After several seasons out of sorts, McLaren returned to form spectacularly in 1998, taking both the drivers’ and constructors' titles. It went on to take the drivers' title again in 1999 – although it was a close run championship.
Founded by New Zealander Bruce McLaren in 1963, McLaren produced its first grand prix car in 1966. The first win came in 1968 at the Belgian Grand Prix, with McLaren himself at the wheel. When McLaren was killed testing a Can Am car at Goodwood two years later, control of the team passed to one of his partners, Teddy Mayer. But the success continued, with drivers like Denny Hulme and Peter Revson.
In 1974, McLaren won its first World championship with Emerson Fittipaldi. The team also began its long-running association with sponsor Marlboro. In 1976, James Hunt took the team's second world title, following a titanic battle with the Ferrari of Niki Lauda.
In 1980, following several lean years, McLaren merged with Ron Dennis's Project Four to form McLaren International. The following year at Silverstone, John Watson took an MP4 to its first win and McLaren's 25th. It was also the first Grand Prix win for an all-carbon-fibre chassis.
McLaren dominated the decade and early 1990s, boosting its tally of constructors' titles to seven and drivers’ championships to nine. For much of this time, the team had the dominant elements of the respective year, whether it was drivers Niki Lauda, Alain Prost or Ayrton Senna, or the engines of TAG Porsche and Honda. The team’s finest hour was the 1988 season when the two leading drivers of the era, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, won 15 out of the 16 races in their McLaren-Hondas.
After a third World championship for Ayrton Senna in 1991, the team struggled and lost the vaunted Honda engine when the marque pulled out of F1 at the end of 1992. The next season saw it paying for under-powered customer Ford units. However, Senna drove brilliantly to claim five wins, most notably a dominant wet-dry victory in the European Grand Prix at Donington Park.
Newcomers Peugeot supplied the engines for 1994, but the results didn't come. A further change to Mercedes in 1995 hampered design evolution, and the car was disappointing - most notably at the Nurburgring, where it was passed by the back-of-the-grid Pacific-Ford machines right in front of the Mercedes grandstand.
Initially it seemed 1996 would be another depressing season for the Woking team, but its fortunes finally began to improve. The season started in Melbourne with Coulthard's McLaren reduced to battling with the Arrows of Jos Verstappen, but after the early 'fly away' races, the team managed to find a better set-up for the MP4-11. In addition, additional work by engine builders Ilmor made the Mercedes V10 much more driveable.
A close second place for Coulthard at Monaco was the first podium of the year for the Woking team, and thereafter the drivers, Hakkinen in particular, were regularly on the podium. The short wheelbase car introduced at Monaco was found to have a speed advantage over the regular version, and was employed for the rest of the year, though Coulthard had trouble getting to grips with its handling. The high - and low - point probably came at Spa where a probable 1-2 for the team was scuppered by a period under the safety car ruining fuel stop strategy.
The rot stopped in 1997 with David Coulthard’s victory in Melbourne. Near-wins in Canada and Britain were followed by a victory at Monza for David Coulthard. Mika Hakkinen set the running for the remainder of the season with pole at the Nurburgring, but poor reliability denied him victory until the season’s finale at Jerez when he inherited the lead from Jacques Villeneuve on the last lap.
With Adrian Newey designing the team's new racecar and a switch to Bridgestone tyres, many expected McLaren to be the top team in 1998. Few imagined it would be as dominant, lapping the entire field in the first race. Hakkinen took that victory in an event marred by controversy over team orders. Poor reliability and a few errors allowed Schumacher to close in and take several wins, but Hakkinen kept his nerve and took the title in the final round.
Hakkinen retained his reputation as the fastest man on his day, though questions over his psychological strength were raised. A troubled path to the title was to some extent smoothed by a consummate performance in Japan, where rival Eddie Irvine could not get close.
McLaren were thought to have the fastest chassis and engine combination for 2000.
2000 Result - Second in Constructors' Championship, 152 points. Mika Hakkinen seven wins & David Coulthard three wins.
2001 Line-up
- David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen. Test Driver - Alex Wurz.