Car enthusiasts will know McLaren, the company which makes supercars like the 720S and the P1. Racing fans will definitely know McLaren, the team with 182 F1 race wins, second only to Ferrari (that’s a story for another day). McLaren is the only team ever to have won F1, the 24 Hours of Le Mans AND the Indy 500! But the tale of how McLaren attained all this success is interesting and it all started with a boy from New Zealand who decided to build a racecar.
In 1952, Bruce McLaren, at the age of just 14, restored a car and entered his first-ever race in Auckland, New Zealand. His talent was spotted by the racing world and in 1959, at just 22, Bruce got a drive in F1. He won the US Grand Prix to become, at the time, the youngest ever winner- a record for 44 years. However, Bruce was not just a superb racing driver but had talent in engineering and management. This drove him to set up Bruce McLaren Motor Racing in 1963. In 1966, the team entered their first-ever race at the Monaco Grand Prix, with Bruce himself driving. It was the beginning of something truly special.
Success soon came, as Bruce won the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix and his teammate, world champion and fellow Kiwi Denny Hulme won two more races. 1969 was another strong year for the team, with 5 podiums, including a win for Hulme. However, tragedy struck in 1970. While testing a car, Bruce crashed and lost his life. “It would be a waste of life to do nothing with one's ability, for I feel that life is measured in achievement, not in years alone”, Bruce said. That holds especially true for the man himself.
McLaren Racing remained dedicated to Bruce’s dream however and raced on. 1973 brought success, as that year’s McLaren M23 was quite competitive and won 3 races. In 1974, Brazilian champion Emerson Fittipaldi joined the team. He took 3 wins and went on to win the 1974 world championship. McLaren also won the first of its teams’ championships and the prestigious Indy 500. 1975 was somewhat less successful for McLaren as Fittipaldi finished second behind Ferrari’s quick Austrian driver Niki Lauda. Emerson left the team at the end of the year and the team needed a replacement. They turned to the flamboyant, somewhat alcoholic and slightly cigarette-addicted British driver, James Hunt for 1976.
Hunt was a legend of the sport and in his McLaren M23 fought a titanic battle with Ferrari’s Lauda. In the torrential rain at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix, with a backdrop of the magnificent Mount Fuji, Hunt clinched the world championship. The battle between the two is legendary and watching the movie “Rush” helps get a sense of its magnitude. In the following years, results began to fall slightly. McLaren lost out to the Lauda-Ferrari combo in 1977. The next two years were poor for McLaren and Hunt was dropped after 1978. For 1980, Frenchman Alain Prost joined the team but left after a poor year. In 1981 however, a major change occurred in the setup.
McLaren merged with the Ron Dennis-led Project Four racing under coercion from their sponsors Marlboro. Their designers had the revolutionary idea of building the car out of carbon fiber. With new cash injections, this was possible and the MP4/1 was built. The car achieved four podiums including a win and McLaren was back on their upward trajectory in 1981. Niki Lauda joined the team for the 1982 season and each driver won two races. 1983 saw only one win for McLaren. 1984 saw Prost return to the team to join Lauda. This time, in the McLaren MP4/2, the teammates fought for the championship. Lauda prevailed by half a point over Prost and McLaren claimed the teams’ championship. 1985 went to Prost and McLaren, who dominated and took both championships. For 1986, McLaren managed second in the team standings but Prost sneaked through to win the championship. 1987 saw McLaren finish a distant second. 1988 was, however, a pivotal year for McLaren, with two major changes. McLaren made the decision to use the Japanese Honda engines and hired a young Brazilian driver by the name of Ayrton Senna.
The 1988 McLaren MP4/4 was all-conquering, winning 15 races in total. Senna and Prost battled for the championship and the Brazilian claimed the title in the end. 1989 saw McLaren take both championships with ease again, with Prost winning this time. Prost left for Ferrari and Senna was partnered by Austrian Gerhard Berger. Ferrari challenged McLaren for both titles in 1990 but McLaren and Senna came out on top once more. In 1991, they won both titles again. This period is regarded as McLaren’s golden era, as the team and their Brazilian star became synonymous with racing as a whole. McLaren lost their touch in 1992, going down to the second. 1992 was also the year that production began for their race-inspired road car, the McLaren F1, at the time, the fastest in the world. Honda withdrew from the sport as McLaren switched to Ford. In 1993, McLaren gave Mika Häkkinen a drive. Senna and McLaren were second place and the Brazilian left the team after 1993. 1994 was another average year with no wins. For 1995, McLaren took another major decision.
McLaren partnered German manufacturer Mercedes from 1995. For 1996, Häkkinen was partnered by Scottish driver David Coulthard. McLaren endured a third straight winless season. 1997 saw new sponsorship on the McLaren MP4/12 and wins finally returned as they picked up 3. 1998 saw McLaren return to glory after a few average seasons. The main challenger was Ferrari and their German superstar Michael Schumacher. Häkkinen won 8 races to win the world championship and Coulthard helped McLaren win the teams’ championship. Häkkinen won the championship in 1999 as well but unreliability meant McLaren. Things went Ferrari's way from 2000 onwards. Schumacher and Ferrari took both titles in 2000 as McLaren was second place. 2001 again went the Italian team’s way as Häkkinen retired and was replaced by fellow Finn, Kimi Räikkönen. This brings us closer to the modern era of McLaren.
Ferrari dominated 2002 and won both titles again. McLaren could only score one win. 2003 saw the Finn pose a serious challenge to Schumacher. Thanks to unreliability at crucial moments, Räikkönen lost out by just two points. 2004 was another year dominated by the Ferrari juggernaut as Räikkönen only won a single race. 2005 saw the rise of Renault and Fernando Alonso. Once again, unreliability saw Räikkönen lose. 2006 was an average year, but Vodafone sponsorship financially helped the team. For 2007, a brand new lineup of double world champion Alonso and rookie Lewis Hamilton. After a tumultuous year, Alonso unceremoniously departed. Both drivers were just one point behind the champion, Räikkönen, for Ferrari. 2008 saw a serious challenge from Hamilton for the championship and he won by a single point. 2009, with new rule changes, saw a mediocre year for McLaren, with just one win.
2009 champion Jenson Button was hired to drive. 2010 saw the rise of Red Bull Racing and another German maestro, Sebastian Vettel. From 2010 to 2012, McLaren was consistently fast but could not win the championship. Hamilton left at the end of 2012. 2013 saw a decline, as they fell down the grid. In 2015, McLaren joined Honda in an attempt to relive the old days and hired their old friend Alonso. Unfortunately, the Honda years were quite disastrous. McLaren turned to Renault engines in 2018 and brought a youthful driver lineup for 2019, topped the midfield and are on an upward wave.
McLaren is a legendary name in the racing world with twelve drivers’ championships and eight teams’ championships. They are the second oldest racing team in history. McLaren has also made a name for themselves in the automotive world. All that success carries the name of a young man from New Zealand who believed that a kiwi could fly. Losing Bruce shattered the McLaren team. Despite that, they went racing. And they became champions. That is the story of McLaren.
Good one ,
an article for car enthusiasts , something worth a try !!!