McLaren’s iconic Formula 1 motorhome will disappear from the European paddock, instead a downsized version will be used at future races.
McLaren were the first team to introduce a motorhome to the paddock, with its three-storey Brand Centre towering over the paddock when it was introduced in 2007.
All teams have since followed, with Red Bull now taking the crown for the largest temporary structure with its impressive Holzhaus.
However McLaren’s Brand Centre will be scaled back for sustainability reasons, with team principal Andreas Seidl confirming a smaller unit would be introduced from the Monaco GP.
Gallery: F1’s motorhomes return to the paddock in Imola
The team are currently using an interim structure at this weekend’s Emilia Romagna GP.
“It’s still a work in progress on our side,” said Seidl. “The hospitality you see at the moment (see below) in the paddock for McLaren is still an interim solution which is quite cost-effective. We are planning later in the year to introduce our updated hospitality once the world is also a bit more back to normal and we are allowed to welcome guests as well.”
“In terms of the update, I don’t want to go too much into the detail, but one focus was clearly to have a solution for us in place for McLaren in the future which is much more sustainable in terms of how to transport it, how to set it up, how to use it. The clear objective is to have a more sustainable solution in place.”
The Brand Centre requires 17 trucks to transport it from race to race, but the new structure is expected to cut that figure in half.
F1 managing director of motorsport, Ross Brawn, previously suggested the sport could do away with motorhomes altogether or at least scale them back.
“We have our gin palaces with all the trucks that are needed to transport them. So in the future, we want to move to a motorhome or hospitality facility which could be put up with far less impact in terms of logistics and transportation than we have now.”
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