Defying stereotypes, defying expectations, that’s how McLaren helps Accelerate Action

"Happy International Women’s Day to all of the incredible women who empower us today and everyday - #IWD #AccelerateAction #McLaren #F1," read McLaren's special IWD 2025 social media post.

"Defying stereotypes, defying expectations. That’s what Accelerate Action means to McLaren. Celebrating all the incredible women who push McLaren forward," said this progressive company that consistently champions the talent of women.

"Championing all of the incredible women in our Papaya family today and every day - #IWD #AccelerateAction," said another of McLaren's IWD 2025 social media posts.

Melanie is one of many inspirational women working at McLaren

"To be the first female mechanic to have ever worked on the cars... ‘I did that, and I did it all on my own' - #IWD #AccelerateAction,” said an inspiring McLaren IWD 2025 social media post featuring McLaren’s inspiring father-daughter duo, Tony and Melanie. 

Whenever a new starter joins McLaren, they’re given a tour of the factory. Not to show people where the restaurant and coffee machines are, but to educate newcomers on McLaren's impressive history and what it means to work from McLaren.

When Melanie joined McLaren, she didn’t need a tour as she had grown up around the building. Motorsport-obsessed from a young age, Melanie dreamt of working for McLaren and had the ideal role models to learn from: her mum and dad. Both worked at McLaren and had fed her love of motorsport from a young age.

"My first memories of motorsport are of my parents taking me to Silverstone. We would all camp together, and McLaren would have their own grandstand where families from the factory would sit together. I got to watch the car my dad had designed parts for race around the track and win," says Melanie.

Melanie's father had always inspired her with his passion for Formula 1 and the way he brought his designs to life on the car. "The pressure and dedication he brings to his job have been a big influence on me," says Melanie.

Melanie tenaciously followed her own dream and gradually advanced her career as a mechanic. In fact, Melanie became McLaren’s first female trackside mechanic to work on current F1 within the race team.

“One of my proudest achievements is being the first female mechanic to work on a car trackside and to be involved in race weekends,” she says. “I’ve built hybrid and non-hybrid Formula 1 cars for McLaren, and I will never forget those moments. To be the first female mechanic to have ever worked on the cars... ‘I did that, and I did it all on my own. It’s a huge accomplishment for me. Proving to others that I could do it was important."

Now, Melanie works as a Logistics Coordinator at McLaren and continues to enjoy every moment.

Promoting STEM and F1 as an accessible vocation

There are many impressive women working for McLaren. In fact, the company's 2023 Sustainability Report mentioned that 31% of their early careers population were women, which includes apprentices, graduates, interns, and trainees.

"Diversity, equity and inclusion is central to who we are as a team and makes a crucial difference to our performance. We’re working to inspire and enable all talent to build careers in motorsport, STEM and at McLaren Racing. While we, and our sport, have a lot of work to do to meet our goals, we’re already seeing our programmes have an impact by successfully bringing new talent into our team," says McLaren.

The company is a leading voice in sport for diversity, equity and inclusion, and a brand for good, inspiring a new and more diverse generation to pursue careers in motorsport, providing them with the opportunities to achieve their dreams.  By 2030, McLaren wants 40% of its team to be made up of people from underrepresented groups, which includes women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, neurodivergence, the LGBTQ+ community and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. More recently, almost half of the company's new starters came from underrepresented backgrounds. Around 31% of their early career population are now female.   

McLaren runs a 60 Scholars programme which has provided 60 aspiring STEM leaders with technical masterclasses and an event at the MTC featuring talks from women leaders.  Alongside this, the company launched an award-winning Returnship programme, aimed at reigniting the careers of women wanting to return to roles in STEM, with 60% now in permanent positions. McLaren's work also includes partnerships with F1, FIA Girls on Track UK, Creative Access, The Smallpeice Trust, and the Women’s Engineering Society, among others.  McLaren now has around 70 STEM Ambassadors from a variety of backgrounds, working in various technical and non-technical roles, who engage with thousands of students.  

Read about the impressive McLaren Racing Engage initiative. "We aim to tackle the STEM skills shortage, address systemic inequalities and find new ways to open pathways into motorsport careers. This means promoting STEM and F1 as an accessible vocation to under-represented and under-privileged groups and fostering a diverse and inclusive culture within McLaren’s workforce and communities by providing accessibility to young people and under-represented groups. We aim to advance meaningful and sustained change for McLaren Racing as an employer, and F1 as a sport and industry," says McLaren.

McLaren is definitely a leading company that actively helps accelerate action for gender equality on and off the track.  

Go McLaren!