If you've ever dropped a shoulder on the M8 and thought you shouldn't be racing down the motorway (you shouldn't be racing down the motorway), then McLaren's latest job listing could well be your ticket to the open road. The only caveat: you will have to relocate to the UK to realise your lofty ambition…
Recently reposted to its LinkedIn page, the British marque is hiring a Senior Test Driver at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC), the world-famous facility some 40 kilometres south of London.
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Reporting directly to the Chief Test Driver, the successful candidate is an absolute gun behind the wheel; someone capable of driving at the limit while maintaining almost absurd levels of consistency. The brief calls for repeated hot laps using the same line and the same driving style, with lap-time degradation kept within the effects of tyre and engine wear. After all, you’re there to develop the next generation of McLaren road cars, not take over Piastri’s seat.
According to the listing, more than 75% of the job is spent away from the McLaren campus at test circuits and proving grounds; your new office could be Silverstone one week, Spa the next, and Nardò after that. The job listing also namechecks Hockenheim, Paul Ricard, Castellolí, and Alcarràs, so there is a fairly serious amount of frequent-flyer mileage involved.
And whilst the title immediately sounds like the dream job on paper, sending W1s, Arturas, and everything in between down some non-descript English thoroughfare, the reality is considerably more technical.
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McLaren wants more feedforward control, where the driver anticipates what the car is going to do and makes the appropriate input before an instability develops, with feedback control reserved for recovering the car when something has already gone wrong.
In other words, the job isn't about seeing how late you can brake into Turn 1 before making a mess of it. It's about knowing exactly what the car is going to do before you arrive at Turn 1 in the first place.
And for that, extensive motorsport experience is required, with GT3, DTM, WRC2, or higher-level competition specifically listed; Nürburgring Nordschleife specialist preferable. You also need a deep understanding of car set-up and the ability to work with chassis and drivetrain engineers to extract whatever performance the vehicle is supposed to deliver.
There's an obvious connection to the other McLaren operation based around the corner, too, but McLaren Racing's F1 team has former F1 racer Will Stevens to replicate the distinct driving styles of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the simulator. Because even small differences in inputs can influence the outcome of a test.
So if you have a GT3, DTM or WRC2 career sitting quietly on your CV, a working knowledge of the Nordschleife, and an alarming ability to drive the same corner identically for six consecutive hours, McLaren would like a word. For the rest of us, there is always the M8.