McLaren Racing Limited is a British
motor racing
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
team based at the
McLaren Technology Centre
The McLaren Technology Centre is the headquarters of the McLaren Group and its subsidiaries, located on a 500,000 m2 (50-hectare) site in Woking, Surrey, England. The complex consists of two buildings: the original McLaren Technology Centre, ...
in
Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formula One team after
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
, having won races, 12
Drivers' Championships and 8
Constructors' Championships. McLaren also has a history of competing in
American open wheel racing
American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar.
Competitive events ...
, as both an entrant and a chassis constructor, and has won the
Canadian-American Challenge Cup
The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an Sports Car Club of America, SCCA/Canadian Auto Sport Clubs, CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987.
History
Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two r ...
(Can-Am)
sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...
championship. The team is a subsidiary of the
McLaren Group
The McLaren Group is a British holding company based in Woking, England, which is involved in Formula One and other motorsport and the manufacture of luxury cars.
The group was founded by Ron Dennis shortly after his acquisition of the McLaren ...
, which owns a majority of the team.
Founded in 1963 by New Zealander
Bruce McLaren
Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor.
His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...
, the team won its first Grand Prix at the
1968 Belgian Grand Prix, but their greatest initial success was in Can-Am, which they dominated from 1967 to 1971. Further American triumph followed, with Indianapolis 500 wins in McLaren cars for
Mark Donohue in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
and
Johnny Rutherford
John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in 3 ...
in
1974 and
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
. After Bruce McLaren died in a testing accident in 1970,
Teddy Mayer
Edward Everett Mayer (September 8, 1935 – January 30, 2009) was an American motor racing entrepreneur who was successful in several categories of racing, including Formula One and IndyCars.
Life and career
Mayer was born in Scranton, Pen ...
took over and led the team to their first Formula One Constructors' Championship in , with
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
and
James Hunt
James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) ''Autocourse Grand Prix Archive'', 14 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007. was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in . After retiring from racing in ...
winning the Drivers' Championship in 1974 and respectively. 1974 also marked the start of a long-standing sponsorship by the
Marlboro
Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Mar ...
cigarette brand.
In 1981, McLaren merged with
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British people, British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder ...
'
Project Four Racing
Project Four Racing was a British Formula Two and Formula Three team. The team was founded in 1976 by former Brabham mechanic Ron Dennis. At the end of 1980, the team merged with the McLaren Formula One team.
The team name lived on in the des ...
; Dennis took over as team principal, and shortly afterwards organised a buyout of the original McLaren shareholders to take full control of the team. This began the team's most successful era; with
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
and
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
engines,
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
,
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...
, and
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...
won seven Drivers' Championships between them and the team took six Constructors' Championships. The combination of Prost and Senna was particularly dominant—together they won all but one race in —but later their rivalry soured and Prost left for Ferrari. Fellow English team
Williams offered the most consistent challenge during this period, the two winning every constructors' title between and . By the mid-1990s, Honda had withdrawn from Formula One, Senna had moved to Williams, and the team went three seasons without a win. With
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
engines,
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
sponsorship, and former Williams designer
Adrian Newey
Adrian Martin Newey, (born 26 December 1958) is a British Formula One engineer. He is currently the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing F1 team.
Newey has worked in both Formula One and IndyCar racing as a race engineer, aerodynami ...
, further championships came in and with driver
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three Fo ...
, and during the 2000s the team were consistent front-runners, with driver
Lewis Hamilton
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...
taking their latest title in .
Ron Dennis retired as McLaren team principal in 2009, handing over to long-time McLaren employee
Martin Whitmarsh
Martin Richard Whitmarsh (born 29 April 1958) is a British businessman and Group CEO of the Aston Martin Performance Technologies team since 21 September 2021.
Whitmarsh is best known to motorsport insiders, media and fans for his long and succ ...
. At the end of 2013, after the team's worst season since 2004, Whitmarsh was ousted. McLaren announced in 2013 that they would be using
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
engines from 2015 onwards, replacing Mercedes-Benz. The team raced as McLaren Honda for the first time since 1992 at the
2015 Australian Grand Prix. In September 2017, McLaren announced they had agreed on an engine supply with
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
from 2018 to 2020. McLaren is using Mercedes-Benz engines from the 2021 season until at least 2024.
After initially returning to the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
in
2017 as a backer of
Andretti Autosport
Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti ...
to run
Fernando Alonso and then in
2019 as an independent entry, McLaren announced in August 2019 that they would run in conjunction with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports starting in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
to run the full
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
, the combined entry being named
Arrow McLaren SP
The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren Racing competes under the banner of Arrow McLaren SP. This entry is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former driver Sam Schmidt as Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Fellow ex-driver Davey Hamilton joined ...
. Initially having no ownership interest in the team, McLaren would purchase 75% of the operation in 2021.
McLaren entered the electric
off-road racing
Off-road racing is a form of motorsports consisting of specially-modified vehicles including cars, SUVs, trucks, motorbikes, quadbikes and buggies racing in off-road environments (e.g. snow, dirt, mud, etc.).
North America Desert racing
Desert ...
series
Extreme E
Extreme E is an FIA-sanctioned international off-road racing series that uses spec silhouette electric SUVs to race in remote parts of the world, such as the Saudi Arabian desert or the Arctic. All racing locations are chosen to raise awarenes ...
in
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
and will join
Formula E in the
2022-23 season.
History
![McLarenBruce](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/McLarenBruce.jpg)
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing was founded in 1963 by New Zealander
Bruce McLaren
Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor.
His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...
.
Bruce was a
works
Works may refer to:
People
* Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach
* Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician
Albums
* '' ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album)'', a Pink Floyd album from 1983
* ''Works'', a Gary Burton album ...
driver for the British
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
team
Cooper
Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to:
* Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels
Arts and entertainment
* Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads
* Cooper (video game character), in ...
with whom he had won three
Grands Prix and come second in the World Championship. Wanting to compete in the
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
n
Tasman Series
The Tasman Series (formally the Tasman Championship for Drivers)Tasman Championship for Drivers, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport with National Competition Rules 1974, pages 80 to 83 was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 ove ...
, Bruce approached his employers, but when team owner Charles Cooper insisted on using 1.5-litre Formula One-specification engines instead of the 2.5-litre motors permitted by the Tasman rules, Bruce decided to set up his own team to run him and his prospective Formula One teammate
Timmy Mayer
Timothy Andrew Mayer (February 22, 1938 – February 28, 1964) was a racecar driver from Dalton, Pennsylvania in the United States. He participated in one World Championship Formula One Grand Prix, on October 7, 1962. He retired with ignition fa ...
with custom-built Cooper cars.
Bruce won the
1964 series, but Mayer was killed in practice for the final race at the
Longford Circuit
The Longford Circuit was a temporary motor racing course laid out on public roads at Longford, south-west of Launceston in Tasmania, Australia. It was located on the northern edges of the town and its lap passed under a railway line viaduct ...
in
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
. When Bruce McLaren approached Teddy Mayer to help him with the purchase of the Zerex sports car from Roger Penske, Teddy Mayer and Bruce McLaren began discussing a business partnership resulting in Teddy Mayer buying in to Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited (BMMR) ultimately becoming its largest shareholder.
The team was based in
Feltham
Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party ...
in 1963–1964, and from 1965 until 1981 in
Colnbrook
Colnbrook is a village in the Slough district in Berkshire, England. It lies within the historic boundaries of Buckinghamshire, and straddles two distributaries of the Colne, the Colne Brook and Wraysbury River. These two streams have their co ...
, England. The team also held a
British licence. Despite this, Bruce never used the traditional
British racing green
British racing green, or BRG, is a colour similar to ''Brunswick green'', ''hunter green'', ''forest green'' or '' moss green'' ( RAL 6005). It takes its name from the green international motor racing colour of the United Kingdom. This origina ...
on his cars. Instead, he used colour schemes that were not based on
national principles (e.g. his first car, the
McLaren M2B
The McLaren M2B was the McLaren team's first Formula One racing car, used during the 1966 season. It was conceived in 1965 and preceded by the M2A development car. Designed by Robin Herd, the innovative but problematic Mallite material was us ...
, was painted white with a green stripe, to represent a fictional Yamura team in
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits were ''Birdman of Alcatraz'' (1962), '' The Manchurian Candidate'' ( ...
's film ''
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
'').
During this period, Bruce drove for his team in
sports car races
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
in the United Kingdom and North America and also entered the
1965 Tasman Series with
Phil Hill, but did not win it. He continued to drive in Grands Prix for Cooper, but judging that team's form to be waning, decided to race his own cars in 1966.
Racing history: Formula One
Early days (1966–1967)
![McLarenBruce19690801](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/McLarenBruce19690801.jpg)
Bruce McLaren made the team's Grand Prix debut at the
1966 Monaco race (of the current Formula One teams only
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
is older).
His race ended after nine laps due to a terminal oil leak.
The car was the
M2B designed by
Robin Herd
Robert John "Robin" Herd (23 March 1939 – 4 June 2019) was an English engineer, designer and businessman.
Herd studied at St Peter's College, Oxford, having turned down an offer to play cricket for Worcestershire at the age of 18. He initia ...
, but the programme was hampered by a poor choice of engines: a 3.0-litre version of
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
's
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
engine and a
Serenissima
aSerenissima ( heMost Serene) may refer to:
Certain countries
* , a name for the Republic of Venice
* , the official Latin name of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Art, entertainment, and media
* La Serenissima (musical ensemble), a Britis ...
V8 were used, the latter scoring the team's first point in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
, but both were underpowered and unreliable.
For Bruce decided to use a
British Racing Motors
British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...
(BRM)
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines.
The fi ...
, but due to delays with the engine, was forced initially to use a modified
Formula Two
Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...
car called the
M4B powered by a 2.1-litre BRM V8, later building a similar but slightly larger car called the
M5A for the V12.
