CHARTING McLAREN’S F1 PERFORMANCE HISTORY

McLaren’s last Formula 1 title was Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 drivers’ crown, but it remains the second most successful team, with 182 wins to Ferrari’s 238. Assuming the 2021 calendar gets close to its planned schedule, McLaren will start its 900th world championship race this year, so it’s time to take a look at the team’s time at the pinnacle of motorsport.

We’ve used supertimes, based on the fastest single lap by each car at each race weekend, expressed as a percentage of the fastest lap overall (100.000%) and averaged over each season. We have calculated how far behind the fastest team McLaren has been each season, or how far ahead.

Bruce McLaren’s first F1 effort as a constructor was low-key. He started only four championship races in the 1966 M2B, while designer Robin Herd’s M4B and M5A didn’t contest the full