McLaren

British Formula One team

Bruce McLaren's Team, Sixty Years On

Founded by a New Zealand driver in 1963, McLaren has grown into the second most successful team in the World Championship.

Bruce McLaren, a New Zealander who had won Grands Prix as a works driver for Cooper, founded his own team in 1963, first to race in the Tasman Series and then to build Formula One cars. It was based in Feltham at the start, in Colnbrook from 1965 to 1981, and in Woking ever since. The team made its championship debut at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix and won for the first time at the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix, with Bruce himself driving. He died in a testing accident in 1970, and Teddy Mayer took charge.

Under Mayer the team won its first constructors' title in 1974, the year Emerson Fittipaldi became champion, and James Hunt added the drivers' crown in 1976. In 1981 McLaren merged with Ron Dennis's Project Four, and the decade that followed was the richest in its history. Niki Lauda took the 1984 title, Alain Prost won in 1985, 1986 and 1989, and Ayrton Senna in 1988, 1990 and 1991. With Honda engines the team won four constructors' championships in a row from 1988 to 1991, and in 1988 its cars won 15 of the 16 rounds. Senna won 35 races for McLaren and Prost 30.

A partnership with Mercedes brought Mika Häkkinen the titles of 1998 and 1999 and the team its 1998 constructors' championship. Lewis Hamilton was champion with McLaren in 2008, and then came a long wait.

It ended with constructors' titles in 2024 and 2025, and Lando Norris won the 2025 drivers' championship. Through the rounds held so far in 2026, McLaren has started 1,009 World Championship races and won 205 of them, with ten constructors' titles and 13 drivers' titles. Norris and Oscar Piastri drive for the team in 2026.

Drivers

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