Neither car brought great success, the best result being a fourth at
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
.
Ford-Cosworth DFV engines (1968–1982)
For , after driving McLaren's sole entry for the previous two years, Bruce was joined by 1967 champion and fellow New Zealander
Denny Hulme
Denis Clive Hulme (18 June 1936 – 4 October 1992), commonly known as Denny Hulme, was a New Zealand racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his ...
, who was already racing for McLaren in
Can-Am.
That year's new
M7A car, Herd's final design for the team, was powered by
Cosworth
Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...
's new and soon to be ubiquitous
DFV engine
(the DFV would go on to be used by McLaren until 1983) and with it a major upturn in form proceeded. Bruce won the
Race of Champions
The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Ral ...
at the
Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...
circuit and Hulme won the
International Trophy
The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the British Racing Drivers' Club to the winner of a motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, England. For many years it formed the premier non-championship Formula One event in Britain, ...
at
Silverstone, both non-championship races, before Bruce took the team's first championship win at the
Belgian Grand Prix
The Belgian Grand Prix (French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship.
The first national race of ...
. Hulme also won the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
and
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
Grands Prix later in the year, helping the team to second in the Constructors' Championship. Using an updated 'C' version on the M7,
a further three podium finishes followed for Bruce in , but the team's fifth win had to wait until the last race of the 1969 championship when Hulme won the
Mexican Grand Prix
The Mexican Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de México), currently held under the name Mexico City Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de la Ciudad de México), is a motor racing event held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. It first a ...
. That year, McLaren experimented with
four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...
in the
M9A, but the car had only a single outing driven by
Derek Bell at the
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...
; Bruce described driving it as like "trying to write your signature with somebody jogging your elbow".
The year started with a second-place each for Hulme and Bruce in the first two Grands Prix, but in June, Bruce was killed in a crash at
Goodwood while testing the new M8D Can-Am car.
After his death, Teddy Mayer took over effective control of the team;
Hulme continued with
Dan Gurney
Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...
and
Peter Gethin
Peter Kenneth Gethin (21 February 1940 – 5 December 2011) was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 31 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 21 June 1970. He won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix in the fastest ...
partnering him. Gurney won the first two Can-Am events at Mosport and St. Jovite and placed ninth in the third, but left the team mid-season, and Gethin took over from there. While began promisingly when Hulme led the opening round in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
before retiring with broken suspension, ultimately Hulme, Gethin (who left for BRM mid-season,
) and
Jackie Oliver
Keith Jack "Jackie" Oliver (born 14 August 1942 in Chadwell Heath, Essex) is a British former Formula One driver and team-owner from England. He became known as the founder of the Arrows team as well as a racing driver, although during his dr ...
again failed to score a win. The 1972 season saw improvements though: Hulme won the team's first Grand Prix for two-and-a-half years in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and he and
Peter Revson
Peter Jeffrey Revson (February 27, 1939 – March 22, 1974) was an American race car driver and heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune. He was a two-time Formula One race winner and had success at the Indianapolis 500.
Background
Peter Revson w ...
scored ten other podiums, the team finishing third in the Constructors' Championship. McLaren gave
Jody Scheckter
Jody David Scheckter (born 29 January 1950) is a South African business proprietor and former motor racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1980, winning the Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari. Scheckter remains the only Afri ...
his Formula One debut at the
final race at
Watkins Glen.
All McLaren drivers used the Ford-Cosworth engines, except for
Andrea de Adamich
Andrea Lodovico de Adamich (born 3 October 1941) is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 34 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, making his debut on 1 January 1968. He scored a total of six championship points. He also p ...
and
Nanni Galli
Giovanni Giuseppe Gilberto "Nanni" Galli (2 October 1940 – 12 October 2019) was an Italian saloon, sports-car and Formula One driver of the 1960s and 1970s.
Born in Bologna, Galli started his career in Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance ...
who used engines from
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...
in 1970.
![Emerson Fittipaldi McLaren M23 1974 Britain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Emerson_Fittipaldi_McLaren_M23_1974_Britain.jpg)
The
McLaren M23
The McLaren M23 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Coppuck, with input from John Barnard, and built by the McLaren team. It was a development of the McLaren M16 Indianapolis 500 car. A Ford Cosworth DFV engine was used, which wa ...
, designed by Gordon Coppuck, was the team's new car for the season.
Sharing parts of the design of both McLaren's Formula One
M19 and Indianapolis M16 cars (itself inspired by
Lotus's
72), it was a mainstay for four years. Hulme won with it in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and Revson took the only Grand Prix wins of his career in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. In ,
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
, world champion with Lotus two years earlier, joined McLaren.
Hulme, in his final Formula One campaign, won the
Argentinian
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
season-opener; Fittipaldi, with wins in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, took the Drivers' Championship. It was a close fight for Fittipaldi, who secured the title with a fourth at the season-ending
United States Grand Prix
The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...
, putting him three points ahead of Ferrari's
Clay Regazzoni
Gianclaudio Giuseppe "Clay" Regazzoni (5 September 1939 – 15 December 2006) was a Swiss racing driver. He competed in Formula One races from 1970 to 1980, winning five Grands Prix. His first win was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his debu ...
. With Hulme and multiple motorcycle world champion
Mike Hailwood
Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British professional motorcycle racer and racing driver. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest racers of all time. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycl ...
, he also sealed McLaren's first Constructors' Championship. The year was less successful for the team: Fittipaldi was second in the championship behind
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
. Hulme's replacement
Jochen Mass took his sole GP win in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
At the end of 1975, Fittipaldi left to join his brother's
Fittipaldi/Copersucar team.
With the top drivers already signed to other teams, Mayer turned to
James Hunt
James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) ''Autocourse Grand Prix Archive'', 14 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007. was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in . After retiring from racing in ...
, a driver on whom biographer Gerald Donaldson reflected as having "a dubious reputation". In , Lauda was again strong in his Ferrari; at midseason, he led the championship with 56 points whilst Hunt had only 26 despite wins in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
(a race from which he was initially disqualified
) and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. At the
German Grand Prix
The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in R ...
, though, Lauda crashed heavily, was nearly killed, and missed the next two races. Hunt capitalised by winning four more Grands Prix giving him a three-point deficit going into the finale in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Here it rained torentially, Lauda retired because of safety concerns, and Hunt sealed the Drivers' Championship by finishing third.
McLaren, though, lost the Constructors' Championship to Ferrari.
In , the M23 was gradually replaced with the
M26, the M23's final works outing being
Gilles Villeneuve
Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve () (January 18, 1950 – May 8, 1982) was a Canadian racing driver, who spent six years in Grand Prix motor racing with Ferrari, winning six races and widespread acclaim for his performances.
An enthusiast of ...
's Formula One debut with the team in a one-off appearance at the
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...
. Hunt won on three occasions that year, but the Lauda and Ferrari combination proved too strong, Hunt and McLaren managing just fifth and third in the respective championships. From there, results continued to worsen. Lotus and
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...
took the titles with their
78 and
79 ground-effect cars and neither Hunt nor Mass's replacement
Patrick Tambay
Patrick Daniel Tambay (25 June 1949 – 4 December 2022) was a French racing driver, commentator, and politician, who competed in 123 Formula One races between 1977 and 1986, securing five pole positions and winning twice. Between 1977 and 198 ...
were able to seriously challenge with the nonground-effect M26. Hunt was dropped at the end of 1978 in favour of Lotus's
Ronnie Peterson
Bengt Ronnie Peterson (; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
Peterson began his motor racing caree ...
, but when Peterson was killed by a crash at the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
,
John Watson was signed, instead.
No improvement occurred in ; Coppuck's
M28 design was described by Mayer as "ghastly, a disaster" and "quite diabolical" and the
M29 did little to change the situation.
Tambay scored no points and Watson only 15 to place the team eighth at the end of the year.
![Ayrton Senna 1988 Canada](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Ayrton_Senna_1988_Canada.jpg)
The 1980s started much as the 1970s had ended:
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...
took over from Tambay
but Watson and he rarely scored points. Under increasing pressure since the previous year from principal sponsor
Philip Morris and their executive John Hogan, Mayer was coerced into merging McLaren with
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British people, British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder ...
's Project Four Formula Two team, also sponsored by Philip Morris. Dennis had designer
John Barnard
John Edward Barnard (born 4 May 1946, Wembley, London) is an English engineer and racing car designer. Barnard is credited with the introduction of two new designs into Formula One: the carbon fibre composite chassis first seen in with McLar ...
who, inspired by the
carbon-fibre
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
rear wings of the
BMW M1 race cars that Project Four was preparing, had ideas for an innovative Formula One chassis constructed from carbon-fibre instead of conventional
aluminium alloy
An aluminium alloy (or aluminum alloy; see spelling differences) is an alloy in which aluminium (Al) is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, nickel and zinc. There are two principal ...
. On their own, they lacked the money to build it, but with investment that came with the merger it became the
McLaren MP4
The McLaren MP4/1 (initially known as the MP4) was a Formula One racing car produced by the McLaren team. It was used during the 1981, 1982 and 1983 seasons. It was the second Formula One car to use a monocoque chassis wholly manufactured from ...
(later called MP4/1) of , driven by Watson and
Andrea de Cesaris
Andrea de Cesaris (31 May 19595 October 2014) was an Italian racing driver. He started 208 Formula One Grands Prix but never won. As a result, he holds the record for the most races started without a race victory. A string of accidents early in ...
.
In the MP4, Watson won the
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...
and had three other podium finishes. Soon after the merger, McLaren moved from Colnbrook to a new base in Woking and Dennis and Mayer initially shared the managing directorship of the company; by 1982, Mayer had departed and Tyler Alexander's and his shareholdings had been bought by the new owners.
