McLaren

This is the second in a series about successful F1 teams.

McLaren is one of a small group of highly successful F1 teams that dates back to the 1960's. Since their debut in 1966 at the Monaco GP, McLaren has won a staggering 8 constructors championships ('74, '84, '85, '88, '89, '90, '91, '98) and a total of 12 driver's championships ('74, '76, '84, '85, '86, '88, '89, '90, '91, 98, '99, '08). Along the way, the elite team has accumulated 182 race victories, 155 pole positions, 152 fastest laps, 47 one-two finishes, resulting in 391 podium appearances.

Founded in 1963 by F1 driver Bruce McLaren in order to run the Australian Tasman Series, the New Zealand native had already tasted victory with three F1 wins under his belt with the British F1 team Cooper. A consummate engineer, Bruce would push far beyond the envelop in the early days of F1. To watch a short video about the man, click here. For the 50th anniversary video, click here.

Fittipaldi in a MP 23

The Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi was the driver who restored McLaren as a top contender after four years of rebuilding, after the passing of the founder in a testing accident at Goodwood in 1970. A couple of years later, Britain's James Hunt won one of the tightest championships in F1 history, in an epic championship battle with Niki Lauda that has now been put on the big screen as "Rush".

Prost and Senna in 1988 

After a couple of uncompetitive years, the team bounced back by winning seven championships through the mid-80's to early 90's in what can be only categorized as in F1's greatest era. With Lauda setting the stage by winning the championship in 1984, Alain Prost followed in 1985 and 1986, and with the legendary Ayrton Senna joining team, together they won 15 out of 16 races the following  year, with Senna wining the championship by a small margin.

As the technological side of F1 racing increased in importance, so did the brain trust. With Adrian Newey making technological improvements, Mika Hakkinen won back-to-back driver's championships with McLaren in 1998 and 1999. Only in 2008 would a McLaren win the title again, this time with Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel.

For the 2015 season, two time world champion Fernando Alonso joins Jenson Button in what will be known as the season in which the all conquering partnership of McLaren-Honda, first established back in 1988, will resume. Back then the powerful MP4/4 won a staggering 15 out of 16 races!

Below the list of 30 of the most famous McLaren drivers:
- David Coulthard

Early McLaren logo

- Mikka Hakkinen
- Lewis Hamilton
- Alain Prost
- Jenson Button
- Kimi Raikkonen
- Denny Hulme
- John Watson
- Niki Lauda

- Jochen Mass
- James Hunt
- Gergard Berger
- Bruce McLaren
- Emerson Fittipaldi

Modern day logo

- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Fernando Alonso
- Martin Brundle
- Keke Rosberg
- Michael Andretti
- Mike Hailwood
- Jody Scheckter

Marlboro, main sponsor for 23 yrs

- John Surtees
- Nelson Piquet
- David Hobbs
- Nigel Mansell
- Mark Donohue
- Jacky Ickx
- Pillippe Alliot
- Derek Bell

- Gilles Villeneuve


Source: McLaren, Wikipedia
Photo/image credit: McLaren F1, own files, others are unknown.