Country of Origin : Great Britain
Formed : 1963
Active in Formula One : Since 1964

Bruce McLaren, the man behind the team's name, was born in Aukland, New Zealand and won a scholarship to race in Europe in 1958. Racing for Cooper in Formula 2, his good results earned him a place in their Grand prix team in 1959. McLaren took victory that year at the Hendrick Field circuit near Sebring and in doing so became the youngest ever Grand Prix winner at 22. Following the example of Brabham, Bruce set about building his own cars and formed Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd. Unfortunately, his first formula one chassis which made its debut at Monaco in 1966 was engined by the underpowered Serenissima engine due to a shortage of the new 3 litre units. However, a sixth place in the British Grand Prix earned the team their first point.

Designer Robin Herd then left to join Cosworth, but before doing so, penned the McLaren M7. Teamed with a Ford Cosworth engine, the mighty M7 gave McLaren a first win at the Brands Hatch Race of Champions and came close to taking the championship crown in 1968 driven by Denny Hulme.

On 2nd June 1970, Bruce Mclaren was killed while testing the new M8 at Goodwood, having outshone the other teams at CanAm along with team mate Hulme. Three years later came the car that really put McLaren on the map - the M23. in 1973, Hulme and Peter Revson won three races, and in 1974 Emerson Fittipaldi took a further three wins and the World Championship title. It was also in this year that the team was first backed by long-time sponsors Marlboro. Losing out to Ferrari the next year, James hunt came to the team and regained the title in '76, losing out again to Ferrari in '77 as it struggled to match the new ground effect technology cars.

In 1980, Project Four Formula Two boss, Ron Dennis bought part of the company and with designer John Barnard created a Formula One classic in the carbon fibre McLaren MP4. Dennis pursuaded Niki Lauder, who he had run a car for in 1979, to come out of retirement and gained wins in 1982 at Long Beach and Brands Hatch. The team struggled against new turbo engines, but in 1983 gained the TAGbadged Porsche V6 Turbo and McLaren's assault was ready to begin.

In 1984, Alain Prost joined the team and with Lauda, dominated the championship, taking 7 wins to Niki's 5. With consistent driving, Lauder took the title, but Prost took the crown in '85 and again in '86 dispite the Williams team being clearly superior. Losing out to the Williams team of Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet in '87, McLaren became unstoppable in 1988 with Prost and Ayrton Senna and powered by Honda engines. Senna took the first of their three titles in four years until Honda withdrew in 1992. With Ford power, Senna still managed five wins, but left for Williams in 1993 having given McLaren the title of the most successful team in racing history over Ferrari. In 1994, Peugot replaced Ford for a disasterous no-win season and a change to Mercedes power in 1995 also failed to secure a single victory. The team fared no better in '96 with its mid-wing design faling to bring the car up to scratch.

A gradual improvement in 1997 saw the team ready for a major assault in 1988. With new sponsors and a much improved Mercedes engine, the West McLarens, sporting new 'Silver Arrows' paintwork were unstoppable with David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen barely missing an opportunity to embarass the opposition and Hakkinen taking the drivers title in '98 and '99. Only Michael Schumacher, having moved to Ferrari in 1996 and pushed for constant development, could spoil their title hopes. Dispite a major crash in '99, Schumacher was flawless in 2000 stealing the title from McLaren. The teams hopes now rest on the 2001 challenger, the MP4-16, still driven by Coulthard and Hakkinen.

For more information visit the official team website .