McLaren Racing today announced a multi-year partnership with Darktrace, as Official AI Cyber Security Partner. The partnership with the world’s leading cyber defence AI company, will begin from the 2020 Formula 1 season.

Darktrace was founded in 2013, and today its AI technology is relied on by over 3,000 organizations worldwide to identify and automatically fight back against fast-moving and sophisticated cyber-threats. The partnership will involve a technical integration of Darktrace’s cyber artificial intelligence across the McLaren Group, as well as across McLaren Racing to protect the team against cyber-attacks.

Darktrace’s cyber AI technology will empower McLaren to gain complete visibility across its entire digital infrastructure – from IoT sensors on each Formula 1 car to the cloud-based software that fuels their operations – and identify threats as they emerge. With strategists and engineers making critical split-second decisions, time is of the essence for McLaren. As such, they will be using Darktrace’s ‘machine fights back’ innovation – a Cyber AI technology that can automatically block cyber-attacks at a speed and scale beyond human capabilities.

As part of the partnership, the Darktrace brand will be represented on the rear wing of the McLaren MCL35 race car and on the race suits of the team’s race drivers, Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.

Zak Brown, Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Racing said:

“We’re proud to welcome Darktrace for the first time into the fast-moving world of Formula 1 and to the McLaren Racing partner family. Data is the lifeblood of our racing strategy and so strong cyber resilience is key to our success on the tracks. We look forward to starting our partnership together this season as Darktrace’s Cyber AI will, for the first time, allow our infrastructure to be self-defending.”

Poppy Gustafsson, Chief Executive Officer, Darktrace said:

“We are excited to be partnering with McLaren, a company with innovation at its core. Cyber-attacks that seek to cause disruption to global events, as well as attacks that subtly steal coveted IP, are on the rise. We are proud that our technology is being trusted to automatically protect the McLaren team, enabling them to race to the finish line in the knowledge that their systems are secured by world-leading Cyber AI.”