McLaren – The Race 1.0b
Connecting F1 fans to McLaren – and a 200mph racing car to the internet
Over 350 million people watch Formula 1, but unlike many other sports, fans often lack strong loyalty to a specific team. Yet, fans can be critical to a race team’s success: more fans mean greater sponsorship, increased funding, and ultimately, faster cars. Our challenge was to find a way to convert ‘impartial’ F! viewers into dedicated McLaren F1 supporters.
While F1 fans may not always be loyal to one team or driver, their passion for the intricate details of the sport is unmatched—from driver radio communications to car g-forces.
To tap into this enthusiasm, we created The Race 1.0b, offering fans unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to an F1 racing team in action. During every race, The Race 1.0b took over mclaren.com, transforming it into a real-time companion to the live broadcast. Fans hungry for information could access raw telemetry data, live updates, and insights directly from Formula 1 cars, drivers, and pit crews—but only from McLaren.
This innovative platform didn’t just enhance the F1 viewing experience; it brought the audience closer to McLaren, inviting them to view the race exclusively from their drivers perspective. In the highly competitive F1 arena, The Race 1.0b marked the first time a team had opened up in such a transparent and engaging way.
Launched for the 2010 season, the platform drove a 240% increase in website traffic, with users spending an average of 30 minutes per visit.
Its success earned a Gold Pencil at The One Show Awards. But we didn’t stop there. Each year, we continued to refine and expand The Race 1.0b, introducing new features to deepen engagement and entice even more F1 viewers into becoming McLaren devotees.