TAG-Porsche and Honda engines (1983–1992)
In the early 1980s, teams like
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
, Ferrari and
Brabham were using 1.5-litre
turbocharged engines in favour of the 3.0-litre
naturally aspirated engines that had been standard since 1966.
Having seen in 1982 the need for a turbo engine of their own, Dennis had convinced
Williams backer
Techniques d'Avant Garde
TAG Group (Holdings) S.A. is a private holding company based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. The name 'TAG' is an acronym of Techniques d'Avant Garde. The company generates revenue through its various subsidiaries that offer products and services ...
(TAG) to fund
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
-built, TAG-branded turbo engines made to Barnard's specifications; TAG's founder
Mansour Ojjeh
Mansour Akram Ojjeh (25 September 1952 – 6 June 2021) ( ar, مَنْصُور أَكْرَم عُجَّة, Manṣūr ʾAkram ʿUjjah) was a French Saudi Arabian-born entrepreneur who owned part of TAG, a Luxembourg-based holding company with in ...
would later become a McLaren shareholder. In the meantime, they continued with Cosworth engines as old rival Lauda came out of retirement in 1982 to drive alongside Watson in that year's 1B development of the MP4.
They each won two races, Watson notably from 17th place on the grid in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
and at one stage of the season McLaren were second in the constructors' championship. As part of a dispute with
FISA
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and the collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign pow ...
, they boycotted the
San Marino Grand Prix
The San Marino Grand Prix () was a Formula One championship race which was run at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, near the Apennine mountains in Italy, between 1981 and 2006. It was named after nearby S ...
. Although was not so fruitful, Watson did win again in the United States, this time from 22nd on the grid at
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
.
Having been fired by Renault, Prost returned to McLaren once again for . Now using the TAG engines, the team dominated, scoring 12 wins and two-and-a-half times as many constructors' points as nearest rival Ferrari. In the Drivers' Championship, Lauda prevailed over Prost by half a point, the narrowest margin ever. The McLaren-TAGs were again strong in ; a third Constructors' Championship came their way while this time Prost won the Drivers' Championship. In , the
Williams team were resurgent with their
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
engine and drivers
Nigel Mansell and
Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...
, while at McLaren, Lauda's replacement, 1982 champion
Keke Rosberg
Keijo Erik Rosberg (born 6 December 1948), known as "Keke" (), is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series, as well as the first Finnish ...
could not gel with the car. Williams took the Constructors' Championship, but for Prost, wins in
San Marino
San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
,
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
combined with the fact that the Williams drivers were taking points from each other meant that he retained a chance going into the last race, the
Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
. There, a puncture for Mansell and a precautionary pit stop for Piquet gave Prost the race win and his second title, making him the first driver to win back-to-back championships since
Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.
Brabham was a R ...
in and 1960. In Barnard departed for Ferrari to be replaced by
Steve Nichols (who himself joined Ferrari in 1989). In the hands of Prost and
Stefan Johansson, though, Nichols's
MP4/3 and the TAG engine could not match the Williams-Honda.
For , Honda switched their supply to McLaren and, encouraged by Prost, Dennis signed
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...
to drive. Despite regulations reducing the boost pressure and fuel capacity (and therefore, power) of the turbo cars, Honda persisted with a turbocharged engine. In the
MP4/4, Senna and Prost engaged in a season-long battle, winning 15 of the 16 races (at the other race at
Monza
Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...
, Senna had been leading comfortably, but collided with back-marker
Jean-Louis Schlesser
Jean-Louis Schlesser (born 12 September 1948) is a French racing driver with experience in circuit racing and cross-country rallying. He is known for his wins of many different competitions. He is the nephew of Jo Schlesser, a former Formula O ...
). At the
Portuguese Grand Prix
The Portuguese Grand Prix (''Grande Prémio de Portugal'') is a motorsports event that was first held in 1951 as a sportscar event, and then intermittently disappearing for many years before being revived again. In 1964 event was held as a spo ...
, their relationship soured when Senna squeezed Prost against the pit wall; Prost won, but afterwards said, "It was dangerous. If he wants the world championship that badly he can have it." Prost scored more points that year, but because only the best 11 results counted, Senna took the title at the penultimate race in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
The next year, with turbos banned, Honda supplied a new 3.5-L naturally aspirated
V10 engine
A V10 engine is a ten-cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been prod ...
and McLaren again won both titles with the
MP4/5. Their drivers' relationship continued to deteriorate, though, especially when, at the
San Marino Grand Prix
The San Marino Grand Prix () was a Formula One championship race which was run at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, near the Apennine mountains in Italy, between 1981 and 2006. It was named after nearby S ...
, Prost felt that Senna had reneged on an agreement not to pass each other at the first corner. Believing that Honda and Dennis were favouring Senna, Prost announced mid-season that he would leave to drive at Ferrari the following year. For the second year in succession, the Drivers' Championship was decided at the
Japanese Grand Prix
The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the ...
, this time in Prost's favour after Senna and he collided (Senna initially recovered and won the race, but was later disqualified).
![AyrtonSennaAtHockheimGP1993](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/AyrtonSennaAtHockheimGP1993.jpg)
With former McLaren men Nichols and Prost (Barnard had moved to the
Benetton team), Ferrari pushed the British team more closely in . McLaren, in turn, brought in Ferrari's
Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger (born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. He competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing 3rd overall in the championship ( and ), both times driving for Ferrari. He won ten Grands Prix, ach ...
, but like the two seasons before, the Drivers' Championship was led by Prost and Senna and settled at
the penultimate race in Japan. Here, Senna collided with Prost at the first corner, forcing both to retire, but this time Senna escaped punishment and took the title; McLaren also won the Constructors' Championship. The year was another for McLaren and Senna, with the ascendant Renault-powered Williams team their closest challengers. By , Williams, with their advanced
FW14B car, had overtaken McLaren, breaking their four-year run as champions, despite the latter winning five races that year.
Ford, Lamborghini and Peugeot engines (1993–1994)
As Honda withdrew from the sport at end of 1992 due to the burst of the Japanese asset price bubble, McLaren sought a new engine supplier. A deal to secure Renault engines fell through, subsequently McLaren switched to customer
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
engines for the season.
Senna—who initially agreed only to a race-by-race contract before later signing for the whole year—won five races, including a record-breaking sixth victory at
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
and a win at the
European Grand Prix
The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a countr ...
, where he went from fifth to first on the opening lap. His teammate,
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
CART champion
Michael Andretti
Michael Mario Andretti (born October 5, 1962) is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART PP ...
, fared much worse; he scored only seven points, and was replaced by test driver
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three Fo ...
for the final three rounds of the season. Williams ultimately won both titles and Senna—who had flirted with moving there for 1993—signed with them for the season.
During the 1993 season McLaren took part in a seven part
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
documentary called ''
A Season With McLaren''.
McLaren tested a
Lamborghini V12 engine ahead of the season, as part of a potential deal with the then-Lamborghini owner
Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
, before eventually deciding to use
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
engines. With Peugeot power, the
MP4/9 was driven by Häkkinen and
Martin Brundle
Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver, best known as a Formula One driver and as a commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011, and Sky Sports since 2012.
Brundle contested the 1 ...
, despite achieving eight podiums over the season no wins were achieved. Peugeot was dropped after a single year due to multiple engine failures/unreliability which cost McLaren potential race victories and they switched to a
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
-branded,
Ilmor
Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mic ...
-designed engine.
Mercedes partnership (1995–2014)
1995–2009: Works Mercedes partnership
For 1995 season onwards, McLaren ended their engine deal with
Peugeot Sport
Peugeot Sport is the department of French carmaker Peugeot responsible for motorsport activities.
History Beginnings in rallying
Peugeot Sport was formed in 1981 under the name of Peugeot Talbot Sport, after Jean Todt, a World Rally Champions ...
and started an engine full-works partnership with
Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines for the first time, after the German manufacturer spent one year in partnership with the
Sauber
Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it un ...
team. The partnership included free engines from Mercedes-Benz that built and assembled by
Ilmor Engineering
Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mic ...
, Mercedes-Benz official team vehicles, financial support, also earned full-factory support from
Daimler AG
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...
and
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
and also Mercedes-Benz and Ilmor staff would work with the team at their Woking base.
's
MP4/10 car was not a front-runner and Brundle's replacement, former champion
Nigel Mansell, was unable to fit into the car at first and departed after just two races, with
Mark Blundell
Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British racing driver who competed in Formula One for four seasons, sports cars, and CART. He won the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the en ...
taking his place.
While Williams dominated in , McLaren, now with
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...
alongside Häkkinen, went a third successive season without a win. In , however, Coulthard broke this run by winning the season-opening
Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
; Häkkinen and he would each win another race before the end of the season, and highly rated designer
Adrian Newey
Adrian Martin Newey, (born 26 December 1958) is a British Formula One engineer. He is currently the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing F1 team.
Newey has worked in both Formula One and IndyCar racing as a race engineer, aerodynami ...
joined the team from Williams in August that year. Despite the car's improved pace, unreliability proved costly throughout the season, with retirements at the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
and
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
Grands Prix occurring whilst Häkkinen was in the lead.
With Newey able to take advantage of new technical regulations for , and with Williams losing their works Renault engines following Renault's temporary withdrawal from the sport, McLaren were once again able to challenge for the championship. Häkkinen and Coulthard won five of the first six races despite the banning of the team's
"brake steer" system, which allowed the rear brakes to be operated individually to reduce
understeer
Understeer and oversteer are vehicle dynamics terms used to describe the sensitivity of a vehicle to steering. Oversteer is what occurs when a car turns (steers) by more than the amount commanded by the driver. Conversely, understeer is what occ ...
, after a protest by Ferrari at the second race in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. Schumacher and Ferrari provided the greatest competition, the former levelled on points with Häkkinen with two races to go, but wins for Häkkinen at the
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
and
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
Grands Prix gave both him the Drivers' Championship and McLaren the Constructors' Championship. Häkkinen won his second Drivers' Championship the
following season, but due to a combination of driver errors and mechanical failures, the team lost the constructors' title to Ferrari.
