McLaren have announced the creation of a new alliance as part of the F1 team's commitment to increasing diversity in motorsport.
To be known as McLaren Racing Engage, the F1 team is forming an alliance with the Women's Engineering Society (WES), EqualEngineers, The Smallpeice Trust and Creative Access to "advance the team's diversity, equality and inclusion agenda as part of its broader sustainability programme, including its commitment to F1's WeRaceAsOne platform".
There are a number of goals for the alliance, with a programme of initiative planned over multiple years.
The shared agenda will promote STEM and F1 as being accessible to under-privileged and under-represented groups, contribute to a diverse and inclusive culture within McLaren's workforce, and help advance lasting change for the team and motorsport industry.
"McLaren Racing is fuelled by brave innovation, but brave innovation relies on diversity of thought and experience across all levels and functions, reflective of our fans, our partners and our communities," said McLaren CEO Zak Brown.
"By investing in grassroots talent through these STEM initiatives, mentorship and inclusive development programmes, we aim to inspire the future generations of talent by fuelling their passion for engineering and F1.
"In doing so, we strive to become a more diverse and inclusive team and sport through our commitment to F1's WeRaceAsOne platform."
Among a number of long-term plans, McLaren and WES will launch a reciprocal mentorship programme for McLaren Racing's female engineers and WES mentees, while together with the Smallpeice Trust, the team will co-design a custom STEM challenge day to introduce students to engineering.