History
McLaren F1 Team History
Alain Prost wins 1984 Monaco F1 GP in McLaren MP4-2
McLaren are one of the oldest and most successful teams in Formula 1, and are the great rivals of the illustrious team.
Since their debut back in , the team has gone on to win eight Constructors Championships and 12 Drivers' titles.
They have also seen some of the sport’s greatest names at the wheel of their cars. , , and Lewis Hamilton, to name a few.
Founded by New Zealand driver back in 1963, the team had to wait a further three years for its debut, at Monte-Carlo.
Teammates Senna & Prost worst moment in Japan 1989
After two years of little success as the team’s only driver, Bruce was joined by fellow Kiwi in 1968. They won three races that season, with Bruce claiming their maiden victory at Spa.
After the founder’s death in 1970, their progress was halted but after four years of rebuilding, they finally claimed their first world championship, courtesy of in the McLaren M23
They backed that up in when Britain’s won one of the tightest championship seasons ever in , holding off Lauda's Ferrari.
However, a run of uncompetitive years left McLaren scrapping for points lower down the grid. But seven championships in eight years through the mid-80s to early 90s was arguably as dominant as any team has ever been in possibly F1’s greatest era.
Aerial view of the McLaren Technology Centre (left) and McLaren factory
Lauda held off team-mate Prost to claim the by half a point before the meticulous Prost went on the win in both and .
After Lauda moved on, Prost was joined by the up-and-coming Ayrton Senna, the team was so dominant that the pair won 15 of 16 races in 1988. Senna won a very tight maiden championship as the MP4/4 won 15 of the 16 races in 1988.
In 1989, the relationship between Prost and Senna started to crumble and soured further when the pair clashed in Japan, with Prost controversially winning the title in another year of McLaren dominance.
After the Professor left to join , Senna had a free reign and won back-to-back titles in 1990 and 1991.
There has been further success for Hakkinen (1998 and 1999) and (2008) but despite remaining competitive, three championships in 24 years are not what McLaren expected since their dominant decade.
Mika Hakkinen (McLaren MP4-15 Mercedes) 2nd position. Suzuka, Japan. 6-8 October 2000
They remain a big team but with the financial backing of other teams, their task to return to the front is harder than ever.
The Honda engine adventure (2015-2017) turned out to a big disaster. The team had a dramatic 2015 F1 season, in which McLaren had to settle for ninth position in the constructors' championship. Even though the team had a tremendous lineup of drivers with two world champions, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, the Honda power unit wasn't great at the time, and the rest of the car also had many issues.
Every start of a new season the hopes get up high, but 2016 turned out bad for McLaren and Ron Dennis, who achieved a lot of success in the earlier Honda years with Senna and Prost, left the team
For the 2017 F1 season the team came up with a new livery (orange/black) but the 2017 season turned out to be one of the worst in the history of the team. The Honda engine still was not powerful and reliable enough to be competitive. The team ended up in ninth place in the constructors' championship again. Stoffel Vandoorne, the team's new driver back then, also had difficulty adapting to the high downforce F1 cars.
For 2018 the team had managed to swap engines with Red Bull Racing. They got the Renault engine and the car now became completely orange (Papaya) like in the old days. Red Bull was very interested to pick up the Honda project, as their cooperation with Renault had deteriorated quickly after many reliability problems and Renault had bought away Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull. The McLaren team had to put a lot of effort into adapting to the Renault engine.
Lewis Hamilton F1 Champion 2008
Vandoorne and Alonso were still driving for McLaren and the team did a bit better by going up three places to end up as sixth in the WCC. But the still wasn't one to quickly forget with no podium finishes and a fifth-place as the best result in the very first race. It was time to change the drivers now, as Alonso took a sabbatical and Vandoorne left the team.
In 2019, McLaren gave another rookie a chance to shine. Zak Brown who was the new CEO of McLaren was enthusiastic about a young 19-year-old British driver called Lando Norris. He was paired with Carlos Sainz, who came from Renault after the team went all-in on Daniel Ricciardo in the drivers' market.
In 2019, McLaren showed lots of promise and finished fourth in the World Constructors' Championship after consistent and reliable performances from their drivers, especially Sainz, who finished sixth in the WDC. With 145 points in 2019, McLaren had their best year since 2014.
The team returned to the Formula 1 podium after more than five years, with Sainz finishing third in the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix.
The 2020 campaign was consistent for McLaren, again, and the team was able to finish third in the WCC with 202 points, its best tally since the 2012 F1 season.
AUTODROMO NAZIONALE MONZA, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 12: Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M, leads Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M during the Italian GP at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Sunday September 12, 2021 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Mark Sutton / LAT Images)
Norris finished the first race of the 2020 F1 season on the podium with a third-place, while Sainz scored another podium for the Woking-based team, coming close to winning the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, but ultimately finishing second.
A return to victory for McLaren came in 2021 when Daniel Ricciardo led a McLaren 1-2 at Monza to win the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. As championship contenders Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) crashed out of the race, it'd be easy for many to think that that was the reason behind McLaren's win at Monza in 2021.
