McLaren appoints Bell Pottinger for F1 crisis

Bell Pottinger was recently brought in by McLaren to help with alleged “spygate” crisis, in which Ferrari accused McLaren of using stolen documents to gain an unfair advantage over its rival.

Working closely with McLaren’s in house comms team, the Bell Pottinger team, led by Lord Bell and supported by Kevin Murray, Alex Woolfall, Steve Double, Malcolm Munro and Steve Chisholm, flew out to Paris to help advise on McLaren on how to handle what was to become the biggest fine ever levied in sporting history.

The team briefed journalists on the background to the allegations and McLaren’s position on them, as well as organising and running a press conference in Paris for Ron Dennis, Chairman and CEO of McLaren, to give his immediate reaction to the fine imposed by the FIA – the sport’s governing body.

The press conference drew journalists from all over the world and became a lead story on the BBC, ITN and Sky evening news bulletins, as well as attracting blanket media coverage on the news and sports pages of national newspapers across Europe.

Kevin Murray explained: “Our role was to help guide McLaren through an extremely high profile issue, with the world’s media looking on and get their message across that they did not benefit or gain any competitive advantage from leaked materials. Helping clients prepare for and respond to a crisis at short notice, by pulling in skills from across the Group, is what makes us real leaders in this field.”