McLaren Racing, the two-time reigning Formula 1 constructors' champion, has joined the Hedera (HBAR) Council as a full governing member, gaining equal voting rights alongside Google, IBM, FedEx, and roughly 35 other enterprise institutions.
The team has simultaneously launched a free-to-claim digital collectibles program on the Hedera network, with drops timed to individual F1 and IndyCar race weekends throughout 2026.
HBAR, Hedera's native token, was trading around $0.095 Wednesday, up about 2% on the day but still roughly 83% below its all-time high of $0.569 reached in September 2021.
The council seat gives McLaren a formal role in governing Hedera's software and services development.
The Hedera Council operates on a one-member, one-vote model designed to prevent any single entity from controlling the network.
McLaren's addition brings a major consumer sports brand into a roster that has previously skewed toward enterprise, logistics, and financial services.
A Fan Engagement Play With Governance Attached
McLaren's first practical use of the Hedera network is MCL/COLLECT, a series of four sets of six free-to-claim digital collectibles released at race weekends across the 2026 season.
The first drop covered the Australian Grand Prix; the second coincided with the Chinese GP; the third is scheduled for this weekend's Japanese GP.
Completed sets enter holders into prize draws for items including McLaren Technology Centre tours and signed merchandise.
The collectibles are accessible through both native Hedera wallets and Web2 social sign-on wallets, targeting fans without existing cryptocurrency experience.
McLaren's own web page for the program notes these are "unregulated crypto assets" whose value "may go up or down."
Read also: Congress Says Tokenized Securities Need Full Regulation
A Growing Roster, a Recovering Token
FedEx joined the Hedera Council last month, and McLaren's addition continues a push to diversify the council's profile beyond traditional enterprise verticals.
Hedera describes the council as a 39-member rotating body spanning finance, energy, technology, and academia, with term limits intended to prevent entrenchment.
McLaren's leadership is also set to appear at HederaCon on May 4 in Miami Beach, an event scheduled alongside the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix and Consensus 2026.
Read next: Why IBIT's Record Run Changes Market Math Forever