McLaren confirms total summer shutdown

McLaren to close road and race departments during summer shutdown
23.06.2012- Martin Whitmarsh (GBR), Chief Executive Officer Mclaren
23.06.2012- Martin Whitmarsh (GBR), Chief Executive Officer Mclaren
© PHOTO 4

McLaren has confirmed that it will shut down its factory in its entirety during ౠthe F1 summer break, with the road car department also closing alongside its racing 🍸counterpart.

In an effort to reduce costs, all teamไs must close for a 14 day period in the summer break, with McLaren teamꦕ boss Martin Whitmarsh revealing that the new car plant - which only opened last year - will be closed at the same time.

"We are shutting down midnight on Sunday after the Hungarian Grand Prix," he told the Press Association. "As it happens we're also shutting down our﷽ automotive production at the same time, even though we don't need to do it.

"We're not doing it to avoid any aspersions𒅌 being cast by other teams. It is a sepa🦂rate company. I don't know what Ferrari are doing, whether they shut down their automotive side. But I don't have any difficulty, in the submissions they make, that tell me their automotive side will be shut down.

"I don't feel obliged to do it. It's almost 🐈coincidental we are d🐈oing it."

Whitmarsh added that he had initially questione♛d if his team had made the right call to shut down immediately after the Hungarian race, with mos🗹t rivals waiting an extra week before closing.

"We're out of pace with a🌠lmost everyone else," he said. "I did as൩k a few (rivals) why they were doing that. I also asked our people 'have we got it right?'

"Our rationale is it will take two or three days for the cars to return from Budapest, so that's two or three days during the shutdown period where we're not wasting time. It🎃 also means it maxi൩mises the time after our shutdown period to find more performance for the race afterwards at Spa.

"The exception, and it's one we're not planning on, is that if any of the teams has an in꧙cident in Budapest they can apply for dispensation to have a small skeleton team working on the car to ensure they can rebuild in time for Belgium."

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