Woking-based McLaren Group say COVID-19 crisis has "severely affected" its business
Tuesday 26 May 2020 16:46, UK
The McLaren Group has announced plans to make around 1,200 redundancies from its business, which includes the Formula 1 team.
Citing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the impending arrival of the new F1 budget cap from 2021, McLaren has commenced a proposed restructure, subject to employee consultation, across its three divisions - Racing, Automotive and Applied - as well as support and back office functions.
Around 70 redundancies are thought to be coming from the F1 team.
Paul Walsh, the McLaren Group's executive chairman, said: "We deeply regret the impact that this restructure will have on all our people, but especially those whose jobs may be affected.
"It is a course of action we have worked hard to avoid, having already undertaken dramatic cost-saving measures across all areas of the business. But we now have no other choice but to reduce the size of our workforce.
"This is undoubtedly a challenging time for our company, and particularly our people, but we plan to emerge as an efficient, sustainable business with a clear course for returning to growth."
With the coronavirus crisis accelerating the need for Formula 1 to cut costs across the board, the sport's stakeholders have agreed a reduction in next season's budget cap to $145m in addition to other cost-saving measures.
The revised rules for 2021 are expected to be ratified this week.
Walsh added: "McLaren Racing has been a proponent of the introduction in 2021 of the new Formula 1 budget cap which will create a sustainable financial basis for the teams and lead to a more competitive sport
"While this will have a significant impact on the shape and size of our F1 team, we will now begin to take the necessary measures to be ready to run at the cap from 2021 onwards, in order to challenge again for race wins and championships in the future."
McLaren made big strides back up the grid in F1 last year after a restructure of its team under chief executive Zak Brown, finishing fourth - their best season since 2012.
