McLaren double down on bid to develop 'circular' F1 car

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has declared his excitement at the work being conducted by his organisation in developing a 'circular' Formula 1 car.

Circular, in this instance, refers to a process or model to eliminate waste and excess in manufacturing. McLaren has prided itself on the sustainability programmes it has put in place over the years, and is determined to complete the development of its F1 cars by applying the circular approach.

In tandem with partners Google and Deloitte, McLaren has produced a ‘roadmap’ to delivering a circular F1 car, which the team states 'sets out a pathway to rethink how race cars are designed, manufactured, and reused, with the ambition of reducing environmental impact and waste at every stage'.

As part of its sustainability push, McLaren Racing has reported for 2025 that its total waste was down by 14 per cent, alongside a 40 per cent reduction in hazardous waste disposal in composites manufacturing versus 2024.

The report confirmed that the team maintained its 22 per cent circularity across production of its F1 car chassis. This comprises the use of recycled metals, bio-derived materials, general waste recycling, and hazardous liquid recycling.

McLaren has further started to address the volume and types of materials traditionally used in F1 car design and production.

Behind the scenes, McLaren Racing’s Accelerator programme has continued to build on its work with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, which started in 2023.

McLaren Racing developed OSCAR (Operational System for Coral Assembly and Restoration), a machine which builds cradles and carefully handles baby coral, allowing it to be returned to damaged parts of a reef to accelerate recovery.

OSCAR uses robotics to reduce the development process from 90 seconds by hand to 10 seconds per device, taking production from 100,000 to over one million cradles per year. The set-up is currently being tested in Australia, with a view to rolling out the technology to other reefs worldwide.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown said: “As our sport continues to see incredible growth around the world, it is all the more important that we work hard to reduce our overall impact on the planet and the pressures on global resources, and collaboration and great partnerships are essential to us achieving that.

"It’s fantastic to see our McLaren Accelerator team apply motorsport know-how to other industries to help supercharge processes and drive efficiencies, with our engineers working alongside marine biologists to find solutions in coral restoration.

"Equally, I’m excited by the work we’re doing with Deloitte and Google to continue our mission to build a fully circular F1 car. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made to date, and I’m excited about what’s next."