![Mclaren racing usgp 2004](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Mclaren_racing_usgp_2004.jpg)
In McLaren won seven races in a close fight with Ferrari, but ultimately Ferrari and Schumacher prevailed in both competitions. This marked the start of a decline in form as Ferrari cemented their dominance of Formula One and also
beryllium
Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a steel-gray, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal. It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with other elements to form m ...
engine material banned in
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
that affected Mercedes engine performance. In , Häkkinen was outscored by Coulthard for the first time since 1997 and retired (ending Formula One's longest ever driver partnership), his place taken by
Kimi Räikkönen, then in , Coulthard took their solitary win at
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
while Ferrari repeated McLaren's 1988 feat of 15 wins in a season.
The year started promisingly, with one win each for Coulthard and Räikkönen at the first two Grands Prix. However, they were hampered when the
MP4-18 car designed for that year suffered crash test and reliability problems, forcing them to continue using a 'D' development of the year-old
MP4-17 for longer than they had initially planned.
Despite this, Räikkönen scored points consistently and challenged for the championship up to the final race, eventually losing by two points. The team began with the
MP4-19, which technical director Adrian Newey described as "a debugged version of
he MP4-18.
It was not a success, though, and was replaced mid-season by the MP4-19B. With this, Räikkönen scored the team's and his only win of the year at the
Belgian Grand Prix
The Belgian Grand Prix (French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship.
The first national race of ...
, as McLaren finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship, their worst ranking since 1983.
Coulthard left for
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...
in to be replaced by former CART champion
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver.
He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech ...
for what was McLaren's most successful season in several years as he and Räikkönen won ten races. However, both the team not being able to work out why the car could not heat its tyres properly in the early stages of the season and the overall unreliability of the
MP4-20 cost several race victories when Räikkönen had been leading or in contention to win and also costing him grid positions in some qualifying sessions, which allowed Renault and their driver
Fernando Alonso to capitalise and win both titles.
![Lap4 Canada2005 Raikkonen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Lap4_Canada2005_Raikkonen.jpg)
In , the superior reliability and speed of the Ferraris and Renaults prevented the team from gaining any victories for the first time in a decade. Montoya parted company acrimoniously with the team to race in
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
after the
United States Grand Prix
The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...
, where he crashed into Räikkönen at the start; test driver
Pedro de la Rosa
Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (; born 24 February 1971) is a Spanish former Formula One driver who has participated in 107 Grands Prix for the Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT teams. He made his Formula One debut on 7 March 1999, becoming ...
deputised for the remainder of the season. The team also lost Räikkönen to Ferrari at the end of the year.
Steve Matchett
Steve Matchett (born 23 December 1962 in England) is a commentator for American TV network Fox Sports on its Formula E programming. He formerly co-hosted live Formula One practices, qualifying sessions, and races alongside David Hobbs and Bob ...
argued that the poor reliability of McLaren in 2006 and recent previous years was due to a lack of team continuity and stability.
His cited examples of instability are logistical challenges related to the move to the
McLaren Technology Centre
The McLaren Technology Centre is the headquarters of the McLaren Group and its subsidiaries, located on a 500,000 m2 (50-hectare) site in Woking, Surrey, England. The complex consists of two buildings: the original McLaren Technology Centre, ...
, Adrian Newey's aborted move to
Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
and later move to Red Bull, the subsequent move of Newey's deputy to Red Bull, and personnel changes at Ilmor.
![Fernando Alonso 2007 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Fernando_Alonso_2007_2.jpg)
After scoring no victories in 2006, the team returned to competitve status in . That year saw Fernando Alonso race alongside Formula One debutant and long-time McLaren protégé
Lewis Hamilton
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...
. The pair scored four wins each and led the Drivers' Championship for much of the year, but tensions arose within the team, BBC Sport claimed that Alonso was unable to cope with Hamilton's competitiveness. At the
Hungarian Grand Prix
The Hungarian Grand Prix ( hu, Magyar Nagydíj) is a motor racing event held annually in Mogyoród. Since 1986, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship.
History Origins
The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held on 21 ...
, Alonso was judged to have deliberately impeded his teammate during qualifying, so the team were not allowed to score Constructors' points at the event. An internal agreement within the McLaren team stated that drivers would alternatively have an extra lap for qualifying, however, Lewis Hamilton refused to accept for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Subsequently, the McLaren team was investigated by the
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
for having proprietary technical blueprints of Ferrari's car – the
so-called "Spygate" controversy. At the first hearing, McLaren management consistently denied all knowledge, blaming a single "rogue engineer". However, in the final hearing, McLaren was found guilty and the team was excluded from the Constructors' Championship and fined $100 million.
The drivers were allowed to continue without penalty, and whilst Hamilton led the Drivers' Championship heading into the final race in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, Räikkönen in the Ferrari won the race and the Drivers' Championship, a single point ahead of both McLaren drivers. In November, Alonso and McLaren agreed to terminate their contract by mutual consent,
Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish racing driver competing in the Japan Rally Championship for Rally Team AICELLO. He raced in Formula One between 2007 and 2013 for the Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham and ...
filling the vacant seat alongside Hamilton.
![Lewis hamilton - 2008 Melb GP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Lewis_hamilton_-_2008_Melb_GP.jpg)
In , a close fight ensued between Hamilton and the Ferraris of
Felipe Massa and Räikkönen; Hamilton won five times and despite also crossing the finish line first at the
Belgian Grand Prix
The Belgian Grand Prix (French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship.
The first national race of ...
, he was deemed to have gained an illegal advantage by cutting a chicane during an overtake and was controversially demoted to third. Going into the
final race in Brazil, Hamilton had a seven-point lead over Massa. Massa won there, but Hamilton dramatically clinched his first Drivers' Championship by moving into the necessary fifth position at the final corner of the final lap of the race. Despite winning his first Grand Prix in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, Kovalainen finished the season only seventh in the overall standings, allowing Ferrari to take the constructors' title.
Before the start of the season, Dennis retired as team principal, handing responsibility to
Martin Whitmarsh
Martin Richard Whitmarsh (born 29 April 1958) is a British businessman and Group CEO of the Aston Martin Performance Technologies team since 21 September 2021.
Whitmarsh is best known to motorsport insiders, media and fans for his long and succ ...
, but the year started badly: the
MP4-24 car was off the pace and the team was given a three-race suspended ban for misleading stewards at the
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
and
Malaysian
Malaysian may refer to:
* Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia
* Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia
* Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...
Grands Prix. Despite these early problems, a late revival had Hamilton win at the
Hungarian and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
Grands Prix.
2010–2014: Customer Mercedes engines
![Sergio Perez 2013 Malaysia FP2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Sergio_P%C3%A8rez_2013_Malaysia_FP2.jpg)
![Mclaren MP4-29 Jenson Button 2014 F1 Chinese GP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Mclaren_MP4-29_Jenson_Button_2014_F1_Chinese_GP.jpg)
For the
2010 season, McLaren lost its status as the Mercedes works team; Mercedes decided to buy the Brackley-based
Brawn team that had won the 2009 titles with its customer engines, Whitmarsh having chosen to abandon their exclusive rights to the Mercedes engines to help Brawn run.
Mercedes still continued providing engines to McLaren, albeit under a supplier-customer relationship rather than the works partnership as before, while it sold its 40 percent shares of McLaren over two years.
McLaren signed 2009 champion,
Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super G ...
, to replace Kovalainen alongside Hamilton in .
Button won twice (in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
) and Hamilton three times (in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
), but they and McLaren failed to win their respective championships, that year's
MP4-25 largely outpaced by Red Bull's
RB6.
Hamilton and Button remained with the team into , with Hamilton winning three races –
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, and
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
and Button also winning three races –
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Button finished the Drivers' Championship in second place with 270 points behind 2011 Drivers' Champion
Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing, ahead of Hamilton's 227 points. McLaren was second in the Constructors' Championship to Red Bull Racing. Throughout the season, Hamilton was involved in several incidents with other drivers including – most notably – multiple collisions with 2008 title rival Massa.
In , McLaren won the first race of the year in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
with a dominant victory by Button and a 3rd place from pole for Hamilton, while Hamilton went on to win in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, but by the mid-way mark of the season at the team's home race at Silverstone, the McLaren cars managed only eighth place (Hamilton) and 10th place (Button), while the drivers' and Constructors' Championships were being dominated by Red Bull Racing and Ferrari, whose cars occupied the first four places of the , this was partially due to pit stop problems and Button's temporary dip in form after not adapting as well as Hamilton to the new Pirelli tyres. The car also suffered reliability problems which cost the team and its drivers numerous potential points, most notably in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
and
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
, where Hamilton had been leading from the front in both races and in Italy where the team lost a 1-2 finish when Button's car failed with fuel problems on lap 33.
Sergio Pérez replaced Hamilton for , after Hamilton decided to leave for
Mercedes. The team's car for the season, the
MP4-28, was launched on 31 January 2013. The car struggled to compete with the other top teams and the season had McLaren fail to produce a podium finish for the first time since .
Kevin Magnussen
Kevin Jan Magnussen (born 5 October 1992) is a Danish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Haas F1 Team.
He is the son of four-time Le Mans winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Kevin Magnussen came up through Mc ...
replaced Pérez for , and Ron Dennis, who had remained at arm's length since stepping down from the team principal role, returned as CEO of the operation.
McLaren was the first team to officially launch their 2014 car, the
MP4-29, which was revealed on 24 January 2014.
They had a largely unsuccessful 2014; their best result was in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
where – after
Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( "Ricardo", ; born 1 July 1989) is an Italian-Australian racing driver who last raced in Formula One driving for McLaren, under the Australian flag. He made his debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with the HR ...
