It’s legendary how secure and locked down McLaren’s world-famous technology centre ‘MTC’ is in Surrey. You can’t pay and do a tour, you have to be invited.
They keep their work extremely secret and only allow the lucky few through the front doors.
We have developed a very close relationship with McLaren over many years and built up a relationship with some of the senior team.
This relationship means we now get invited back more than once a year! A testament to the club’s reputation in the supercar owner world.
The McLaren Technology Centre is the headquarters of the McLaren Group, an automotive and technology company based in Woking, Surrey, England. The building was designed by Foster + Partners and opened in 2004. It is home to all aspects of the McLaren Group, including Formula One, Formula E, and McLaren Automotive.
The McLaren Technology Centre is a state-of-the-art facility that is designed to promote collaboration and innovation. The building is organised around a central atrium, which is surrounded by a series of pods that house different departments. The pods are connected by a network of bridges and walkways.
Some of the highlights of the McLaren Technology Centre include:
- The wind tunnel, which is used to test the aerodynamics of McLaren’s racing and road cars.
- The simulator, which allows drivers to train for races in a virtual environment.
- The production line, where McLaren’s road cars are assembled.
- The museum, which exhibits the history of the McLaren Group.
On arrival, we were greeted on the boulevard by one of McLaren’s Corporate Relationship team who personally escorted us into the facility.
First things first was Bruce Mclaren’s first ever race car, the 1929 Austin 7 Ulster.
The company was founded in 1963 by Bruce McLaren, a New Zealand racing driver who won two Drivers’ Championships with the team. McLaren was killed in a testing accident in 1970, but the team has continued to be successful in his absence.
Our host proceeded to give us insight and detail about all the cars on the boulevard which was a mixture of road cars, new, old and concept. The display also included GT racing cars, LeMans cars and of course the incredible collection of F1 cars spanning the decades.
This included some of the F1-winning cars from their illustrious history.
McLaren is one of the most successful teams in Formula One history, having won 8 Constructors’ Championships and 12 Drivers’ Championships. Their first Constructors’ Championship came in 1974, with Emerson Fittipaldi winning the Drivers’ Championship. The team went on to win another Constructors’ Championship in 1984, with Alain Prost winning the Drivers’ Championship. In 1988, McLaren won both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost as their drivers.
The team went on to win the Constructors’ Championship again in 1989, 1990, and 1991, with Senna winning the Drivers’ Championship in 1990 and 1991. McLaren’s most recent Constructors’ Championship came in 1998, with Mika Hakkinen winning the Drivers’ Championship.
McLaren has won a total of 183 races, with 20 different drivers winning for the team. The team’s most successful driver is Ayrton Senna, who won 35 races for McLaren. Other notable drivers who have won races for McLaren include Alain Prost, Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton, and Jenson Button.
McLaren’s most successful period was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the team won six consecutive Constructors’ Championships and five Drivers’ Championships. Ayrton Senna won three Drivers’ Championships with the team during this period, and Alain Prost won two. McLaren also won the Monaco Grand Prix a record 15 consecutive times between 1984 and 1993.
After the boulevard, we were reminded that no photographs were allowed, which limits what we can share with you at this point.
We did manage to sneak in the following photos from the no-photo areas, but don’t tell anyone!
How about this full-scale Senna created entirely from Lego!! We all took a piece of this one home!
Inside the road car production centre, it was strictly no photographs, so this wraps up our pictorial reflection on our visit.
Last up was the opportunity to grab a quick team photo from the day, which can be seen below:
It was then time to go and grab lunch. For this, we booked a delicious lunch at the beautiful Silvermere Golf Club.
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