However, Ricciardo had started the race in second place and got off the line brilliantly to lead into the first corner, ahead of Verstappen. Then, he led comfortably, winning the race after leading all but five laps of the 53-lap race. It was McLaren's first win since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix and the first 1-2 finish since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix.
Ultimately, McLaren finished the season in fourth place in the WCC, as the team's form dipped a bit after the win at Monza.
The team managed to be fifth in the 2022 World Constructors' Championship under F1's new era. Although the team, consisting of Norris and Ricciardo again, scored its lowest tally of points since 2019 (159), McLaren was the only team outside of the Top 3 to score a podium.
Norris finished third for McLaren in the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which was the team's best result of the year.
On 24 August 2022, the team and Ricciardo announced that the partnership would end after the 2022 season, although he still had a year remaining in his contract. Ricciardo scored 37 points, which looked unsuccessful alongside Norris' 122 for the season.
On 2 September 2022, McLaren announced Australian Oscar Piastri as their driver for 2023. The Australian, who won the 2021 F2 championship, and McLaren had to go through a contract dispute with Alpine which was settled by Formula 1's Contract Recognition Board (CRB).
Another change for 2023 included Andreas Seidl's departure, as McLaren's former Team Principal went to Alfa Romeo. Moreover, Andrea Stella took the Team Principal job for McLaren.
MELBOURNE GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 31: Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60 during the Australian GP at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on Friday March 31, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Lionel Ng / LAT Images)
Struggles at the start but solid performance in the 2023 F1 season
McLaren started the 2023 campaign clearly on the back foot, with two scoreless outings in the first two Grands Prix of the year in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The team managed to take advantage of others' mistakes and favorable circumstances in the 2023 Australian Grand Prix and jumped from being scoreless to fifth in the World Constructors' Championship after Norris and the rookie Piastri finished sixth and eighth in the event.
Despite looking like the sixth-strongest car, the ninth race of the 2023 F1 season saw McLaren performing at a high level, with Norris finishing fourth in that race.
Moreover, the 10th race of the year, the 2023 British Grand Prix, was special for the team. McLaren painted its cars with the iconic chrome silver, which was present when the team won its most recent title in 2008.
LOSAIL INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, QATAR - OCTOBER 07: Sprint pole winner Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60, and Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60.
In that race, Norris and Piastri qualified second and third and Norris finished the event in second place, achieving his seventh F1 podium and McLaren's 495th in its history. On his side, the rookie Piastri finished fourth, his best result in Formula 1 at the time.
Norris earned another podium in the following race, with a second place in the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. Piastri, on his side, fought for the win in the Sprint Race in Belgium before settling for second place.
After a three-race skid between Belgium and Italy, McLaren returned to the podium with Norris in Singapore (second place), and with both drivers in Japan and Qatar. In Suzuka, Piastri achieved his first F1 podium, while he recorded a win in the Sprint Race in Qatar and had his best race finish with a second place.
The two podiums in Qatar gave McLaren 500 podiums in their F1 history.
The Australian had a difficult time closing out the season, while Norris added another podium in Brazil.
Norris finished in sixth place in the World Drivers' Championship with 205 points and seven podiums, while Piastri was ninth with 97 points and two podiums.
2024 F1 season: Difficult start, solid second half to win first Constructors' title since 1998
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38 during the Brazilian GP at Autódromo José Carlos Pace
McLaren started off the 2024 Formula 1 season watching Red Bull win four of the first five races, similar to the start of 2023. In that span, McLaren managed to record a couple of podium finishes in Australia and China.
In the sixth race of the season, McLaren won a Grand Prix for the first time since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. Lando Norris beat Max Verstappen to take his maiden Grand Prix win, a breakthrough for him and the team.
McLaren then constantly competed for victories in races. Although their drivers failed to take advantage in the World Drivers' Championship, points kept coming for the Constructors' standings. The team achieved a 1-2 in the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, with Oscar Piastri taking his first F1 win.
Two races later, in the Netherlands, Lando Norris drove a great race to dominate the event, taking his second win and the team's third of 2024. McLaren achieved four wins in a streak of six races in the middle part of the calendar, with Piastri winning at Azerbaijan and Norris taking his third victory in the 2024 Singapore GP.
MARINA BAY STREET CIRCUIT, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 22: The McLaren trophy delegate, Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, 1st position, and Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, 3rd position, on the podium during the Singapore GP at Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday September 22, 2024 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Andy Hone / LAT Images)
McLaren overtook Red Bull for the top spot in the WCC after the race in Azerbaijan and kept that place until the end of the season. Although McLaren went on a five-race streak without victories, the team entered the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi leading in the standings.
At Abu Dhabi, McLaren sealed their ninth World Constructors' Championship and the first since 1998. Norris won the event to take his fourth win of the season and close out his best F1 campaign, finishing second among drivers.
McLaren snapped its 26-year drought without a Constructors' title. It was the team's worst drought and also an F1 record for the longest span between titles.
Official McLaren F1 website: https://www.mclaren.com/racing/