Building on over 40 years of carbon fibre innovation, McLaren has unveiled a world-first in supercar engineering – aerospace-derived Automated Rapid Tape (ART) carbon fibre.

Developed at the dedicated McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) facility in Sheffield, UK, ART adopts precision manufacturing techniques from the aerospace industry to create carbon fibre structures that are even lighter, stiffer and stronger, while reducing waste by up to 95%.

The first model to feature this advanced material is the McLaren W1 hypercar – where ART carbon integrated into the active front wing delivers a 10% boost in stiffness to help enable the car’s extraordinary aerodynamic performance.

ART carbon is manufactured using an automated process that uses a fixed deposition head and a rapidly rotating bed – dramatically cutting waste and production time compared to manual layering.

The process also allows McLaren engineers to fine-tune carbon fibre placement with unparalleled precision for more complex, load-optimised components that maximise strength in critical areas. Elsewhere, every gram of unnecessary weight is avoided.

With a prototype high-rate deposition machine already installed at MCTC alongside imminent plans to upscale this to an industrial-spec installation, ART carbon manufacturing capacity is set to rapidly increase across 2025 – paving the way for even more carbon fibre in the design of future McLaren supercars.

www.mclaren.com