McLaren Racing announced two new partners, Darktrace and Splunk, ahead of the 2020 F1 season, adding to its already solid tally.
Adding to its vast portfolio of partners and sponsors, McLaren announced two new associations for the 2020 F1 season and beyond, with Darktrace joining as cyber security partner in multi-year deal and Splunk as its new technology partner.
The partnership will see McLaren use Darktrace’s cyber artificial intelligence across its Group’s activities which includes Racing and protect them against cyber attacks. At the same time, Splunk will aide in performance improvements by quicker transmission.
The logo of Darktrace will feature on the rear wing of the MCL35 and also the race suits of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, while Splunk will be represented by their logo on the sidepod and cockpit regions of the MCL35’s livery.
“We’re proud to welcome Darktrace for the first time into the fast-moving world of F1 and to the McLaren Racing partner family,” said Zak Brown. “Data is the lifeblood of our racing strategy and so strong cyber resilience is key to our success on the tracks.
“We look forward to starting our partnership together this season as Darktrace’s Cyber AI will, for the first time, allow our infrastructure to be self-defending. At the same time, it’s great to have Splunk join us as both a McLaren Racing and McLaren Group technology partner.
“Data is at the heart of everything we do at McLaren and in the competitive sport of F1, and Splunk’s platform will enable us to continue to draw meaningful insight that can be used to impact performance. We are looking forward to working together as partners from the 2020 season and beyond.”
Poppy Gustafsson, Chief Executive Officer, Darktrace, stated: “We are excited to be partnering with McLaren, a company with innovation at its core. Cyber-attacks that seek to cause disruption to global events, as well as attacks that subtly steal coveted IP, are on the rise.
“We are proud that our technology is being trusted to automatically protect the McLaren team, enabling them to race to the finish line in the knowledge that their systems are secured by world-leading Cyber AI.”
And, Splunk CEO, Doug Merritt, added: “From the production line to the race track. Splunk will help McLaren drive meaningful business outcomes by connecting all of their data at immense speed and at great scale.
“Performance is critical in the racing world, and it is no different in the world of data, which makes this partnership a great fit. I’m looking forward to the F1 2020 season and will be rooting for the McLaren Racing team across the globe.”
Here’s Zak Brown on 2020 and 2021
Here’s Zak Brown on repaying the faith put in by shareholders
Here’s Zak Brown on team benefiting from new pairing
Here’s James Key on the progress from Carlos Sainz
Here’s news on management shuffle at McLaren from 2020
Here’s Lando Norris outlining what McLaren has to do in 2020
Here’s James Key on McLaren’s new F1 simulator
The article was co-written by Duncan Leahy