 500 three times.
The team is currently contesting the FIA Formula 1 World Championship with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, the INDYCAR Series with Arrow McLaren SP drivers Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist, and the Extreme E Championship with Tanner Foust and Emma Gilmour.
McLaren was the first F1 team to be certified carbon neutral ten years ago and has successfully retained the Carbon Trust Standard Award, most recently in February 2021. It was also the first team to be awarded the FIA Institute’s Environmental Award in 2013, which it has consistently maintained at three-star level.
In 2021, McLaren became a signatory to both the UN Sports for Climate Action Commitment and the UN Race to Zero pledge, signifying the team’s commitment to be a responsible global citizen combating climate change.