's disqualification from second place – Magnussen finished second and Button third. Button subsequently finished fourth in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
, and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Their highest grid position was in Britain with Button's third place on the grid.
Honda engines (2015–2017)
![McLaren duo 2015 Malaysia Race](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/McLaren_duo_2015_Malaysia_Race.jpg)
![Fernando Alonso 2016 Malaysia Q1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Fernando_Alonso_2016_Malaysia_Q1.jpg)
For , McLaren ended their engine deal with Mercedes which included buying back the 40% stake that Mercedes held in the team and reforging their historical partnership with Honda. The Honda deal not only meant they would supply engines, but that Honda staff would work with the team at their Woking base as well as received full-factory support from Honda including official team vehicles and free engines. The team announced Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button as their race drivers, with Kevin Magnussen demoted to test driver. During pre-season testing at the
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in February, Alonso suffered a concussion and, as a result,
Kevin Magnussen
Kevin Jan Magnussen (born 5 October 1992) is a Danish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Haas F1 Team.
He is the son of four-time Le Mans winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Kevin Magnussen came up through Mc ...
replaced him for the season-opening in March. At that inaugural race of the season, Jenson Button finished 11th, but was lapped twice and finished last of the finishing cars. Following considerable unreliability and initial suggestions that the Honda engine was underpowered relative to its competitors, steady performance gains eventually resulted in Button managing to score the team's first (four) points of the season at the sixth round in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
. By contrast, Alonso scored his first point three races later at the
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...
.
The
Hungarian Grand Prix
The Hungarian Grand Prix ( hu, Magyar Nagydíj) is a motor racing event held annually in Mogyoród. Since 1986, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship.
History Origins
The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held on 21 ...
saw the team score their best result of the season with Alonso and Button finishing fifth and ninth, respectively.
However, McLaren did not score points in the next four races until Button finished ninth at the
Russian Grand Prix
The Russian Grand Prix (russian: Гран-при России, Gran-pri Rossii) was an annual motor racing event held at Sochi Autodrom – a permanent circuit built around the Olympic Park in Sochi – as part of the Formula One World Champio ...
. At the following
United States Grand Prix
The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...
, Button scored his best result of the season with sixth place. The team finished ninth in the constructors' standings with 27 points, McLaren's worst performance since 1980.
![Stoffel Vandoorne 2017 Catalonia test (27 Feb-2 Mar) Day 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Stoffel_Vandoorne_2017_Catalonia_test_%2827_Feb-2_Mar%29_Day_4.jpg)
McLaren retained the Alonso - Button pairing for the season. The second year of the Honda partnership was better than the first, with the team being able to challenge for top 10 positions on a more regular basis. However, the season started with a massive crash at the
Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
in which
Fernando Alonso sustained rib fractures and a
collapsed lung
A pneumothorax is an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve ...
after colliding with
Esteban Gutiérrez
Esteban Manuel Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (; born 5 August 1991) is a Mexican racing driver currently representing Mercedes in Formula One, Formula E and esports and Inter Europol Competition in World Endurance Championship.
Previously from 2013 ...
and somersaulting into the crash barriers. Alonso, as a result of his injuries, was forced to miss the second round of the Championship, the
Bahrain Grand Prix, and was replaced by reserve driver
Stoffel Vandoorne
Stoffel Vandoorne (born 26 March 1992) is a Belgian professional racing driver who is currently racing for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He had previously competed in Formula One for McLaren from 2016 to 2018. He is currently a test driver of M ...
. Vandoorne produced an impressive performance in his first race to score the team's first point of the season with 10th place. The next points for McLaren came at the
Russian Grand Prix
The Russian Grand Prix (russian: Гран-при России, Gran-pri Rossii) was an annual motor racing event held at Sochi Autodrom – a permanent circuit built around the Olympic Park in Sochi – as part of the Formula One World Champio ...
with Alonso and Button finishing sixth and 10th respectively. The rain-affected
Monaco Grand Prix
The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigiou ...
was one of best races of the season for the team. Alonso finished fifth, having kept
Nico Rosberg
Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German-Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Fi ...
's Mercedes behind him for 46 laps, while Button scored two points with ninth. At the
Austrian Grand Prix, Button recorded his best result of the season with a sixth-place after qualifying third in a wet/dry session. After a disappointing display at their home race, the
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...
at Silverstone, the team scored points at the next three rounds with six points in Hungary, four in Germany, and six points again thanks to an impressive seventh-place finish from Alonso at the
Belgian Grand Prix
The Belgian Grand Prix (French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship.
The first national race of ...
. At the
United States Grand Prix
The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...
, McLaren matched their Monaco result with 12 points after an attacking race from Alonso saw him claim fifth position while Button once again finished ninth. After a season of significant progress compared to 2015, Alonso and Button finished the championship in 10th and 15th places respectively with the team ending the season in sixth place in the Constructors' Championship with 76 points. On 3 September 2016,
Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super G ...
announced he would take a sabbatical from Formula One for the 2017 season. He then confirmed on 25 November that he would retire from F1 altogether with Vandoorne being Alonso's new Teammate for 2017.
In February 2017, McLaren signed
Lando Norris
Lando Norris (born 13 November 1999) is a Belgian-British racing driver currently competing in Formula One with McLaren, racing under the British flag. He won the MSA Formula championship in 2015, and the Toyota Racing Series, Eurocup Form ...
to their Young Driver Programme.
Alonso
Alonso is a Spanish name of Germanic origin that is a Castilian variant of ''Adalfuns''.
Geographical distribution
As of 2014, 36.6% of all known bearers of the surname ''Alonso'' were residents of Spain (frequency 1:222), 26.1% of Mexico (1:83 ...
did not take part in the
2017 Monaco Grand Prix
The 2017 Monaco Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2017) was a Formula One motor race held on 28 May 2017 at the Circuit de Monaco, a street circuit that runs through the Principality of Monaco. It was the sixth ...
as he was participating in the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. Instead Jenson Button returned for the one race as his replacement. McLaren finished 2017 9th with 30 points in total.
Renault engines (2018–2020)
McLaren announced during the
2017 Singapore Grand Prix
The 2017 Singapore Grand Prix (formally known as the 2017 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 17 September 2017 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore. It was the fourteenth ro ...
weekend that they would split from engine supplier Honda at the end of the 2017 season and had agreed on a three-year customer deal to be supplied with
Mecachrome
Mecachrome SAS is a precision engineering company based in France that operates in the aerospace, motor racing, energy and defence sectors.
History
Mecachrome was founded in 1937 in Colombes, France. As a precision engineering company, Mecachrom ...
-assembled
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
engines. Team boss Éric Boullier described their performance between 2015 and 2017 as a "proper disaster" for the team's credibility. was the first season in McLaren's history when their cars were powered by Renault engines. McLaren also announced that Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne would remain with the team for the
2018 season. On 6 November 2017, the team announced that Lando Norris would be the team's test and reserve driver.
![Lando Norris 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix - race day](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Lando_Norris_2020_Tuscan_Grand_Prix_-_race_day.jpg)
At the season-opening
Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
, Fernando Alonso scored the team's best finish since the
2016 Monaco Grand Prix with fifth, Alonso said that the team's target would be Red Bull Racing. McLaren had a relatively good start to the season with points finishes in the next four races, but in the next 16 races after Spain, McLaren only scored 22 points, 8 points less than in the same period in 2017. On 14 August 2018, Fernando Alonso announced he would not compete in Formula One in 2019, ending his four-year spell at the team.
Carlos Sainz Jr.
Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro (; born 1 September 1994), otherwise known as Carlos Sainz Jr. or simply Carlos Sainz, is a Formula One drivers from Spain, Spanish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He is th ...
was signed as his replacement on a multi-year deal.
On 3 September 2018, it was announced that
Stoffel Vandoorne
Stoffel Vandoorne (born 26 March 1992) is a Belgian professional racing driver who is currently racing for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He had previously competed in Formula One for McLaren from 2016 to 2018. He is currently a test driver of M ...
would be leaving the team at the end of the season, with
Lando Norris
Lando Norris (born 13 November 1999) is a Belgian-British racing driver currently competing in Formula One with McLaren, racing under the British flag. He won the MSA Formula championship in 2015, and the Toyota Racing Series, Eurocup Form ...
being promoted from reserve driver to replace him in 2019. McLaren struggled with performance throughout the season, with the McLaren drivers being knocked out 21 times in the first qualifying session, and McLaren having the second-worst average qualifying ranking of any team, only ahead of
Williams. The team finished the disappointing season – after being helped by the exclusion of
Force India's points from the first 12 races – in 6th place with 62 points, 357 points behind their target, Red Bull Racing, with the same engine.
The
2019 season was much more positive for McLaren, with the team securely establishing themselves as the best constructor behind Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull. At the
Brazilian Grand Prix, Sainz recorded the team's first podium since the
2014 Australian Grand Prix
The 2014 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2014 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 16 March 2014 in Melbourne. The race was contested over 58 laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit ...
, finishing fourth on the road but later promoted to third after Lewis Hamilton received a post-race penalty, meaning that the team missed out on the official podium ceremony. McLaren ended the season in 4th place with 145 points, their best result since 2014 and 54 points ahead of their nearest competitor, Renault.
McLaren retained Norris and Sainz for the season. The season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The season was shortened to 18 races, with the season opener to take place in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. At the
Austrian Grand Prix, Norris achieved his first ever podium, finishing in third. Sainz achieved the teams second podium in 2020 at the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
, where he finished second. The team finished the 2020 season third in the constructors' championship with 202 points.
Sainz finished the driver's championship sixth with 105 points and Norris ninth with 97 points.
Return to Mercedes engines (2021–)
![2021 British Grand Prix (51350004859)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/2021_British_Grand_Prix_%2851350004859%29.jpg)
McLaren again used
Mercedes engines in after their deal with
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
ended. McLaren had previously collaborated with Mercedes from 1995 through 2014 (1995 to 2009 was a works partner and later 2010 to 2014 was a customer partner) but this time a customer role system.
Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( "Ricardo", ; born 1 July 1989) is an Italian-Australian racing driver who last raced in Formula One driving for McLaren, under the Australian flag. He made his debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with the HR ...
moved from Renault to partner
Lando Norris
Lando Norris (born 13 November 1999) is a Belgian-British racing driver currently competing in Formula One with McLaren, racing under the British flag. He won the MSA Formula championship in 2015, and the Toyota Racing Series, Eurocup Form ...
for the
2021 Formula One World Championship on a multi-year deal. Ricciardo replaced
Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz may refer to:
People
* Carlos Sainz Sr. (born 1962), Spanish rally driver world champion, father of Jr.
* Carlos Sainz Jr. (born 1994), Spanish Formula One driver, son of Sr.
Other uses
* '' Carlos Sainz: World Rally Championship'', 1 ...
, who moved to
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
. In the season's first nine races, the team scored three podiums with Mercedes power, in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, all courtesy of Norris.
![Daniel Ricciardo 2022 Emilia Romagna](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Daniel_Ricciardo_2022_Emilia_Romagna.jpg)
At the
2021 Italian Grand Prix, Ricciardo scored his first win since the
2018 Monaco Grand Prix
The 2018 Monaco Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2018) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 27 May 2018 at the Circuit de Monaco, a street circuit that runs through the Principality of Monaco. It was the ...
, and McLaren's first win since the
2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil 2012) was a Formula One motor race that took place at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil, on 25 November 2012. The race was t ...
. A second-place finish for Norris also meant that McLaren achieved their first one-two finish since the
2010 Canadian Grand Prix and the only one-two finish for the 2021 season. Norris secured the team's first pole position in the hybrid era at the
2021 Russian Grand Prix but was unable to convert it to a win, finishing in 7th place due to the sudden drastic change in weather conditions and team strategy in the last two laps of the race. A subsequent drop in form in the latter part of the season saw McLaren ending up fourth in the constructors' championship behind Ferrari.
For the season, McLaren retained both Norris and Ricciardo. Ricciardo tested positive for
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
ahead of the pre-season tests in Bahrain, which meant Norris was required to do all the remaining running for the test, though a brake problem limited the testing he was able to conduct. Both drivers struggled at the first race in
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
, with neither driving reaching Q3 – the first time since the
2020 Turkish Grand Prix – and finishing 14th and 15th in the race. Norris achieved third at the
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ( it, ) is a Formula One motor racing event held at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, often referred to as "Imola" after the town where it is located. The event takes the name "Emilia Romagna" fr ...
. After Norris missed the first day at the track during the
São Paulo Grand Prix weekend, McLaren suffered their first double DNF finish since Monaco 2017, as Norris had an eletrical fault and Ricciardo was involved in a collision with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. Compared to his teammate, Ricciardo struggled and many were critical of his performance, with some suggesting that McLaren would drop him. This forced Ricciardo into releasing a statement on Instagram, confirming he would stay through to 2023. In August 2022, Riccardo's contract for 2023 was terminated by mutual agreement.
Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri (born 6 April 2001) is an Australian racing driver who previously served as the reserve driver for Alpine F1 Team, having previously been in the team's driver academy. He won the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup with R-ace GP, and wo ...
is due to replace Ricciardo, after a contract dispute with
Alpine F1 Team
Alpine F1 Team, competing as BWT Alpine F1 Team, is a Formula One constructor which made its debut at the start of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. Formerly named Renault F1 Team and owned by the French automotive company Groupe Renault ...
was resolved in McLaren's favour by the
FIA Contract Recognition Board. McLaren finished the season in fifth place in the constructors' championship behind Alpine.
Racing history: Other series
Can-Am
![McLaren M1A at Silverstone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/McLaren_M1A_at_Silverstone.jpg)
McLaren's first sports-racing car was the Group 7 M1 – with a small-block Chevrolet engine in a modified Elva chassis. The car was raced in North America and Europe in 1963 and 1964 in various G7 and United States Road Racing Championship events. For the Can-Am Series, which started in 1966, McLaren created the M3 which Bruce and
Chris Amon
Christopher Arthur Amon (20 July 1943 – 3 August 2016) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s, and is widely regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand ...
drove – customer cars also appeared in several races in the
1966 season. With the M3, they led two races but scored no wins, and the inaugural title was taken by John Surtees in a Lola T70. The following year, Robin Herd purpose-designed the
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
V8-powered
M6A, delays with the Formula One programme allowing the team to spend extra resources on developing the Can-Am car which was the first to be painted in McLaren orange. With Denny Hulme now partnering Bruce, they won five of six races and Bruce won the championship, setting the pattern for the next four years. In the
1968 season, they used a new car, the M8, to win four races; non-works McLarens took the other two, but this time Hulme was victorious overall. In the
1969 season, McLaren domination became total as they won all 11 races with the M8B; Hulme won five, and Bruce won six and the Drivers' Championship.
From 1969 onwards, McLaren M12 – the customer "variant" of the M8 – was driven by several entrants, including a version modified by Jim Hall of Chaparral fame. McLaren's success in Can-Am brought with it financial rewards, both prize money and money from selling cars to other teams, that helped to support the team and fund the nascent and relatively poor-paying Formula One programme.
![McLarenM8D](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/McLarenM8D.jpg)
When Bruce was killed testing the
1970 season's M8D, he was at first replaced by
Dan Gurney
Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...
, then later by
Peter Gethin
Peter Kenneth Gethin (21 February 1940 – 5 December 2011) was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 31 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 21 June 1970. He won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix in the fastest ...
. They won two and one races, respectively, while Hulme won six on the way to the championship. Private teams competing in the 1970 Can-Am series included older M3Bs as well as the M12 – the customer version of the team's M8B. In the
1971 season, the team held off the challenge of 1969 world champion
Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...
in the
Lola
Lola may refer to:
Places
* Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama
* Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States
* Lola Prefecture, Guinea
* Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture
* Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands
People
* Lola ...
T260, winning eight races, with Peter Revson taking the title. Hulme also won three Can-Am races in the
1972 season, but the
McLaren M20
The McLaren M20 was a sports prototype developed by McLaren for the 1972 season of the Canadian-American Challenge Cup. It served as a replacement for the team's M8Fs, but it later became the final Can-Am design created by McLaren before the ...
was defeated by the
Porsche 917/10s of
Mark Donohue and
George Follmer
George Follmer (born January 27, 1934) is an American former auto racing driver, and one of the most successful road racers of the 1970s. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His family moved to California when he was just an infant.
Career
Follme ...
. Faced by the greater resources of Porsche, McLaren decided to abandon Can-Am at the end of 1972 and focus solely on
open-wheel racing
Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single- ...
.
When the original Can-Am series ceased at the end of the
1974 season, McLaren was by far the most successful constructor with 43 wins.
Indianapolis 500
![1973RevsonIndyMcLaren](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/1973RevsonIndyMcLaren.jpg)
McLaren first contested the
United States Auto Club
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the ...
's (USAC) Indianapolis 500 race in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
, encouraged by their tyre supplier
Goodyear, which wanted to break competitor
Firestone's stranglehold on the event. With the M15 car, Bruce, Chris Amon, and Denny Hulme entered, but after Amon withdrew and Hulme was severely burned on the hands in an incident in practice, Peter Revson and
Carl Williams took their places in the race to retire and finish seventh, respectively. The team also contested some of the more prestigious races in the USAC championship that year, as they would do in subsequent years. For 1971 they had a new car, the M16, which driver Mark Donohue said: "...obsoleted every other car on track..." At that year's Indianapolis 500, Revson qualified on pole and finished second, whilst in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
, Donohue won in
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
Team Penske
Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona ...
's M16B. The
1973 event had
Johnny Rutherford
John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in 3 ...
join the team; he qualified on pole, but finished ninth, Revson crashed out. McLaren won their first Indianapolis 500 in
1974 with Rutherford. The McLaren and Rutherford combination was second in
1975 and won again in
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
. Developments of the M16 had been used throughout this period until the new M24 car was introduced in 1977. The team did not reproduce their recent success at Indianapolis in
1977,
1978, or
1979, and although they continued to win other USAC races, by the end of 1979, they decided to end their involvement.
![Dallara DW12 (Fernando Alonso) 2017 Indianapolis 500](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Dallara_DW12_%28Fernando_Alonso%29_2017_Indianapolis_500.jpg)
On 12 April 2017, McLaren revealed they would participate in the
2017 Indianapolis 500 with their current Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso at the wheel of a Honda-powered McLaren-branded
Andretti Autosport
Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti ...
IndyCar.
In qualifying, Alonso secured a second-row start from fifth. During the race Alonso led 27 laps in his first Indy 500 start. With 21 laps remaining Alonso was running seventh when his Honda engine failed. He was classified 24th. After his retirement he received a standing ovation from the grandstands. Alonso was praised for his strong debut.
On 10 November 2018, McLaren announced that they would participate in the
2019 Indianapolis 500 with Fernando Alonso and using
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
engines. However, after mechanical difficulties and a severe crash in practice, the team failed to qualify for the race (as did two other Carlin-associated entries, one with another former F1 driver (
Max Chilton
Maximilian Alexander Chilton (born 21 April 1991) is a British racing driver who last competed for Carlin Motorsport in the IndyCar Series, before announcing his retirement from IndyCar in February 2022. Prior to IndyCar, he competed in Formula ...
) driving).
IndyCar
In August 2019, it was announced McLaren would contest the championship full-time in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
, collaborating with
Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to form Arrow McLaren SP.
