HOW McLAREN GOT BACK TO WINNING WAYS AND WHAT COMES NEXT
PHOTOGRAPHY
McLAREN’S BEST RACE RESULT EACH SEASON
YEAR RESULT (DRIVER: VENUE)
2012 1st (Hamilton: Montreal, Hungaroring, Monza, Austin; Button: Melbourne, Spa, Interlagos)
2013 4th (Button: Interlagos)
2014 2nd (Magnussen: Melbourne)
2015 5th (Alonso: Hungaroring)
2016 5th (Alonso: Monaco, Austin)
2017 6th (Alonso: Hungaroring)
2018 5th (Alonso: Melbourne)
2019 3rd (Sainz: Interlagos)
2020 2nd (Sainz: Monza)
2021 1st (Ricciardo: Monza)
“I’VE ALWAYS KIND OF FELT LIKE McLAREN IS STAR WARS. BUT WE BECAME A BIT DARTH VADER AND I THINK WE NEEDED TO BE A BIT MORE LUKE SKYWALKER”
The above quote is how McLaren CEO Zak Brown started 2021 – the words encapsulated the previous era his squad was still struggling to leave behind, while looking forward to the new hope of a brighter future. Now, as the current season heads into its concluding episodes, McLaren has very much stepped out of the dark side and is enjoying its time back in the light.
An apology: we’re staying with Star Wars references for a while yet. This is because Brown was right – McLaren had gone a bit too Darth Vader in the years that preceded its shocking slide down the grid in the middle of the last decade. There was the vast, shiny new base – technologically impressive, but sterile and somewhat soulless. The factional infighting that caused those famous divisions in 2007, the ‘Spygate’ controversy that year too and the massive fine that followed, plus the later boardroom battles and leadership usurpation. The Formula 1 colours got ever darker, the sponsors disappeared, the results dried up.
McLaren started its journey back towards the light almost immediately after Brown took over as McLaren Technology Group executive director in late 2016. But while the cars were restyled with papaya orange in 2017, the force of change took longer to produce meaningful results. A second ninth-place finish in three years in the constructors’ standings did become a step forward to sixth
