The McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team, the second-oldest team in the sport, is leveraging artificial intelligence to gain an edge. Ahead of this year’s British Grand Prix, the team is unveiling a special livery designed in partnership with Google Gemini, drawing inspiration from McLaren’s first F1 car, the M2B. The design nods to the team’s history while highlighting its current push into AI-assisted performance tools.
Formula 1 has long been a proving ground for technology, with teams seeking marginal gains through engineering, strategy, and design. The partnership with Google Gemini reflects this trend, giving McLaren access to advanced AI capabilities. According to Dan Keyworth, McLaren’s representative, the collaboration has a clear objective: “to make the car go faster” by leveraging some of the best technology in the world in an industry moving incredibly fast.
McLaren is not alone in integrating AI into F1 operations. Teams across the grid are increasingly working with AI firms to optimize everything from aerodynamics to race strategy. This partnership signals that generative AI is now being applied not just to performance analytics but to design and branding as well—a shift that could reshape how teams approach both competition and fan engagement.
For McLaren, the move reinforces its identity as an innovative team willing to experiment. While the livery is primarily a visual tribute, the underlying AI partnership with Google could yield more substantive performance gains over time. It also positions McLaren as a testbed for how generative AI can complement, rather than replace, human expertise in high-stakes environments.
The broader trend of AI adoption in sports continues to accelerate. As teams seek ever-smaller advantages, tools like Gemini may become as essential as wind tunnels and data simulators. The challenge will be balancing hype with genuine utility—a question both McLaren and its rivals will have to answer in the seasons ahead.