Unveiling the Mind-Blowing World of McLaren’s Futuristic Motorsport: Prepare to be Amazed!

Woking, a commuter town 20 miles southwest of London, has never been at the top of anyone’s dream destination list. A poor relative of nearby Guildford, its claims to fame include the largest cemetery in the UK (not to mention the first purpose-built crematorium in the country), a football club that once made it to the fourth round of the FA Cup, and a branch of PizzaExpress which featured as a punchline in a royal scandal. Recently, the ever-unprepossessing city center has been further marred by three huge and inappropriate skyscrapers (the oddly textured yellow one known locally as “the fish stick”), the result of a delusional scheme by Conservative councilors that has run up debts for almost £2bn. May I be rude: it’s my hometown.

There is one place in Woking however that, by embodying glamour, excitement and the pursuit of excellence, goes profoundly against the grain. Hidden amongst woodland and moorland on the edge of town is the headquarters of the McLaren Formula 1 team. Seen from above, the McLaren Technology Center resembles a yin-yang, on one side the futuristic steel and glass building, on the other an artificial lake (whose water helps to cool the entire structure).

A public footpath passes less than 150 meters from the lake: I have often passed it and marveled at the space-age intruder on what was previously a somewhat drab farm that produced vegetables and, at one point, ostriches. Designed by Norman Foster and unveiled by the Queen in 2004, the building’s gleaming façade curves around and is reflected in the lake; the edge of the cantilevered roof is rounded like the leading edge of an aircraft wing.

But that sidewalk view, while unobstructed by visible fences or safety signs, was the closest the public could get. Ron Dennis, who has led McLaren to seven of its eight F1 Constructors’ Championships and 10 of its 12 Drivers’ Championships during his 35 years in charge, has always been keen to maintain the building’s uniqueness and charm, using it to impress business partners and VIP guests, and to reward those who had purchased a McLaren supercar by having them come to the facility to pick it up in person. A public museum that was part of the original planning application never materialized.

Now, finally, there has been a change of mind. Starting next month, McLaren will offer regular public tours for the first time, the result of a partnership with GetYourGuide, a Germany-based online platform offering around 75,000 experiences worldwide. Among them are many that offer some form of special access: skip the line, say, or visit after hours.

I have seen grown men and women reduced to tears as they walk through those doors!

One is to visit the Vatican with his head claviger, or keeper of the keys, opening the galleries first thing in the morning, including unlocking the Sistine Chapel door and turning on the lights. It reports the growing demand for sport-based experiences and McLaren’s inner sanctum “is like the Sistine Chapel of motorsport,” says GetYourGuide’s Jean-Gabriel Duveau.

I attended a preview last week, was picked up in a minibus by the security gate, then driven slowly down a narrow road that follows the curved outer edge of the lake, as if everyone in the building were given a chance to peer the intruder to their high-tech hideout. Forget about running engines and oil spills, inside everything is quiet, immaculate and coordinated in silver, white and gray. Dennis liked to describe it as “90% Nasa, 10% Disneyland” (which perhaps explains why it doubled for Coruscant Spaceport in the Star Wars series Andor).

After a great introduction (“I’ve seen grown men and women reduced to tears when they walk through those doors!” says our guide, Kris Lawton), we descend in a circular glass elevator supposedly meant to mimic an engine piston, then enter the Boulevard, a double-height flowing space that runs the length of the building and is filled with blockbuster McLaren cars.

First, though, comes the non-McLaren one in the building, a tiny 1929 Austin 7 bought piecemeal in the early 1950s from New Zealander Les McLaren. He intended to rebuild the car and sell it for a profit, but his son Bruce convinced him to keep it and use it for racing. Together they tuned it to raise the top speed to 87 mph and Bruce learned to drive it, on a makeshift circuit laid out in the family orchard. When Les was unable to participate in a race due to gallstones, his 15-year-old son took over for him and won.

Bruce became a professional driver and engineer, arrived in Europe aged 20 and founded the company in 1963. Besides the Austin, numerous F1 cars and a handful of road-going supercars mark the next 60 years, from the beefy M19C to the 1972 -1 in Yardley McLaren colours, to the cars that won championships for Alain Prost, Mika Häkkinen and Lewis Hamilton (there’s even one made from 468,000 Lego pieces).

As we coo over the machines, we’re warned not to photograph what’s happening in the glass-walled rooms behind us. In one, the late models are stripped down in preparation for shipping to Canada for this weekend’s race. In another, engineers are shaping carbon to create upgraded parts they hope will give the cars an edge over rivals. Rather than robots and computers, it’s surprisingly hands-on, the experience like watching chefs in a Michelin-starred show kitchen.

Of course, while performance and technology have always been part of the allure of motorsport, so have human stories and, to put it bluntly, danger. Next to the Austin 7 we see a 1970 M8D, a sleek-bodied Can Am car in a bright “papaya orange” color scheme (which McLaren hoped would pop on black-and-white TV screens). This is the sister car to one that a 32 year old Bruce McLaren was testing at Goodwood in June 1970 when the rear bodywork came off, spinning the car out of control into a trackside building and killing him. Nearby is the MP4/8 in which Ayrton Senna took his final victory at the 1993 Adelaide Grand Prix. Six months later he was killed in an accident at Imola.

Since 1992, McLaren has been making cars for both the road and the track, and the tour continues past what is said to be the world’s largest collection of motorsport trophies (filling the cabinets outside the staff restaurant), through a underground tunnel to the McLaren Production Center , completed in 2011. A white sliding door is pulled back and we find ourselves on a balcony overlooking the 34,500 square meter factory, where engineers are busy with rows of supercars in numerous bright hues. Once completed, the cars are moved to the ‘monsoon test’ cabin, where they are submerged in 1,000 liters of water per minute.

For F1 fans, supercar enthusiasts and lovers of Top gear, that’s all, to borrow a Clarksonism, quite exciting. But what does McLaren achieve by allowing groups of up to 20 punters to walk through its temple nine times a year? “When Zak Brown came in as CEO [in 2018], looked at the business and thought ‘how can we make it more inclusive?’” says Lindsey Eckhouse, director of licensing at McLaren. The hit Netflix series Drive to survive has created a growing interest in the sport: McLaren claims 470 million fans worldwide. “We try to use our digital channels to unlock what’s happening here,” Eckhouse says. “This is just one step further.”

How ‘inclusive’ a tour can be when it costs £450 for 90 minutes (plus an additional 90 minutes for lunch on site), is up for debate. What is certain is that for a large number of people, for the first time ever, an afternoon in Woking will be an experience not to be missed. I wonder what they will think of the Fish Finger.