McLaren-Mercedes: A force to reckon with in Formula 1
McLaren-Mercedes have been one of the most successful teams in the history of Formula 1. Since the foundation in 1966, McLaren have won 8 constructors’ championships, 12 drivers’ championships, 162 Grands Prix and have secured 147 pole positions.
In the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship, McLaren with its drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton stood second with 497 points behind Red Bull Racing.
Bruce McLaren started racing in Formula 1 in 1958. In 1959, he marked his first victory in the US Grand Prix. Just a couple of years after he joined Formula 1, he became the youngest ever driver to lead the championship and the record was not broken until
Lewis Hamilton had beaten it in 2007 by almost more than a month.
Bruce McLaren led the foundation of the McLaren team in 1966. The team stood second in the constructors’ championship in 1968 and Bruce McLaren won the first Grand Prix for the team in the same year in Belgium. In 1970, Bruce McLaren died in a crash at Goodwood
while he was testing a sports car.
McLaren have won many other auto racing titles which include the Indianapolis 500, Can Am and Le Mans. With all such victories, McLaren are the team which have won races in almost every decade since its inception.
McLaren won its first Formula 1 drivers’ championship in 1976 when James Hunt took the victory by only one point from Ferrari’s driver Niki Lauda.
Alain Prost won two back-to-back drivers’ championships in 1985 and 1986 for the team.
From 1988 to 1991, McLaren dominated Formula 1 racing with its driver Ayrton Senna who won the drivers’ championship in 1988 and took the title away from his teammate Alain Prost. Then Alain Prost reversed the situation in 1989. However, Ayrton Senna again
won the drivers’ championship in the following year and retained the title in 1991.
McLaren again dominated in the years 1998 and 1999 by securing victories in drivers’ championship titles and winning the constructors’ championship in 1999.
In 2000-2001, McLaren finished second in both constructors’ and drivers’ championship with Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard. Later in 2002-2003, McLaren was pushed down to third place in the constructors’ championship. In 2003, Kimi Raikkonen after losing
to Michael Schumacher in the final race emerged as McLaren’s key contender for the drivers’ championship.
In 2004, the team scored only five points in the first seven races which was the worst start of the season for McLaren. In 2005, MP4-20 proved out to be the fastest car on the grid but the team lost the constructors’ championship despite having two more
wins than Renault.
In 2007, McLaren took 8 Grand Prix victories. However, in September 2007, the team was charged for possessing the confidential data of Ferrari and was disqualified from the championship with an imposition of $100 million fine.
Lewis Hamilton in 2008 brought the first drivers’ championship for McLaren since 1999. Later in 2009, Hamilton’s victory helped the team to stand as the third best team, only one point above Ferrari. McLaren seemed unable to cope up with the speed of Red
Bull Racing and finished as a runner up in the 2010-2011 championships.
Nevertheless, McLaren is a team which is well capable of winning the championships and can challenge Red Bull Racing in the upcoming season.
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