Why it’s right to mark the diamond anniversary of an F1 gem

Celebration of Formula 1 in the UK reaches a peak during two weekends in July. The British Grand Prix at Silverstone is followed by the Festival of Speed at Goodwood which this year provides anniversaries for two major teams. The Lotus brand was created by Colin Chapman in 1948 and, while the company is no longer playing a part in F1, there will be plenty of key single-seaters to honour the 75th anniversary of one of the most imaginative constructors in motor racing.

Fifteen years after Chapman’s launch, the young New Zealander Bruce McLaren set up his own team. As a result, the McLaren brand is second only to Ferrari in terms of ongoing duration in F1, and the two teams are top of the list for British GP wins. Having switched from McLaren to Ferrari in 2021 Carlos Sainz took his first F1 victory at Silverstone last year and, suitably, the previous Ferrari driver to win at Silverstone, Sebastian Vettel, will be driving a McLaren at Goodwood.

The MP4/8 is part of Vettel’s personal collection and was raced by Ayrton Senna in 1993. While that season didn’t yield quite the level of success McLaren was accustomed to, having claimed seven drivers’ titles in the previous nine years, it was memorable for many reasons. Senna laid down an opening lap for the ages on his way to victory in the European GP at Donington, the second of his five wins that year; and Michael Andretti re-established a connection to the USA, something which had been a key element of the team’s early days.

McLaren was an impressive racer and engineer and became a works driver for the Cooper F1 team in 1959. He took his first world championship F1 win at the inaugural US GP when he was 22, becoming F1’s youngest-ever winner at the time. But there wasn’t a huge crowd to watch his moment of glory at Sebring. As Bruce wrote in his biography From the Cockpit in 1964: “The first US GP in 1959 had been poorly supported by the public, largely because F1 racing there was and still is virtually unknown.” Thankfully, that is a pattern which has been redefined in recent years.

Bruce enjoyed racing in America, particularly in the mid-engined sportscars created by his company for the Can-Am series which McLaren dominated between 1967 and 1971. Can-Am earned top teams big money, enough to help support the financial aspect of F1 at the time. Sadly it was a Can-Am car which also led to the loss of Bruce in testing at Goodwood in 1970, yet the team he had created continued to deliver remarkable results. In 1974 under the leadership of American-born Teddy Mayer, McLaren claimed its first F1 drivers’ and constructors’ titles courtesy of Emerson Fittipaldi.

Bruce McLaren on his way to winning the 1968 Belgian GP in his McLaren

Photo by: LAT Photographic

Competing at the Indy 500 was also a major part of the plan in the early 1970s and a McLaren first won the event under the command of Roger Penske’s separate team in 1972. By 1976, Johnny Rutherford had taken his second win at Indy for the works McLaren team and that year proved to be a highlight for the company as James Hunt won the F1 drivers’ title by one point from Niki Lauda.

The late 1970s were more challenging and within a few years the team was under the command of Ron Dennis. By then, F1 was the focus yet there were still strong connections with the States. Dennis brought London-born John Barnard back from California where he had been chief designer for Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing. Barnard designed a carbon fibre monocoque for the McLaren MP4 and, thanks to some of the connections he had, a deal was put together with Hercules Aerospace based in Delaware to construct a chassis that became a key part of raising the team back to the top.

Zak Brown has taken on Bruce’s style of expansion - in IndyCar, Formula E and Extreme E - that are all part of an operation partly defined by F1’s cost cap and the need to stretch elsewhere

Suitably, it was Silverstone in 1981 that provided the stage for a first win for a carbon fibre based car as well as the team’s first victory in nearly four years as John Watson celebrated a special moment in his career. It was the beginning of a truly remarkable period carrying Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna to numerous titles into the early ’90s. While his year with McLaren didn’t quite work for Michael Andretti, perhaps a second era in F1 remains on the horizon as a team boss.

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McLaren continued with more wins in the late ’90s, taking Mika Hakkinen to two titles and then a first for Lewis Hamilton in 2008. Recently the team has been through more challenging times, yet American chief Zak Brown has in many ways taken on Bruce’s style of expansion. IndyCar, Formula E and Extreme E are all part of an operation partly defined by F1’s cost cap and the need to stretch elsewhere.

A fabulous fortnight is on the way, as team and supporters celebrate 60 years of immersion in motorsport and connections across the Atlantic. Let’s raise a glass.

McLaren recently ran a 60th anniversary livery to celebrate the history and success of the team

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images