Why F1 thinking makes sense in global disruption

By Mark Rosenberg

Last year, the McLaren Racing team showed us what perfect execution looks like when they returned to the top of the podium after 26 years without a Constructors’ Championship. Watching them again at Silverstone on Sunday, it was clear to me why DP World and McLaren are partners: we share the same high-performance mindset. Success for us both comes from clarity, adaptability and precision, by working together as a collective, not as individuals.

You might say, “Hold on Mark – logistics and Formula 1, isn’t that a bit of a stretch?” But hear me out.

In Formula 1, every fraction of a second counts. There’s no margin for error; everything from tyre pressure to pit stop timing is optimised to perfection. In logistics, especially at the scale we operate at DP World, the requirements are not so different if you think about it.

We transport 10% of the world’s goods, managing thousands of containers, people, and variables. Our customers rely on us for speed of course, but just as much for clarity, precision and adaptability in delivery. In other words, just like McLaren, we must remove friction from every stage of the process, reduce unnecessary waste in our operations, and build robust systems that consistently deliver under pressure.

Our most recent investment decisions in Europe show this in action:

In Southampton, like a pit crew, our teams have every logistical step choreographed to maximise efficiency and eliminate unnecessary downtime for arrivals. Whether that’s pioneering the carbon-cutting Modal Shift Programme - moving 10,000 truck journeys from road to rail - or our £60m investment in four new quay cranes - the biggest in Europe - our innovation at the port shows why it leads the UK in efficiency, well ahead of industry norms.

Then, at London Gateway, we’re expanding while cutting through red tape to prevent delays and ensure we never lose valuable time to unnecessary friction. Our £1 billion investment adds two new shipping berths and a second rail terminal, creating 400 new jobs. And the Local Development Order we secured allows us to move swiftly from agreement to construction within 28 days.

Look also to Romania at Constanța, where we’re investing €130 million in a new RO-RO terminal with dedicated cold chain logistics capability. Or to Bucharest, where our newly launched European Control Tower integrates maritime, road, rail, and air services to streamline supply chains and improve efficiency across the region.

Beyond growing our state-of-the-art infrastructure, we are actively expanding our European freight forwarding and logistics network. By carefully integrating new acquisitions and strategic investments, we’re accelerating our growth to bring our customers seamless, end-to-end logistics solutions.

What am I trying to get at here? Well, as it is in F1, pride is important. McLaren didn’t choose their distinctive papaya orange because they wanted to blend into the monochrome background. They chose it to stand out and express their identity.

That’s what we do at DP World, because in logistics as in racing, performance under pressure matters most, and to perform we need to stand out. Our industry faces constant growing challenges that we are all very familiar with by now: geopolitical shifts, regulatory changes, climate and market volatility. That’s why thinking like a Mclaren F1 team isn’t a marketing ploy; it’s a genuine imperative for logistics professionals to help us manage disruption.

Yes, the analogy between Formula 1 and logistics might sound like a stretch at first. But when you look beneath the surface, the similarities are striking. High performance doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from clarity, precision, and adaptability, every step of the way.