This Is What It’s Like to Be a VIP at the McLaren-Renault F1 Garage
The unique 360-degree video experience brings you as close as you’ll ever get to the McLaren F1 garage.
Unless you're Paris Hilton, Jay-Z, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or a Middle Eastern Prince whose dad has deep ties in the world of motorsports, you'll most likely never get to stand inside a Formula 1 garage during a Grand Prix weekend. Thankfully, cutting-edge video technology is bringing us an experience that's not quite as visceral as the real deal, but it's probably the next best thing.
This video pioneered by McLaren and Sky Sports F1 is none other than a minute-long 360-degree video experience of the team's garage during the recent pre-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, Spain. Sure, there are other 360-degree videos out there of Formula 1 cars driving on tracks, but this specific one actually takes you inside the garage while the cars are being worked on and the drivers debriefed.
See as Fernando Alonso talks to his engineers about the MCL33's performance on the track, and then hops back in for another round of tests after the desired changes have been performed. Of course, as we already know, McLaren was the worst-performing team in Barcelona, suffering five major breakdowns and going through several Renault engines.
Shockingly enough, Alonso put on his superhero cape (as he typically does) to save the morale of the team and managed to clock in the second-fastest lap time on the very last day of testing, lapping only a few tenths behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
The first race of the 2018 Formula 1 season will take place in sunny Melbourne, Australia in just a week's time.
