The English team has an epic history: the foundation of “father” Bruce McLaren, the golden years with Senna-Prost, the out-of-control accounts and Brown’s drastic measures. Until the new triumphs directed by Stella
From Bruce to Lando. The name McLaren has been inextricably linked to the world of motorsport and in particular to Formula 1 for more than sixty years. A period of time in which the team now based in Woking (south-west London) wrote the history of the largest motorsport category, winning ten Constructors’ titles and thirteen Drivers’ World Championships. Successes arrived thanks to timeless single-seaters and legendary drivers, above all Ayrton Senna. However, it would be unfair not to also mention sacred monsters behind the wheel such as James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton and many others who have contributed to enriching the palmares of the papaya team. A story not without difficult moments both from a sporting and financial point of view. Difficulties from which the team, however, was able to recover, as it has done in recent years, in which McLaren, thanks to the splendid work of Zak Brown, went from the risk of bankruptcy to a sporting paradise, with Lando Norris fulfilling his lifelong dream in Abu Dhabi, bringing the Drivers’ title back to Woking after 17 years. A story, that of the British team, that deserves to be retraced and known.
mclaren, the origins
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Founded in 1963 by New Zealand driver Bruce McLaren, the British racing team began producing its first sports cars the following year. Since its inception, therefore, McLaren has also created cars for other competitions besides F1, including Formula 2, IndyCar and other American championships. The debut in Formula 1 came in 1966 and the first positive results in 1968. In these years, before starting to change livery based on the sponsors, the British team ran with the papaya color which has been revived in recent seasons. However, fate would have it that Bruce, the “father” of the team that still bears his name today, could not see the successes of his creation. In fact, the New Zealander died on 2 June 1970 during a test on the Goodwood circuit. From that moment until the beginning of the 1980s the team was managed by Teddy Mayer, already responsible for the commercial part.
70s and first McLaren victories
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The first World title for McLaren came in 1974 with Emerson Fittipaldi. In addition to the Drivers’ title with the Brazilian, the English team also took home the Constructors’ crown. The double feat however failed in 1976, the year in which the Drivers’ World Championship was won by James Hunt, who made the most of the absence for part of the championship of Niki Lauda, who faced a long convalescence after a terrible accident at the Nurburgring. These first successes came in the form of Marlboro, the sponsor with which starting from 1974 (and until ’96) McLaren created an indelible collaboration for Formula 1 fans. It was Marlboro, or rather Philip Morris, who pushed at the beginning of the following decade for the installation of Ron Dennis at the top of the team in place of Mayer. A choice that turned out to be a good one to say the least, given that Dennis himself would drive McLaren for the next 34 years, consecrating it at the top of motorsport.
the golden years of mclaren
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The 80s were the decade of consecration for McLaren. In the years in which Ferrari’s world championship drought began (long from 1979 to 2000 as regards the Drivers’ title), the English team brought home one success after another, also giving life to perhaps the most iconic rivalry in the history of F1. In 1984 Niki Lauda, a rival at Maranello, brought the title back to Woking. In the same year the Papaya team also won the Constructors’ Championship. In the following season, however, it was Alain Prost who took home the first of his four titles. A feat he managed to repeat in 1986. Two years later, in 1988, McLaren signed two agreements destined to change its history forever: the one for the supply of engines with Honda and the one that brought Ayrton Senna to Woking. A was born dream team to all intents and purposes, with McLaren finding itself having the best single-seater, the best engine and the best pair of drivers. In that season the Woking team won 15 out of 16 Grands Prix, an emblematic year in terms of dominance and superiority. The winner of the Drivers’ title was Senna, with Prost taking revenge in 1989 in a Japanese Grand Prix which sparked endless controversy after an accident between the two contenders.
