TEXT Lejla Avdic | FIRST PUBLISHED IN CHAPTER №X »STATE OF THE ART« – SUMMER 2023/24
A car must appeal to all the senses, because it is not just about driving from A to B. Rather, it is an intense sensory experience in which sight, touch and hearing come together and which should evoke strong emotions, says Tobias Sühlmann, Chief Design Officer at McLaren Automotive. The German automotive designer has been responsible for the design language of the renowned British sports car manufacturer since September 2023 and has ambitious goals. In particular, he wants to establish a new visual expression of a characteristic design DNA that builds on the 60-year motorsport heritage with legendary lightweight supercars, but at the same time takes the brand into a new era – with »Performance by Design« at the center. On the occasion of the chapter photo production with the McLaren 750S, the lightest and most powerful production McLaren of all time, we talked to Tobias Sühlmann about a supercar as a design piece, the (design) language of speed and, of course, his personal design philosophy and strategy for McLaren Automotive.
Photography: David Fischer Assistance: Aurel Salzer Ivan Dobrovolkyi Digital Operator Retouch: Sascha Rebrikov Prompting: David Fischer, Sascha Rebrikov Studio: Oatmilk
Chapter You have been McLaren’s Chief Designer since September 2023. How will your personal design philosophy and signature change the design of the brand?
Tobias Sühlmann When a new Chief Designer joins a company, this naturally always means a change for the future design language of the brand. For me, it was important that the McLaren brand and its heritage are at the heart of what we do – at the same time, we are embarking on a new design era, with new vehicles, more product differentiation and with »Performance by Design« at the center.
Chapter To what extent can we expect this new era to bring design even more into the focus of McLaren product development in the future?
Tobias Sühlmann We already work very closely with our engineering department, more so than I have experienced with other manufacturers, and I would like to develop this relationship even further in the future. To develop a high-performance sports car, the individual teams – Engineering, the Aero Dynamic Team and ourselves – have to work hand in hand, and that’s exactly what McLaren has done over the last ten years. It’s a real team effort to bring a super sports car like the 750S to life.
Chapter Let’s stay with the 750S – what design aspects or features of this model would you particularly like to emphasize?
Tobias Sühlmann The 750S is indeed an amazing design piece. The front view is defined by two symmetrical main elements with horizontal alignment and the typical low front. This is a typical feature of the 750S design. The rear view is defined by an open rear – a design feature introduced with the McLaren F1 and found on virtually all modern McLaren supercars. Both brand-typical design elements can be found on the 750S.
Chapter Which other design elements in the vehicle do you consider »typical McLaren« or quotes from racing history and which features can be defined as new, perhaps even progressive and innovative?
Tobias Sühlmann A very typical element is the pronounced shoulders and the short rear overhang. These are design elements that we see in all McLaren cars over time. If we want to look to the future together, we are defining some new features, for example advanced aero targets, which can lead to completely new shapes.
Chapter For this look into the future, McLaren also introduced the new design philosophy »Performance by Design« at the beginning of 2024, based on 5 core principles (Epic – Athletic – Functional – Focussed – Intelligent), which will determine the next generations of McLaren supercars and hypercars. To what extent does the 750S already reflect those brand attributes?
Tobias Sühlmann Epic: The butterfly doors of the 750S Coupé swing dramatically upwards when opened. Athletic: Efficient packaging of the high-performance drivetrain and chassis components. Functional: Innovative approaches to advanced aerodynamics and cooling, as in the double-walled doors of the McLaren 750S. Focused: The new driver-centric, steering column-mounted instrument display, flanked by rocker switches to control Active Dynamic settings, is a McLaren innovation that allows chassis and powertrain modes to be changed with your hands on the steering wheel. Intelligent: The exclusive new McLaren Control Launcher (MCL) function allows the driver to save a preferred combination of aerodynamic, handling, powertrain and transmission settings and recall them at the touch of a button.
Chapter And what makes good design for you personally?
Tobias Sühlmann A clear design that allows you to recognize the brand of a vehicle without having to search for a logo.
