In the mid sixties a new type of racing team emerged. Drivers started establishing their own teams, becoming their own bosses and designing cars to their own racing philosophies. Following the path set down by fellow Cooper driver Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren set up his own team. He raced his first F1 car in 1965.
McLaren found moderate success in Formula 1 but it was in Can-Am racing that he excelled. His sports cars completely dominated the series. Sadly, Bruce was killed testing one of the cars at Goodwood in 1970.
Heroic Underdogs
After Bruce’s death, management of the team fell to close friend Teddy Maher and in 1974 the team clinched its first championship with Emerson Fittipaldi. Another championship would come with James Hunt edging out Ferrari’s Niki Lauda in an epic battle over the 1976 season.
However, as new technologies emerged McLaren began struggling to stay competitive. Team sponsor Marlboro pressured Mayer into merging the team with another Marlboro partner from Formula 2, Project 4 Racing.
Project 4 was run by Ron Dennis, a former Cooper mechanic known for his obsessive attention to detail. Dennis, along with his designer John Barnard, had already decided to enter F1 with a revolutionary carbon fiber chassis but was convinced by Marlboro to bring their concepts to McLaren instead.
The new partnership was not without strife as Mayer clashed with Dennis and his ideas. Within a year, Teddy would leave the team solely in the control of Ron Dennis.
A New Captian at the Helm
McLaren under Ron was a new team in all but name. His total commitment to winning and his ability to adapt new technologies to racing transformed the team into an elite machine completely focused on winning.
With a revolutionary car and formidable engines, Dennis spared no expense recruiting the best drivers. First, he lured former World Champion Niki Lauda out of retirement, then added Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna to the team. Despite internal clashes between its drivers, McLaren found the recipe for success.
From 1984 to 1991, McLaren lost only one world championship. So dominant was the team that in 1988 they threatened to win every single race. Only a minor collision in the Italian GP prevented them from rewriting the record books.
Life After Senna
All things come to an end and McLaren suddenly found itself struggling in 1992. Williams Renault was quickest and McLaren engine partner Honda abruptly abandoned the sport. In 1994 Senna left the squad as well to drive for Williams with tragic consequences. It was a painful period that took McLaren several seasons to fully recover from.
Undaunted, McLaren rebuilt. Partnering with Mercedes they closed out the nineties with back to back world championships.
McLaren have remained contenders almost every season since 1999 but despite winning 35 races since their last title, the world championship has now eluded them for a decade.
The Hamilton Era
2007 saw the emergence of phenom rookie Lewis Hamilton. The young sensation looked set to take McLaren straight back to the top but conflict with teammate Fernando Alonso and an espionage charge against the team resulted in McLaren being disqualified. Both drivers lost the championship to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in the final race of the year.
With Hamilton now firmly established and the distraction of scandal behind them, McLaren look set to achieve excellence once more.
References
Rendell, Ivan. The Power Game. London, Cassel & Co. Wellington House, 2000.
Hilton, Christopher. Aryton Senna. Sommerset, Haynes Publishing, 1994.
Tremayne, David, Hughes, Mark. Concise Encyclopedia of Formula 1. Bath, Paragon Publishing, 2000.
