McLaren Announces Cisco Webex As Official Collaboration Partner

McLaren Racing announced a new multi-year partnership with Cisco Webex, which will become the Formula 1 team’s Official Collaboration Partner.

The racing outfit says the Cisco Webex platform will be integrated into its day-to-day activities, helping it to ‘drive collaboration’ across all areas of the team without the need for physical meetings between teams in the same country. The system will also be used to create virtual experiences to bring fans and partners closer to the team, according to McLaren.

The partnership will also see Cisco Webex power McLaren Slipstream, a new live-streaming service for the team’s partners, which will deliver behind-the-scenes insights into the McLaren Formula 1 team. Since trialling the service last summer, McLaren says it has used the livestream platform to enable its partners and guests to have greater access to the team from any location. 

“We are delighted to announce this partnership and welcome Cisco Webex to our team,” said Mark Waller, Chief Commercial Officer, McLaren Racing. 

“The ability to connect with others around the world has never been more important and working with Cisco Webex will continue to help us bring our fans and partners closer to the heart of our team.” 

Jeetu Patel, SVP and GM of Security & Applications at Cisco, added: “More than ever before, innovators like McLaren understand the importance of enabling world-class technologies to bring together their audiences regardless of location and distance. We’re excited to be joining forces with McLaren to deliver unmatched, immersive experiences that bridge the needs of their fans, partners, and drivers alike during this shift to hybrid sports – whether on or off the racetrack.”

In addition, the deal will also see Cisco Webex branding carried on the halos and sidepods of the McLaren MCL35M Formula 1 race cars and on the race suits of the team’s drivers, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.