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 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.
Since the current generation of regulations were introduced in 2022 several teams have resorted to cutting back on the amount of paint they use on their cars to keep the weight down.
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BasCB (@bascb)
26th February 2025, 12:07
So a combination of weight saving and being able to get sponsors to commit to full sponsorship deals then?
Edvaldo
26th February 2025, 12:18
Even on the onboard camera, these were hard to spot. Small logos, low-res quality, and black-and-white.
It probably was a better deal for the company to show their technology than it was for McLaren.
Don
26th February 2025, 14:11
The main problem was the were barely readable from the in car camera, making them pointless.
MacLeod (@macleod)
27th February 2025, 7:51
They had panels installed I never saw them operational. but I never watch the small adv.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
27th February 2025, 9:16
Wonder if there’s a better use for them in F1 than logos. I like the new panels on the side of the WEC cars, with a position indicator and pit stop timer.