Just a year after entering the WorldTour and taking aim at winning the Tour de France, car manufacturer McLaren look likely to wind down their activity and sponsorship at Bahrain-McLaren at the end of the year.
Financial pressures resulting from the coronavirus pandemic have shown that the British company suffered massive monetary losses in recent months, with 1,200 workers at its UK base abandoned before this spring. Drivers and staff in Bahrain-McLaren agreed to pay deferred bills of up to 70% by this year for an agreed 3-month period, as the team seeks to avoid monetary problems, and Cyclingnews understands that those deferred wages are not paid in full. The team will end the year with 75% of their annual salary after the team’s owner, Array Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, has ensured that it will keep the equipment running until 2021.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes he is striving to find a new sponsor if the automaker ends his commitment to cycling.
“The team is on something else, but they haven’t discovered anything concrete,” a source close to the team told Cyclingnews. “The Prince still supports things, but he’s practically the only one keeping the team alive right now. McLaren aims to maintain his F1 project.
“The point of deferring others for those who have less money, however, the plan is that at the end of the year, things are balanced so that wages are about 75%. There was a convention last week, and no one knew what to do. Some idea that wage deferments would remain at 75% for everything that happens with McLaren”.
Bahrain’s royal circle of relatives owns most of McLaren’s shares, however, monetary pressures on both entities have been immense in recent months. McLaren’s earnings increased from $217.7 million in 2019 to $136.2 million in 2020, according to Forbes, while the brand’s ante-tax losses increased 600% to $165.6 million. He also reported in late June that McLaren had won a 150 million pound loan from the Bank of Bahrain, but even that might not be enough to save McLaren’s position on the cycling team.
Rod Ellingworth, Bahrain-McLaren’s Team Principal, would not go into detail or confirm whether McLaren would be part of the team next year. He told Cyclingnews that the team were actively seeking sponsorship but that this was business as normal as the team constantly looks for additional investment.
“We’re consistent and we’re in smart discussions with people, but it’s coming down anyway,” Ellingworth told Cyclingnews.
“McLaren still owns part of the team, throughout Bahrain and we’ll run in a few weeks with McLaren in the jersey. We know this has been a very difficult time for many companies. McLaren has been going through some time lately, but we’re going through it like this.”
A spokesman for the McLaren Group told Cyclingnews: “We are working hard with the Bahrain McLaren team to prepare for the resumption of cycling. As with all our activities, we are running to assess the suitability and scope of the logo for a global audience.”
The cycling team upped their budget for 2020, signing a raft of riders including Mark Cavendish, Wout Poels, and Tour de France podium contender, Mikel Landa. The team also courted Chris Froome but the four-time Tour de France winner eventually signed for Israel Start-Up Nation. The financial impact from COVID-19 has seen several teams take measures to stabilise their operations with Mitchelton-Scott, and Lotto Soudal among the teams that agreed on pay cuts with their athletes.
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