At McLaren, you only needed to have met Phil ‘The Light’ McLaughlin once to become his friend for life.

Phil, who passed away peacefully at home on Saturday (December 5 2015), was our genial, Irish maintenance man. Phil The Light earned his monicker in his role as the McLaren Technology Centre’s light-fitter – a huge responsibility in a building equipped with more than 16,000 lightbulbs.

Just as importantly, he was somebody who’d always stop and share a chat and a joke as he endlessly made his rounds of the factory. It’s fair to say he was the heart and soul of our workplace.

This promo from 2010 accurately captures Phil’s good-natured approach to life:

All of us at McLaren will greatly miss Phil, and we’d like to pass on our condolences to his family at this time.