Stratasys and McLaren fire starting gun on new F1 3D printing partnership

British F1 team, McLaren, has signed a new, four-year partnership deal with 3D printing specialist, Stratsys, to develop prototyping and tooling.

Stratasys will help McLaren design and make custom parts, as it ramps up rapid manufacturing capacity at the McLaren Centre in Woking, before racing starts in Melbourne in March.

Eric Boullier, Racing Director at McLaren, said: “The ability to rapidly model, build and evaluate components is an invaluable asset for any dynamic racing organisation. But our new partnership with Stratasys will not only increase our output, but allow us to dynamically explore the cutting-edge of Stratasys’ new 3D printing innovations. It is clear that motorsport’s reliance on rapid prototyping, and the ability to radically cut time to market is increasing, and we look to being well served by our new alliance with Stratasys.”

Andy Middleton, Stratasys European President, said: “The technological precision required to be the best in Formula 1 is a perfect fit for Stratasys. The two companies share a deep passion and commitment to push technology, as we prepare to define the new frontier of 3D printing for Formula 1. We look forward to developing a very close working relationship with McLaren, particularly between our respective application and engineering teams.”