By Jethro Bovingdon
The McLaren Technology Centre might be located just off the A320 Chertsey Road in Surrey, but from the moment you pass through the security gates you could be on another planet. The Norman Foster designed space is part Bond villain lair, part science fiction and clearly the product of a culture driven by perfection. To enter, you approach one of four rotundas near the main car park and then walk down below ground level via a spiral staircase. Like many aspects of the building, the attention to detail is meticulous: the material covering each step is designed to clean your shoes as you descend into the pristine space.
Elevator to heaven
At the bottom you find yourself at one end of a long, brightly-lit corridor featuring an immaculate gloss white floor, walls and ceiling. At the other end is a pair of white doors. The space is designed to clear your mind, but it can feel a little like you’re about to step into the afterlife. When you pass beyond those doors, step into a cylindrical glass elevator and glide up a level to emerge onto the centre’s main ‘boulevard’ you might think you’re in heaven – at least if you’re a fan of racing and Formula One.
Past meets present in the McLaren Technology Centre’s main ‘boulevard’
It’s here that the scale of the McLaren Technology Centre (or MTC) manifests and the extent of McLaren’s pedigree becomes truly tangible. The floor is tiled black and flows naturally out beyond a huge expanse of glass that’s two storeys high and runs the length of the building, joining seamlessly with the calm semi-circular lake beyond. The boulevard itself serves as inspiration to the staff and visitors, displaying a rich array of race- and championship-winning F1 and Can-Am cars.
Above are floating walkways into open plan office spaces and behind the cars on display from McLaren’s glorious past are the current Formula 1 machines being meticulously prepared for the next race. It’s a staggering introduction to an extraordinary facility.
Inside the wind tunnel at the McLaren Technology Centre
The MTC’s centrepiece is a wind tunnel that helps hone each racing car’s aerodynamics. Its giant fan propels the air through the steel-walled tunnel at 185mph and creates a huge amount of friction and heat. Cooled by the water of the adjoining lake, it’s just one of the innovative ways in which MTC is at once cutting edge and energy efficient. It’s also a building that is there to serve the people who work within its walls.
Ron Dennis, the man who started in motor racing as a mechanic for the old Cooper F1 operation before starting his own racing teams and taking over McLaren in 1981, had a very clear vision before this project started.
‘I wanted it to be a building that the workforce didn’t want to go home from,’ he explains. ‘Great facilities attract great people. People can only thrive if you provide them with an environment in which they can aspire to be the best.’
The McLaren Technology Centre features a lake to help cool its massive wind tunnel
There’s a determination behind that statement, but that’s all part and parcel of F1. You have to be ruthless, single-minded and absolutely committed in order to succeed at the pinnacle of motorsport and each and every one of McLaren’s engineers, mechanics, drivers and designers share that winning mentality. That’s why McLaren has 182 race wins, 155 pole positions, 12 Driver’s championships and 8 Constructors championships behind it and, no question, many more of each in its future.
Return to racing
When Honda decided to return to F1 its motivation was a new set of rules that encourage downsized, turbocharged engines, greater fuel efficiency and innovative hybrid technology – the very things that have become central to road car development in recent times. But while that motivation is all about the future, Honda also looked to its past to choose the right team with which to work. Back in the last turbocharged F1 era, McLaren-Honda enjoyed unprecedented and still unmatched success. The 1988 McLaren-Honda MP4/4 won 15 of the 16 races on the calendar with drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
Walking around the MTC today the MP4/4 still looms large. It’s often pride of place on the boulevard and its record is as close to perfection as any has ever achieved in F1 over a single season. I’ll bet it’s still Ron Dennis’ favourite car and that not quite managing 16 out of 16 irks him to this day. Safe to say it will provide all the inspiration that Honda and McLaren need when they join forces again in 2015.