from senna to hakkinen
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In 1990 Prost landed at Ferrari, thus becoming a rival of McLaren. The fight for the title was still a question between the Frenchman and Senna, with the latter taking “revenge” for what happened a year earlier, ramming his rival at the start in Suzuka. The Brazilian thus won his second World Cup crown, repeating the success again in ’91. The following year the marriage with Honda ended, while in ’94 the relationship with Senna ended, moving to Williams. Starting from 1995, Mercedes supplied the engines to McLaren, giving rise to a new iconic collaboration, also from the point of view of the livery, with the Woking cars that began to wear the silver of the Star. World championship successes returned in 1998 and 1999 with Mika Hakkinen (in ’98 McLaren also won the Constructors’ title, while in ’99 Ferrari took it home). The Finn’s reign was interrupted by Ferrari and Michael Schumacher, with the German bringing the drivers’ title back to Maranello in 2000 after 21 years.
the spy story, hamilton and the decline
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After the domination of Schumacher’s Ferrari (2000-2004) and the two world titles brought home by Fernando Alonso with Renault in 2005 and 2006, McLaren returned to contention for the World title in 2007. This year, characterized by the internal rivalry between the world champion Alonso and the rising star Lewis Hamilton, was also that of spy storywith the English team being sentenced to a $100 million fine, as well as being disqualified from the Constructors’ championship, after drawings of the Ferrari F2007 were found at the home of Mike Coughlan, McLaren’s chief designer. The Woking team were initially acquitted for failing to use the information they had, but were later punished as new evidence emerged. Alonso and Hamilton were however free to fight for the Drivers’ Championship, both finishing in the final race in Brazil. However, the winner was Kimi Raikkonen, who took home what is to date the last title won by a Ferrari driver. In 2008 Hamilton, who had missed out on the championship the year before due to reliability problems, took his revenge on the Cavallino, winning the World Championship at the last gasp in Interlagos, while Felipe Massa, first at the finish line, was already celebrating with his fans.
Dennis leaves McLaren
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After a series of uninspiring seasons, in 2015 McLaren opted for a double return: Honda, on the engines side, and Fernando Alonso on the drivers side. However, they were two failures, with the Japanese power units not proving to be up to par with their rivals in the short term, which led to a difficult coexistence with the Spaniard, who announced his retirement in 2018 (only to later return to the grid). In 2016 Ron Dennis, the man who took McLaren to the top of the world, was shown the door, due to poor recent sporting results and the enormous financial difficulties the team had encountered. An American took his place, Zak Brown, first as executive director and then, starting from 2018, as CEO.
mclaren rebirth
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Zak Brown’s arrival at Woking marked a change of direction from an economic-financial point of view for McLaren. The Californian manager has in fact given a strong boost to the commercial side of the team, trying to make his brand more attractive, which has allowed him over the years to enter into agreements with some of the major global brands, from Lego to Dell, from Hilton to Google. A drastic approach (McLaren even sold part of its collection of cars to make ends meet), which however allowed the British team to make up for losses and increase revenues. A restructuring that did not only concern the commercial side, but also the technical and infrastructural one. Andrea Stella, a former Ferrari engineer, has been appointed to lead the team on the track from 2022, while in terms of structures a new wind tunnel has been built. A reconstruction job that bore fruit in less than a decade, with McLaren who, despite not having started in the best way in the ground effect era that began in 2022, made a comeback in record time, regaining a Constructors’ title in 2024 that had been missing since ’98. In 2025, in addition to confirming itself as champion in the Constructors’ Championship, the Woking team also returned to the top of the world in the Drivers’ Championship, with Lando Norris winning his first title at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The thirteenth seal for a McLaren driver, to which add the ten Constructors’ Cups. Successes that have raised the name of the English team, which over the decades has established a blood bond with Formula 1, without however disdaining its commitment in other categories, where it has achieved success, and in the world of road cars. Some iconic cars, including the McLaren F1 and P1, were in fact born from the Woking factories. All aspects that have contributed to making the McLaren name immortal, which to this day is in the hearts of motoring enthusiasts of all time. From those who were able to see the first steps taken by Bruce to those who fell in love with F1 in Lando’s era.
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