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McLaren is one of the oldest and most successful teams participating in Formula One racing. Although Ferrari is statistically the more successful team, McLaren is considered to have access to superior infrastructure and technical resources. Dominant in the 1990s and strong in the first decade of the new millennium, McLaren’s power in the sport has been eroded by advances made by other teams.
Headquarters: Woking, England
Engine: Mercedes Benz FO108x
Chassis: McLaren MP4-25
F1 Debut: 1966 Monaco Grand Prix
Drivers: Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button
The McLaren team is named after New Zealand’s Bruce McLaren who both built and raced his team’s cars in a variety of different racing championships. At present McLaren is jointly controlled by the McLaren Racing Group and car manufacturer Mercedes Benz.
History
McLaren made its Grand Prix debut in 1966, following several successful seasons in the Can Am racing series. The cars were both designed and raced by Bruce McLaren himself, who was the only driver for his team in its first two years in Formula One racing.
Although the team was not to win a Constructors Championship until the 1980s, McLaren began obtaining good results in the 1970s, winning two Drivers Championships. Unfortunately, Bruce McLaren did not live to see his team flourish in Formula One racing, as he was killed in a fatal accident whilst testing a car at Goodwood.
The McLaren team entered its golden era in the 1980s, racing in the trademark red and white colours of their corporate sponsor, Lucky Strike. The team won four Constructors Championships during this period, while the likes of Nicki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna won five Drivers Championships in McLaren cars.
McLaren Mercedes in Formula One
After a short period of decline in the mid 1990s, brought on by the departure of their talisman driver Ayrton Senna, as well as Honda’s withdrawal of its engines, McLaren has used the past decade to reassert itself as one of the leading teams in Formula One racing. The withdrawal of Lucky Strike as sponsor has resulted in a new look chassis with the red and white colours of the team replaced by a red and chrome livery.
With the financial backing and engines of Mercedes Benz, McLaren has consistently challenged for top honours in Formula One racing, repeatedly finishing in the top three for the Constructors Championship and narrowly losing out to Ferrari in the race for the 2007 and 2008 Constructors Championship titles. The team underperformed for much of the 2009 Formula One season, but eventually gained ground by winning two end-of-season races.
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