Carlos Sainz Jr and Lando Norris have agreed to take a pay cut as McLaren looks to curb costs during the coronavirus pandemic.

McLaren has confirmed a group of staff from its racing division have been furloughed. CEO Zak Brown and other senior management have taken pay cuts too.

McLaren is the first team to publicly confirm they have had staff take temporary leave.

“The McLaren Group is temporarily furloughing a number of employees as part of wider cost-cutting measures due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business,” a McLaren spokesperson said.

“These measures are focused on protecting jobs in the short-term to ensure our employees return to full-time work as the economy recovers.”

The temporary leave is being tempered by Government incentives that allow for 80 percent of wages up to a maximum of £2,500 to be paid if those positions are kept open.

Efforts to curb costs have resulted in bringing the annual mandated workshop shutdown forward.

The highly anticipated regulations overhaul that was set to be introduced in 2021 has been pushed back to 2022.

Development on cars has been frozen as well, which will see the current Formula 1 cars that haven’t yet raced be used in 2021.

The first eight races of the Formula 1 season have either been postponed or cancelled, meaning a lengthy delay to the start of the championship.

The Canadian Grand Prix is currently slated to host the season-opener on June 12-14.

Due to the impact of COVID19, the McLaren Group has adopted difficult temporary measures regarding its staff to hopefully protect jobs in the long term. I fully understand these tough decisions and I have obviously decided to take a pay cut. We are all in this together. pic.twitter.com/O2woN7kYKt

— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) April 2, 2020