Introduction

McLaren is a British car manufacturer and racing team/constructor. The team is named after New Zealand driver and team founder Bruce McLaren who was killed in an accident in 1970.

Current models

• McLaren 750S
• McLaren Artura
• McLaren Solus GT

Notable models

• McLaren F1
• Mercedes SLR McLaren (collaboration with Mercedes)
• McLaren P1
• McLaren 12C
• McLaren Senna

F1 Team

History

Their first Formula One race was the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix. McLaren didn't win its first Drivers and Constructors title until 8 years later when Emerson Fittipaldi won his second title in 1974 with the team. Despite winning the Drivers Championship with James Hunt in 1976, McLaren lost the Constructors title to their main rival Ferrari. 1977 would see Gilles Villeneuve make his debut in F1 with the team for one race before moving to Ferrari.

In 1981, the team merged into Ron Dennis's Project Four Racing, with Dennis taking over as team principle for the next three decades. After convincing Niki Lauda to return to F1 and hiring Alain Prost from Renault, McLaren was able to win their first Drivers title since 1976 and first Constructors title since 1974 during 1984. While McLaren won the 1985 Constructors Championship, they also were able to the '85 and '86 Drivers' title with Prost.

After being losing 1987 to Williams-Honda, McLaren switched from TAG-Porsche engines to Honda for 1988. On advice from Prost, Ron Dennis replaced Stefan Johansson with Ayrton Senna. The McLaren MP4/4 driven by Prost and Senna that season was able to win 15 of the 16 races (the only exception being the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Senna was able to win his first title that same season at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, while McLaren won the Constructors title by the 11th round in Belgium.

The rivalry between Senna and Prost however by 1989 had flared up to a point where Prost had decided to leave the team for Ferrari after the season. Before the season ended, Prost and Senna collided at the final chicane (Casio Triangle) at Suzuka. While Prost's McLaren was too damaged to continue in the race, Senna was able to repair his front wing on the next lap and won the race, only to be disqualified for getting a push start from the marshals after the collision with Prost. As a result, Prost won the 1989 Championship.

With Prost at Ferrari in 1990, McLaren were forced to take Ferrari's car numbers (27 and 28) despite winning the Constructors title in 1989. Senna along with his new teammate Gerhard Berger (who had swapped with Prost) were able to win McLaren their third constructors title in a row while Senna sealed the Drivers title at Suzuka when his McLaren collided into the rear of Prost's Ferrari.

McLaren is the second oldest team and second-most successful team in F1 after Ferrari, with 189 Grand Prix victories, 12 World Drivers Championships and 9 Constructor Championships as of the end of 2024.

Notable drivers

• Alain Prost
• Ayrton Senna
• Daniel Ricciardo
• David Coulthard
• Emerson Fittipaldi
• Fernando Alonso
• Gerhard Berger
• James Hunt
• Jenson Button
• Juan Pablo Montoya
• Kimi Räikkönen
• Lando Norris
• Lewis Hamilton
• Mika Häkkinen
• Niki Lauda

See Also

Car

Formula One

External link

https://mclaren.com/racing/formula-1