The McLaren Technology Campus was designed to project serenity. The architecture and landscaping encourage mindfulness; the interiors have the warmth and atmospherics of a grand public library – though occasionally the campus will play host to the sort of experience not usually associated with a seat of learning. Such was the case earlier this month when the Thought Leadership Centre (TLC) hosted the McLaren Shadow Project finals.

Located at the heart of the campus, the TLC is a flexible space; one week hosting a medical conference; the next a live McLaren Formula 1 car launch. For the Shadow Project finals, it transformed into a gaming arena with the state-of-the-art lighting array operating at the more dynamic end of the colour palette and the 360° wraparound LED wall firing at maximum capacity. Drum and bass soaked the auditorium as hundreds of backstage crew built stages and rehearsed a live production that saw the seven finalists, whittled down from 500,000+ original competitors, compete for the title.

Esports moves fast. McLaren were the first F1 team to embrace the genre, running the World’s Fastest Gamer contest in 2017. That tournament culminated in two weeks of finals at the end of the year and a promise to come back bigger and better in 2018. We kept that promise with the launch of the Shadow Project last summer. This contest would be more accessible, more inclusive and spread across more gaming platforms – and it would culminate in a finals programme compressed down to a dramatic few days. The prize on offer was a place for 2019 on the McLaren Shadow Team.

“I don’t think anyone’s got much sleep this week,” confesses Ben Payne, McLaren’s Director of esports, ahead of the grand final. “31,000 people took part in World’s Fastest Gamer but this year we’ve had over a half a million entrants from across the globe. We had semi-finals at the end of last year, and we have the best of the very best here this week. Seven competed last night and now we’re down to the final three who will race-off for the seat and the trophy tonight.”

The TLC was constructed with live TV and streaming in mind, and thus didn’t suffer the indignities of cabling and chaos that characterise outside broadcasts. It was, however, home for the week to a production crew hundreds strong, responsible for creating the live show. The bulk of these – around 60 crew members – were from gaming broadcast agency Attention Seekers – past-masters of the esports live event. They began initial planning for the event as early as last April. It was their decision to use the full scope of facilities at the TLC. The first night of the final was hosted in the lower-floor theatre, before the action moved upstairs the following evening to the main auditorium, venue for the grand final.

Samantha Georges is Attention Seekers Strategy Lead.

“It’s a beautiful space to work in but it does have some challenges. The auditorium was brilliant for three players but not for the wider field, which is why we took that into the theatre. It’s been really interesting to plan a shoot in the auditorium, getting as many angles as possible, lighting it in the best way we can. I think it looks beautiful on screen – but designing that was difficult.

“It’s crucial to cater both to the audience in the room and people watching the stream at home. The whole point of having the livestream is building a universe of people watching globally – and getting the graphics and shots right for them is a priority – but if you don’t cater for the audience in the room, then the production feels disjointed. Conversely, a hyped-up and engaged live audience really enhances the livestream.

“The final thing to consider is that we aren’t only catering for the audience. We have to engage with the players and maintain the integrity of gaming in how we present this.”

The driving rigs on the stages represented only a small number of the machines set-up in the TLC. The driver rooms, green rooms, backstage areas, even the TLC café all featured rigs, tempting people in with softly glowing Alienware symbols and the promise of five minutes’ immersive entertainment on a range of games spanning both familiar console juggernauts and hyper-realistic PC sims. They proved very popular with McLaren staff, many of whom found time to help out and test the equipment during their lunch breaks and after work – but the real stars on timesheets were, of course, the existing members of the Shadow Team.

Bono Huis is a five times Formula Sim Racing champion and winner of the Formula E Vegas tournament. As a member of the Shadow Team, he represented McLaren in the recent F1 Esports Series.

“Live competition is different – you have to get used to it – but at the end of the day, driving in front of an audience is always better than driving alone in your bedroom. Personally, I enjoy the pressure and having to deliver on stage – but you have to deal with the distractions.

“The F1 Esports Series was unusual because it was held in a cinema and you were facing the crowd, with them looking right in your eye but, if anything, this will be more intimidating because you’re right there in the middle of the room surrounded by the audience. You are quite literally the centre of attention. It’ll be interesting to see who can turn that off and get into the zone.”

The drivers aren’t the only ones under pressure. Rehearsals for the one-hour evening show take up the whole day, with directors, floor managers and technicians rushing around, endlessly refining the programme. Scripts are timed, camera movements blocked out, technology tested. Does the central dais rotate correctly? Is there space on it for the full trophy presentation party? Are those pyrotechnics a little too close to the stage?

Co-hosts Nicki Shields and Mike Channell are brought into the auditorium relatively late in the day, once the technical presentation has been locked-down. They run through their introductions and the closing presentation, and then they do it again, and again and again. How long does 70 seconds of intro take to perfect? How long do you have? The script is tweaked and transferred to autocue (though ad-lib during the live show is encouraged) and, an hour before show time, everyone professes themselves happy.

“It’s a huge team that puts this together,” says Mike, a presenter on the Outside Xbox YouTube channel, and a keen racing fan. “Working at McLaren is very easy because the auditorium is built for this. The only difficulty is that it’s really distracting! There’s so much history, and everywhere you go there are trophies to look at and amazing cars.

“The tournament is unique in esports. It’s something only McLaren could do, with the biometric data analysis element from McLaren Applied Technologies, and track testing in a 570S GT4 car from McLaren Automotive. It’s a dream come true for the competitors – but presenting that in a way that does it justice is quite the challenge.”

The livestream broadcast has a full team of on-screen talent, with Nicki and Mike complemented by shoutcasters Alie Tacq and Alex ‘Goldenboy’ Mendez, and reporter Frankie Ward.

Ward, a familiar face in the esports world, looks on Shadow Project as something a little out-of-the-ordinary. “Working on this is different. The drivers know that they’re in a job interview as well as a competition, which makes it special. I also like that it’s so data-intensive. The Huami wearable technology is a really good idea and seeing the drivers’ heart-rate on screen is a great innovation. Seeing those jump into the 150bpm range during a moments of tension really adds to the drama, and conveys to the audience what the drivers are going through.”

Come showtime, the production goes smoothly, albeit the sort of smoothly that requires a huge collective effort in the background. Afterwards its smiles and high-fives for the crew – but, with the champion, Igor Fraga, clutching his trophy, and the audience filing out – ushered rather unsubtlety by Michael Jackson’s Beat It – not everyone has finished for the day. Gaming Vlogger Theo Thomas, better known as BlackPanthaa, is still monitoring and posting on social media.

“It’s been a crazy-busy few days, watching and posting on socials and also recording behind the scenes – but it’s been good fun.

“McLaren’s concept is still in the early stages of its evolution but it’s fantastic to see because it gives these guys a chance to do their dream job – a chance they wouldn’t ordinarily have. There’s so many games involved and so many fans of those different games brought together. It's the gaming community and the racing community, and many markets combining. There are people coming in from having no wider interest outside their favourite racing game to suddenly being a fan of McLaren. It’s a fantastic event – and it will only get stronger.”