McLaren’s Gemini livery signals AI’s quiet race edge

McLaren Gemini-powered – Ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone (July 3 to 5), McLaren is rolling out a special livery created with Google Gemini—and tying the flashiest part of the partnership to behind-the-scenes tools meant to speed up decisions, from live race data compari

For McLaren, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone is not just another weekend to chase lap time. It’s also a moment to show—visibly, on the outside of the car—that the team is changing how it thinks during a race week.

Ahead of this year’s British Grand Prix. the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team. the second-oldest team in the sport. is unveiling a special livery. The exterior design of the cars has been created in partnership with Google Gemini. drawing inspiration from McLaren’s first Formula 1 car. the McLaren M2B. The nod to history is deliberate. but the point is current: the team says the design is meant to highlight its push into AI-assisted performance tools.

Dan Keyworth, McLaren’s executive director of performance technology, describes the objective plainly. “It’s an authentic partnership. and everything we’re doing with Google. particularly Gemini has a clear objective to make the car go faster and gives us access to some of the best technology in the world in an industry that’s moving incredibly fast.”.

The livery is the most visible part of the partnership. yet McLaren’s most consequential work is happening behind the scenes. As part of its partnership. McLaren has worked with Google Cloud to build custom Gemini-powered tools. including a live data interface used during race weekends. The system pulls information from multiple sources during a session and allows members of the McLaren team to query that data in natural language.

Keyworth says the change shows up in the grind of comparison work. “So if you take a qualifying session that’s happened on a Saturday. it used to take us a long time to compare data between two competitors. ” he says. “And, [it] would take a huge amount of human power as well. Now, they can compare with other drivers and competitors and give us insights on how we can improve ourselves.”.

That focus on speed matters in a sport where decisions are squeezed into tight windows. McLaren’s tools are mainly used by the engineering teams working behind the drivers, but the team says the effects can filter down to race strategy, setup decisions, and calls made from the pit wall.

Oscar Piastri, who drives for McLaren, explains how the information flow connects to his role on race day. He says a major part of his job is explaining what he needs from the car—describing how he wants it to behave—and helping engineers connect those impressions to the data they see. “A lot of the information about how I try [to] do my job and how I improve comes through the team. ” Piastri says. “All the [technical] analysis we do, summarizing meetings and briefings, all that information I get through the team. Now, with AI … it improves efficiency.”.

McLaren is also using Gemini to help staff navigate Formula 1’s rulebook. Its regulation bot is designed to help the team search through new FIA regulations and quickly identify relevant sections. a task that can otherwise require combing through large and technical documents. Piastri points to the sheer volume as part of the appeal. “There’s a lot of new rules and regulations and lots and lots of pages,” he says. “I think AI is a great way of being able to find out information quickly. especially when it comes to knowing some of the more unique rules and the ones you don’t often run into every day.”.

At the same time, McLaren stresses that faster access to information doesn’t remove the need for judgment during a race weekend. The tools may change how quickly teams arrive at useful answers, but the decisions still have to be made in the context of track conditions, timing, and driver feedback.

The announcement lands on top of a broader shift across Formula 1. where teams are treating AI as another route to marginal gains. Oracle Red Bull Racing is developing an AI-powered strategy agent. Mercedes-AMG Petronas is using Microsoft Azure to expand AI-supported simulation and race modeling. and Aston Martin Aramco has signed AI partnerships with Cohere and Arm.

The relationship between those developments is easy to see in the way McLaren describes its own system: live data is gathered from multiple sources. then queried through natural language. and the output is meant to shorten the time between question and insight—whether that means comparing Saturday qualifying data with other competitors. refining what engineers do behind the scenes. or scanning new FIA regulations that pile up across the off-season.

By the time the cars head to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, running July 3 to 5, McLaren’s special livery will be the public-facing symbol of a quieter change already underway. AI is becoming part of how the team sorts information, interprets performance, and looks for incremental gains.

Piastri frames the future with a measured tone. “I think that kind of capability can expand in the future to lots of different areas, finding solutions quickly, ” he says. “We’ll have to see where the technology goes.”

McLaren Google Gemini Google Cloud Formula 1 British Grand Prix Silverstone AI Dan Keyworth Oscar Piastri FIA regulations live data interface marginal gains