Akzo Nobel-McLaren partnership

Under the new four-year agreement, AkzoNobel will work closely with McLaren Racing to further develop its extreme environment technology for use in Formula 1 and wider industrial applications.

The announcement of the deal actually coincided with the launch in Berlin of the new MP4-26 Formula 1 car – which features the AkzoNobel logo on the rear wing end plate.

"Our Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 cars, race transporters and garage/pit equipment carry AkzoNobel Sikkens paint, and their super-slick finish is admired by spectators and envied by competitors as a result. Equally, our award-winning McLaren Technology Center in Woking [Surrey, UK] houses equipment whose top-quality gloss finishes are the result of AkzoNobel Sikkens paint.

Now, with an exciting new agreement in place, we will look to further build on the pioneering work which both companies are currently carrying out to develop a next generation of superior coatings products.”

Ron Dennis, Executive Chairman of the of MacLaren Group is delighted to expand the partnership with AkzoNobel: “This has already contributed to several performance and efficiency improvements, including reducing the weight of our F1 car and halving the paint’s curing time. Unparalleled technical expertise is vital to our competitive ethos and we look forward to successfully exploring other areas where we can use our combined innovative strengths.”

The striking new MP4-26, which features a sophisticated, high gloss Sikkens system, is driven by former champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.