Zak Brown stated in an interview with
Leigh Diffey
Leigh Diffey (born 3 March 1971) is an Australian American auto racing commentator. His career began calling motorcycle races in his home country before moving to the United Kingdom to cover other forms of motorsport. Diffey then moved to the ...
that McLaren joining the IndyCar Series full time was spurred by two different objectives. The first was to market the McLaren brand and some of the McLaren Formula One team's prominent American based sponsors in a primarily North America centric racing series, as Formula One only had three races in North America in
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
and only one of those races was in the United States. The second was to branch McLaren's engineering expertise into a racing series that the other Formula One teams were not involved in, as Brown thought McLaren would stand out more amongst its competitors in IndyCar than it would in other racing series. Brown also stated that McLaren chose to partner with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports because their previous efforts fielding their team with assistance from Andretti Autosport and Carlin exclusively for the Indianapolis 500 had not been successful and that the purchase of the IndyCar Series by
Penske Entertainment gave McLaren more confidence in the long term viability and stability of the series compared to the previous ownership under
Tony George
Anton Hulman "Tony" George (born December 30, 1959) is the former Chairman, President, and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hulman & Company, serving from 1989 to 2009. He was also formerly on the Board of Directors of both entities ...
.
In August 2021, it was announced that McLaren Racing will acquire a majority stake in the IndyCar Team. The transaction will close by the end of the year and will see McLaren Racing take a 75% share of the team. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
Electric motorsport
NEOM
Neom (styled NEOM; ''Neom,'' ) is a city being built in Tabuk Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia. It is planned to incorporate smart city technologies and function as a tourist destination. The site is north of the Red Sea, east of Egypt acr ...
will be McLaren's title partner into their new endeavour to electric motorsport as NEOM McLaren Electric Racing.
Formula E
In December 2020, Zak Brown announced McLaren's interest in entering
Formula E once the company's battery supplier contract has expired. In January the following year, McLaren signed an option to enter the championship for 2022.
McLaren announced the acquisition of
Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team was a German racing team that competed in Formula E. The team made its debut at the 2019 Diriyah ePrix as part of the 2019–20 season, and Mercedes concluded their involvement with the team at the end of the ...
in May 2022 and will debut in the
2022-23 season as NEOM McLaren Formula E Team using a Nissan EV powertrain
with
René Rast
René Rast (born 26 October 1986 in Minden) is a German professional racing driver and the 2017, 2019 and 2020 DTM champion. He previously drove for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler in Formula E from 2019 to 2021 before Audi left the sport at the end o ...
, who last raced in the
2020-21 season with
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, and
Jake Hughes
Jake Hughes (born 30 May 1994) is a British racing driver and winner of the inaugural BRDC Formula 4 Championship. He has won multiple races at Formula 3 level, and is set to compete in the 2022–23 Formula E season with Neom McLaren.
Caree ...
as drivers for the team.
Extreme E
In June 2021, McLaren announced it would enter Extreme E in the
2022 season using existing personnel from outside the Formula One program with
Tanner Foust
Tanner Foust (born June 13, 1973) is an American professional racing driver, stunt driver, and television host. He competes in rally, drift, ice racing, time attack, hill climb and rallycross with multiple podium placements, national champions ...
and
Emma Gilmour
Emma Gilmour (born 30 September 1979) is a rally driver from New Zealand currently competing in Extreme E with McLaren XE.
Early and personal life
Gilmour was born in Dunedin in 1979. Her father and maternal grandfather were both mechanics. ...
(becoming the first woman factory driver for McLaren) as drivers for the team. Entering as McLaren XE, the team was rebranded for their second race and is known as NEOM McLaren Extreme E for sponsorship reasons. The team won its first podium by finishing second in the Energy X-Prix. In the process, Gilmour became the first woman podium winner for McLaren. The team finished in fifth place in the Team's Championship standings.
Other series
McLaren is reviewing the
LMDh
An LMDh (Le Mans Daytona h) is a type of sports prototype race car that will compete alongside Le Mans Hypercar entries in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship from 2023. It also competes in the Hypercar cl ...
regulations for a possible entry into the
FIA World Endurance Championship
The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...
.
Customer racing
![Paul Ricard-1995-03-12-008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Paul_Ricard-1995-03-12-008.jpg)
Besides the cars raced by the works team, a variety of McLaren racing cars have also been used by customer teams. In their formative years, McLaren built Formula Two,
hillclimbing
Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the firs ...
,
Formula 5000
Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...
and sports racing cars
that were sold to customers. Lacking the capacity to build the desired numbers,
Trojan
Trojan or Trojans may refer to:
* Of or from the ancient city of Troy
* Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...
was
subcontracted to construct some of them.
In Can-Am, Trojan built customer versions of the M6 and M8 cars and ex-works cars were sold to privateers when new models arrived; half of the field was McLarens at some races. Author
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City.
During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...
says, "over 220" McLarens were built by Trojan.
In USAC competition and Formula One, too, many teams used McLarens during the late 1960s and 1970s. A 1972 M8F was rebuilt as the
C8 for use in
Group C
Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs.
It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...
racing in 1982, but had little success.
In the mid-1990s, McLaren Racing's sister company, McLaren Cars (now McLaren Automotive) built a racing version of their
F1 road car, the
F1 GTR which won the
1995 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1995 and 1996
BPR Global GT Series The BPR Global GT Series (sometimes referred to as the BPR Global GT Endurance Series or simply abbreviated as BPR.) was a grand tourer-based sports car racing series which ran from 1994 to 1996 before becoming the FIA GT Championship in 1997. The ...
. In 2011, a
GT3 version of the
MP4-12C road car was developed in partnership with CRS Racing, making it's competetive debut at the
VLN and
ADAC GT Masters in 2012. The MP4-12C was succeeded by the
McLaren 650S
The McLaren 650S is a British sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Automotive. It was announced in February 2014 as a new model, but based on the existing MP4-12C with 25% new parts, and was formally ...
and then the
McLaren 720S
The McLaren 720S is a Supercar designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Automotive. It is the second all-new car in the McLaren ''Super Series'', replacing the 650S beginning in May 2017.
The 720S was launched at the ...
for GT3 racing, while a GT4 version of the McLaren 570S was also developed as well.
In 2022, McLaren Automotive announced a new GT4 model based on the
McLaren Artura, along with an unrestricted version named the Artura Trophy, which is to be used in McLaren's planned one-make series.
Characteristics
McLaren Racing is a wholly owned subsidiary of the
McLaren Group
The McLaren Group is a British holding company based in Woking, England, which is involved in Formula One and other motorsport and the manufacture of luxury cars.
The group was founded by Ron Dennis shortly after his acquisition of the McLaren ...
, which currently includes another subsidiary
McLaren Automotive
McLaren Automotive (formerly known as McLaren Cars) is a British luxury automotive manufacturer based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. The main products of the company are supercars, which are produced in-house in designat ...
, with the group having centralised many branches of the company since 2010. As of 2021, the group has over 4000 employees,
having had only around 1300 in 2009.
Ownership and management
![Ron dennis 2000Monaco](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Ron_dennis_2000Monaco.jpg)
After Bruce McLaren died in a testing accident in 1970,
Teddy Mayer
Edward Everett Mayer (September 8, 1935 – January 30, 2009) was an American motor racing entrepreneur who was successful in several categories of racing, including Formula One and IndyCars.
Life and career
Mayer was born in Scranton, Pen ...
took over the team. In 1981, McLaren merged with Ron Dennis' Project Four Racing; Dennis took over as team principal and shortly after organised a buyout of the original McLaren shareholders to take full control of the team. Dennis offered
Mansour Ojjeh
Mansour Akram Ojjeh (25 September 1952 – 6 June 2021) ( ar, مَنْصُور أَكْرَم عُجَّة, Manṣūr ʾAkram ʿUjjah) was a French Saudi Arabian-born entrepreneur who owned part of TAG, a Luxembourg-based holding company with in ...
the chance to purchase 50% of the team in 1983, with McLaren becoming a joint venture with Ojjeh's
TAG Group
TAG Group (Holdings) S.A. is a private holding company based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. The name 'TAG' is an acronym of Techniques d'Avant Garde. The company generates revenue through its various subsidiaries that offer products and services ...
. In 2000, after supplying engines to the team through its
Mercedes subsidiary for 5 years,
DaimlerChrysler
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...
(now
Daimler AG
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...
) exercised an option to buy 40% of the TAG McLaren Group. Dennis and Ojjeh each retained a 30% share, and each sold half of their stake to the
Mumtalakat Holding Company
Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat) is the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain. It was established by Royal Decree in 2006 and is wholly owned by the Government. Mumtalakat actively sought investment opportunities local ...
(the
sovereign wealth fund
A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), sovereign investment fund, or social wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such ...
of the
Kingdom of Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ad ...
) in 2007. Although Daimler were reportedly considering acquiring the remaining 60% from Dennis and Ojjeh, they instead bought
Brawn GP
Brawn GP was a Formula One constructor which competed in the 2009 Formula One World Championship, with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team was formed in 2009 by a management buyout led by Ross Brawn of the Honda Racing F1 ...
(renaming it
Mercedes GP) in November 2009;
their McLaren shares were sold back to Mumtalakat, Dennis, and Ojjeh in 2010.
Dennis stepped down as both CEO and team principal of McLaren in 2009, handing both roles over to Martin Whitmarsh. However, following the uncompetitive 2013 season, Dennis retook the role in January 2014;
Whitmarsh formally left the team later that year. Dennis sought to take a controlling interest in the company, but his relationship with Ojjeh had deteriorated, perhaps as early as 2013.
In 2016, Dennis was forced out of his role as CEO by Ojjeh;.
he sold his remaining shares in the company the next year.
, Mumtalakat owns 56.3% of McLaren Group, TAG Automotive Ltd. owned 14.3%,
Michael Latifi
Michael Mehrdad Latifi (born October 1962 in Iran) is an Iranian-Canadian businessman. He is the owner, Chairman and CEO of Sofina Foods Inc., a Markham, Ontario-based manufacturer of processed animal products. Sofina acquired Lilydale in a C$1 ...
