Connecting F1 fans to McLaren – and a 200mph racing car to the internet

Over 350 million people watch Formula 1. But unlike most major sports, fans don’t have the same level of loyalty to a particular team. And yet, fans are essential to a race team’s success. More fans = More sponsorship = More $$$ = Faster cars.  Our challenge was to find a way to covert more F1 fans into McLaren F1 fans.

F1 fans are passionate about every detail of the sport. We designed The Race 1.0b to offer them a unique insight they could only get from McLaren. Whenever the race was on, The Race 1.0b took over mclaren.com. Designed to augment the live broadcast, it delivered real-time updates and raw telemetric data from McLaren’s cars, drivers and the pit.

Not only did it enhance the F1 experience for all fans, but it brought them closer to McLaren – inviting them to follow the race from their perspective.

In the highly competitive world of F1, this was the first time a team had opened up to fans like this. Launched for the 2010 season, mclaren.com achieved a 240% increase in traffic with an average dwell time of 30 minutes.

The Race 1.0b also won a gold pencil at the The One Show awards. But not to rest on our laurels, we continued to improve the experience year-on-year – integrating additional features designed to win over more F1 fans.