British racing giant McLaren has collaborated with Racing Unleashed to launch a new motion simulator for sim racing.
McLaren, who are leading both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships in Formula One, have a big presence in the sim racing scene.
The motorsport marque has joined up with Swiss sim racing hardware manufacturer Racing Unleashed to launch the simulator which is described as a ‘breakthrough in racing simulation technology’.
Built at Racing Unleashed’s facility in Maranello, Italy, it features a carbon fibre chassis, a replica McLaren Formula One steering wheel, and a Three Degrees of Freedom Motion (3DOF) system for enhanced realism.
It’s said that it will provide sim racers and McLaren fans an ‘unparalleled racing experience’.
Matt Dennington, Co-Chief Commercial Officer of McLaren Racing, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Racing Unleashed to be able to bring a new experience to racing fans.
“It’s an exciting proposition to be replicating our race cars for the sim space and give users an extremely accurate representation of what it is like to drive the real thing.”
McLaren’s simulator comes seven months after fellow F1 team Aston Martin announced their own luxury motion simulator.
Aston Martin’s simulator was available to the public in a limited run, costing between £70,000 to £100,000.
Likewise, McLaren’s simulator will cost a lot of money. McLaren’s simulator is priced online at a net price of 120,000 Swiss francs (£108,000), excluding VAT, taxes, and transport.
McLaren Racing and its presence in esports
McLaren Racing has been active in sim racing since 2017 and achieved success.
The team has held a regular presence in the Formula One Sim Racing World Championship and in 2022, achieved a drivers’ and constructors’ championship double.
Lucas Blakeley won four races to win the drivers’ championship, and together with former teammate Bari Boroumand, helped McLaren win the constructors’ title.
Last week, McLaren Shadow announced that Blakeley would leave the team after three seasons together.
The Scottish sim racer and boyhood McLaren fan finished 15th in the championship with McLaren in 2025.
Sim racing has faced challenges in matching real-world motorsport’s immersion. However, McLaren and Racing Unleashed aim for their simulator to raise the standard for sim racing realism.
Kieran Lynch is an esports journalist who writes about several games including EA Sports FC 25, Call of Duty, Rainbox Six Siege, and more. He previously worked as a sports journalist for MailOnline.
