The History of McLaren Formula 1 team

The McLaren Formula 1 team is rich in heritage, having been formed in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren. Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited as it was then known set to work on building a Formula 1 car, and three years later the team made its debut at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix.

Founder - Bruce McLaren

The team scored their first race win in 1968, when Bruce McLaren piloted a McLaren-Ford to victory. Tragically though the New Zealander lost his life at a Can Am testing accident at the Goodwood Circuit in 1970, but the team continued his legacy, winning races in Formula 1 and expanding into Indy and Can-Am Racing.

In 1974 the team celebrated its first Formula 1 Drivers' and Constructors' Championship win, with Emerson Fittipaldi in the McLaren-Ford M23. The next Drivers' Championship came courtesy of English driver James Hunt, behind the wheel of the McLaren-Ford M23 in 1976.
To date the team has achieved the highest number of double race wins of any pair of Formula 1 drivers with team-mates Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost notching up 14 wins between them in the 1988 / 89 season. The Senna / Prost partnership also holds the accolade for the most grands prix wins in a season. In 1988 the pair won 15 out of the 16 races on the calendar.

The team has won four consecutive Drivers' and Constructors' Championships (1988-1991) and secured eight Constructors' World Championship titles, the first of which was in 1974. Today the team now has a record 12 Drivers' World Championship titles and eight Constructors' World Championships

The Champion

1. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren Ford) - 1974

2. James Hunt (McLaren Ford)- 1976

3. Niki Lauda (McLaren Tag Porshe Turbo) - 1984

4. Alain Prost (McLaren Honda) - 1985, 1986,1989

5. Ayrton Senna (McLaren Honda) - 1988, 1990, 1991

6. Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Mercedes) - 1998, 1999

7. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) - 2008