Team McLaren

McLaren, founded in 1963 by Bruce McLaren (1937–1970), is a racing team based in Woking, England, which is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed in the Indianapolis 500, Canadian-American Challenge Cup, and 24 Hours of Le Mans. Its full title is currently Team McLaren Mercedes. The team is managed by Ron Dennis and is controlled by McLaren Racing, a member of the McLaren Group.

1980s dominance

The current McLaren F1 team resulted from a merger of the McLaren team and Ron Dennis' personal Formula 2 team Project 4 in 1981. This had caused some confusion among fans of the sport, as all McLaren cars since 1981 have carried the designation "M/P4-xx." In this case the "P4" comes from Project 4, and has no relation to the generation of chassis.

Related Topics:
Ron Dennis - 1981

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The most successful period in McLaren's history came under the early leadership of Ron Dennis. John Barnard designed the revolutionary M/P4-1 chassis, the first F1 chassis made entirely of carbon-fibre composites, which proved very strong when mated to the TAG / Porsche turbo engine. A succession of strong drivers helped, with Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Keke Rosberg, and Stefan Johansson driving for the team in this period. McLaren-Porsche won the Constructors' title in 1984 (with Lauda taking the Drivers' crown), and 1985 (with Prost winning his first world title). McLaren did not win the Constructors' Championship in 1986, although Prost took the drivers' title again.

Related Topics:
John Barnard - Carbon-fibre composites - TAG - Porsche - Turbo - Niki Lauda - Alain Prost - Keke Rosberg - Stefan Johansson

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After losing the previous two Constructors titles to Williams in 1986 and 1987, McLaren was able to convince Honda to switch its backing from Williams starting in 1988. The McLaren-Honda won an amazing 15 of 16 races that year and leading all but 27 laps, achieving a staggering and unbeaten record to this date. (Senna had been leading comfortably at Monza, but collided with back-marker Jean-Louis Schlesser's Williams.) Ayrton Senna took the driver's title that season, his first with the Woking marque. The next year, using a new 3.5L atmospheric engine designed by Honda, McLaren again won both titles, with Alain Prost clinching it in Japan after a highly-controversial collision with his teammate Senna. This was the culmination of a vitriolic feud between the two men.

Related Topics:
Williams - Honda - Jean-Louis Schlesser - Ayrton Senna - Japan

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Alain Prost left to join the Ferrari team in 1990. Nevertheless, McLaren continued to dominate Formula One for the next two seasons, with Senna winning the World Drivers' Championship in 1990 and 1991, and McLaren taking the constructors title in both of those years. New teammate Gerhard Berger helped to ensure this double success.

Related Topics:
Ferrari - Gerhard Berger

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