McLaren

- Published on Dec 11th, 2010 by The Badger

McLaren's F1 effort began in 1966, when Kiwi racer Bruce McLaren left the Cooper team and founded McLaren Racing with American motorsport entrepreneur Teddy Mayer, initially competing as the sole driver.  He claimed the team’s first Grand Prix victory at Spa in 1968 driving the M7A in its distinctive orange livery and went on to achieve second place in the constructors’ championship that season.

Tragically, Bruce died on June 2nd 1970 whilst testing his new M8D Can-Am sports car at Goodwood, but the team would live on. 1974 saw Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi help the team to a world championship double, whilst James Hunt sealed the drivers' crown in '76. The team had now become a major F1 force.

In late 1980 the team merged with Ron Dennis' Project Four outfit, heralding the start of their most successful period. Five drivers' and four constructors' titles were won during the decade, whilst the team boasted the finest drivers in the sport during this period, notably Alain Prost - world champion for the team in 1985, '86 and '89 - and Ayrton Senna, who took the title for McLaren in 1988, 1990 and 1991, behind the wheel of the famous red and white cars.

With Senna and Prost both gone by the mid-nineties the team entered something of a barren period, with no race wins between 1994 and 1996. However they had assembled a strong driver line-up in Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, and the arrival of tech genius Adrian Newey in 1997 was the catalyst for more success. Hakkinen, who nearly lost his life at the wheel of a McLaren in 1995, was world champion on 1998 and '99 whilst the team also took constructors' glory in '98.

McLaren would remain at the front as F1 enetred the new millenium but, incredibly, it would be nearly a decade before they sealed another title. Michael Schumacher's dominance of F1 between 2000 and 2004 meant no more silverware during this period, though Kimi Raikkonen did run Schumacher incredibly close in 2003. However following a nightmare 2006 Raikkonen departed for Ferrari and the team hired double world champion Fernando Alonso and long-time protegee Lewis Hamilton in search of a return to the glory days.

This would prove to be an explosive driver line-up, though the friction caused by pairing two such talented racers would ultimately cost the team the title. Hamilton proved an immediate match for his more experienced stablemate but as tension grew between the two, with Alonso unhappy at being on level terms with a rookie. Ultimately they threw the title away, with Alonso crashing out of the Japanese GP, Hamilton sliding in to the gravel as he entered the pits in China and then neither doing enough to take the crown at the season-closing Brazilian Grand Prix. McLaren oldboy Raikkonen took championship honours.

But with Alonso departing Hamilton took centre stage in 2008, claiming the title - despite a few hiccups and a dramatic ending - in Brazil. 2009's regulation changes saw the team produce a poor car, but as the year progressed they turned things around to allow Hamilton two race wins. 2010 saw them back in the title mix, with reigning champion Jenson Button joining his countryman at Woking. They ultimately missed out, Lewis and Jenson finishing fourth and fifth respectively, as Ferrari and Red Bull proved too strong over the final third of the campaign.