McLaren in F1 : A brief history

McLAREN IN FORMULA 1The 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.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. FORMULA 1 STATISTICSNumber of races – 664 Grand Prix victories – 164 Formula 1 Drivers World Championships – 12 Formula 1 Constructors World Championships – 8 Pole Positions – 145 Podiums – 436 Double Wins (1-2s) – 44 Fastest Laps – 136 (correct after 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) 12 Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championships DriverWins*Championships*Year Lewis Hamilton1112008 Heikki Kovalainen10 Fernando Alonso40 Kimi Raikkonen90 Juan Pablo Montoya30 David Coulthard120 Mika Hakkinen2021998,1999 Ayrton Senna3531988, 1990, 1991 Gerhard Berger30 Alain Prost3031985,1986, 1989 Niki Lauda811984 John Watson40 James Hunt911976 Jochen Mass10 Emerson Fittipaldi511974 Denny Hulme60 Peter Revson20 Bruce McLaren10 Total16412 *Whilst driving for McLaren 8 Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championships ConstructorSeason McLaren Ford1974 McLaren TAG Porsche Turbo1984, 1985 McLaren Honda Turbo1988 McLaren Honda1989, 1990,1991 Team McLaren Mercedes1998

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Posted by admin 5 February 2010

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