's Nidala (BVI) Ltd. owned 10%, and minor shareholders held the rest.
After Dennis' 2014 return, he had abolished the position of team principal at McLaren, saying it was an 'outdated' position.
Éric Boullier was instead named racing director in January 2014, becoming responsible for the F1 team. After Dennis' exit,
Zak Brown
Zakary Challen Brown (born November 7, 1971) is an American businessman and former professional racing driver, currently residing in England. He is chief executive officer of McLaren Racing with overall responsibility for the business, includi ...
was chosen for the post of executive director, with the post of CEO being left vacant. The increasing awareness of the mediocrity of the car prompted a reshuffle in 2018: Brown was promoted to CEO in April, and when Boullier resigned in July, his position was divided between
Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 5 ...
as sporting director and
Andrea Stella as performance director. In May 2019,
Andreas Seidl was appointed as a new team principal. In December 2022, Seidl left McLaren to join
Sauber
Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it un ...
as CEO with Stella promoted to team principal.
Since 2004 the team has been based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. Facilities there include a wind tunnel and a driving simulator which is said to be the most sophisticated in the sport. The team has also created the
McLaren Young Driver Programme, which currently has one driver signed to it.
Politics
McLaren has had an uneasy relationship with Formula One's governing body, the FIA, and its predecessor FISA, as well as with the commercial rights holders of the sport. McLaren was involved, along with the other teams of the
Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA), in a dispute with FISA and Alfa Romeo, Renault, and Ferrari over control of the sport in the early 1980s. During this dispute, known as the
FISA-FOCA war,
a breakaway series was threatened, FISA refused to sanction
one race, and FOCA
boycotted another. It was eventually resolved by a revenue-sharing deal called the
Concorde Agreement
The Concorde Agreement is a contract between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the Formula One teams and the Formula One Group which dictates the terms by which the teams compete in races, and how the television revenues and ...
.
Subsequent Concorde Agreements were signed in 1987 and 1992, but in 1996, McLaren was again one of the teams which disputed the terms of a new agreement, this time with former FOCA president
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns ...
's
Formula One Promotions and Administration
The Formula One Group is a group of companies responsible for the promotion of the FIA Formula One World Championship, and the exercising of the sport's commercial rights.
The Group was previously owned by Delta Topco, a Jersey-based company ow ...
organisation; a new 10-year agreement was eventually signed in 1998. Similar arguments restarted in the mid-2000s, with McLaren and their part-owner Mercedes again threatening to start a rival series, before another Concorde Agreement was signed in 2009. In 2007, McLaren were involved in an
espionage controversy after their chief designer
Mike Coughlan
Michael Coughlan (born 17 February 1959) is a British motor racing engineer and designer. He was Chief Designer for the McLaren Formula One team from to , where he was suspended for his part in the spygate scandal between McLaren and Ferrari ...
obtained confidential technical information from Ferrari. McLaren was excluded from the Constructors' Championship for one year, and the team was fined US$100 million.
Although the terms of the most recent agreements, in 2013 and 2021, have been extensively negotiated on, McLaren have not taken as openly hostile a stance as in the past.
Sponsorship, naming, and livery
![Marlboro McLarens Donington](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Marlboro_McLarens_Donington.jpg)
McLaren's Formula One team was originally called Bruce McLaren Motor Racing, and for their first season ran white-and-green coloured cars, which came about as a result of a deal with the makers of the film ''
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
''.
Between and , the team used an orange design, which was also applied to cars competing in the Indianapolis 500 and Can-Am series, and was used as an interim testing livery in later years.
In , the
Royal Automobile Club
The Royal Automobile Club is a British private social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, near Epsom in Surrey. Both provide accommodation and a range o ...
and the FIA relaxed the rules regarding commercial sponsorship of Formula One cars, and in , the
Yardley of London
Yardley of London (usually referred to simply as Yardley or Yardleys) is a British personal care brand and one of the oldest firms in the world to specialise in cosmetics, fragrances and related toiletry products. Established in 1770, cosmetics company became McLaren's first title sponsor.
As a result, the livery was changed to a predominantly white one to reflect the sponsor's colours. This changed in , when Philip Morris joined as title sponsor through their Marlboro cigarette brand, whilst one car continued to run—ostensibly by a separate team—with Yardley livery for the year.
Marlboro's red-and-white branding lasted until , during which time the team went by various names incorporating the word "Marlboro", making it the then longest-running Formula One sponsorship (and still the longest title sponsorship, which has since been surpassed by
Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss AG, often styled as BOSS, is a luxury fashion house headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, accessories, footwear, and fragrances. Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing companies, ...
' sponsorship of the team, which ran from to ).
In , Philip Morris moved its Marlboro sponsorship to Ferrari and was replaced by Reemtsma's
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
cigarette branding, with the team entering under the name West McLaren Mercedes. As a result, McLaren adopted a silver and black livery. By mid-2005, a
European Union directive
A directive is a legal act of the European Union that requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. Directives first have to be enacted into national law by member states before thei ...
banned
tobacco advertising
Nicotine marketing is the marketing of nicotine-containing products or use. Traditionally, the tobacco industry markets cigarette smoking, but it is increasingly marketing other products, such as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco product ...
in sport, which forced McLaren to end its association with West. In , the team competed without a title sponsor, entering under the name Team McLaren Mercedes. McLaren altered their livery to introduce red into the design, and changed the silver to chrome.
In , McLaren signed a seven-year contract with telecommunications company
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
, and became known as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. The arrangement was due to last until , although the team announced at the
2013 Australian Grand Prix that their partnership would conclude at the end of the season. Despite explaining the decision to conclude the sponsorship as being a result of Vodafone's desire to reconsider its commercial opportunities, it was later reported that the decision to run the
2012 Bahrain Grand Prix
The 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally known as the 2012 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 22 April 2012 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the first time Formula One returned ...
despite an
ongoing civil uprising and
protests against the race, and Vodafone's inability to remove their logos from the McLaren cars during the race as being a key factor in the decision to terminate the sponsorship.
Diageo-owned whisky brand Johnnie Walker, an associate sponsor since 2005, offered to take over as title sponsor at the end of 2013, but their offer of £43m was turned down by McLaren chairman Ron Dennis, who believed it to be "too small."
At the end of 2015, it was announced that McLaren was due to lose sponsor TAG Heuer to Red Bull Racing. McLaren chief Ron Dennis later admitted to falling out with TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver. In 2015 McLaren was without a title sponsor, and set to lose a further £20m in sponsorship in 2016.
Between 2015 and 2017 the team competed as McLaren Honda due to their partnership with that engine manufacturer. The team has competed as McLaren F1 Team since 2018.
McLaren's cars were originally named with the letter M followed by a number, sometimes also followed by a letter denoting the model. After the 1981 merger with Project Four, the cars were called "MP4/x", or since 2001 "MP4-x", where x is the generation of the chassis (e.g.
MP4/1,
MP4-22). "MP4" stood initially for "Marlboro Project 4", so that the full title of the cars (McLaren MP4/x) reflected not only the historical name of the team, but also the names of the team's major sponsor and its new component part. Since the change of title sponsor in 1997, "MP4" was said to stand for "McLaren Project 4". From 2017, following Ron Dennis' departure from the team, the naming scheme of the cars changed to "MCL" followed by a number.
Since 2017, McLaren have increasingly adopted orange colours, designed to recall Bruce McLaren's liveries.
In ,
British American Tobacco (BAT) agreed a global partnership with McLaren under its ''A Better Tomorrow'' campaign to promote BAT's alternative smoking products
Vuse
Vuse is an electronic cigarette produced by R. J. Reynolds Vapor Company, a subsidiary of the Reynolds American tobacco company. In 2015, it was the most popular e-cigarette in the United States with 33% market share in Nielsen-tracked channels ...
(previously Vype) and Velo (previously Lyft). The agreement has enticed a similar controversy to the
Mission Winnow sponsorship with Scuderia Ferrari due to the association with tobacco companies. In July 2020, McLaren announced a multi-year strategic partnership with long time sponsor
Gulf Oil International
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...
, which includes Gulf being the preferred lubricant supplier to
McLaren Automotive
McLaren Automotive (formerly known as McLaren Cars) is a British luxury automotive manufacturer based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. The main products of the company are supercars, which are produced in-house in designat ...
and a special Gulf livery for the
2021 Monaco Grand Prix.
Racing results
Formula One results
* Constructors' Championships winning percentage:
* Drivers' Championships winning percentage:
* Winning percentage:
Drivers' champions
Seven drivers have won a total of twelve Drivers' Championships with McLaren:
*
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
()
*
James Hunt
James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) ''Autocourse Grand Prix Archive'', 14 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007. was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in . After retiring from racing in ...
()
*
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
()
*
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...
(, , )
*
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...
(, , )
*
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three Fo ...
(, )
*
Lewis Hamilton
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...
()
American open-wheel racing results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
# In conjunction with
Andretti Autosport
Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti ...
.
# In conjunction with
Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Race wins
Extreme E results
Racing overview
Racing summary
Complete Extreme E results
(Races in bold indicate best qualifiers; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest super sector)
References
Footnotes
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
* All Formula One World Championship results are taken fro
''Formula1.com'' Formula One Administration
The Formula One Group is a group of companies responsible for the promotion of the FIA Formula One World Championship, and the exercising of the sport's commercial rights.
The Group was previously owned by Delta Topco, a Jersey-based company ow ...
.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mclaren
British auto racing teams
British racecar constructors
McLaren Group
Companies based in Surrey
British companies established in 1963
1963 establishments in England
Can-Am entrants
Champ Car teams
IndyCar Series teams
Formula One entrants
Formula Two entrants
Formula One World Constructors' Champions
Formula E teams