McLaren’s pioneering onboard digital advertising technology, which it introduced to Formula 1 three years ago, is absent from their new car for the 2025 season.
The team used the technology during the last two seasons, but removed the panels from its cars after the start of the 2024 season. The new MCL39, which the team is testing at the Bahrain International Circuit today, does not feature the panels.
McLaren called the technology a “game-changer” when it first demonstrated the panels during practice for the United States Grand Prix in 2022. The hardware was developed by Seamless Digital, whose CEO Mark Turner said they could be used to “communicate situationally relevant messages.”
Several McLaren sponsors used the panels to display their brands, logos and slogans using the panels, which were situated on each side of the cockpit aperture. As they were positioned within the onboard camera’s field of view, the displays proved effective at capturing the attention of viewers.
The panels disappeared from McLaren’s cars during 2024, however. They have not returned on their new chassis, which features conventional advertising panels instead.
A team spokesperson told RaceFans there was no longer a need for the dynamic panels as they have been replaced by a permanent brand logo. They added the panels were removed last season in order to maximise the car’s performance.
The technology was understood to add a small amount of extra weight to the car, believed to be as little as 200 grams.
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McLaren won the constructors’ championship last year after a season-long fight with Ferrari. Red Bull, who took Max Verstappen to the drivers’ title, also left no stone unturned in the pursuit of performance, shelving plans to run special liveries designed by fans in order to save weight.
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