HISTORY OF McLAREN |
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TIME LINE - THE 1970s1970Model: M7A, M7C, M7D, M14A, M14DEngine: Ford DFV and Alfa Romeo V8(M7D and M14D) Drivers: Bruce McLaren (M14A) Denny Hulme (M14A) John Surtees (Team Surtees M7C) Peter Gethin (M7A and M14A) Andrea de Adamich (M7D and M14D) Dan Gurney (M7A and M14A) Jo Bonnier (Ecurie Bonnier M7C) Nanni Galli (M7D) The death of Bruce McLaren while testing the team's latest CanAm challenger at Goodwood not surprisingly overshadowed the entire year. It was going to be a busy one. Not only was there a Grand Prix programme with the evolutionary DFV powered M14As, but also a parallel programme with Alfa Romeo powered M14Ds, principally for Andrea de Adamich. On top of that, there was still the CanAm programme, and McLaren had decided, the previous year, that they would tackle the Indy 500. They had moved to new premises at Colnbrook, near Heathrow, and now numbered 50 people. Hulme finished second in the first Grand Prix of the year, and Bruce was similarly placed in the second. Hulme finished fourth in Monaco, and although the Alfa Romeo programme suffered from inconsistent engines, things were looking good otherwise. But then Hulme was badly burnt in an Indy practice fire, and days later, Bruce was killed. It was a cruel blow. Perhaps Hulme, shouldering team leader status, came back to racing too early, but it would take some time for his burns to heal. Peter Gethin, again successful in Formula 5000, became his teammate in Grand Prix racing and in CanAm. But in a year that Lotus replaced their 49 with a 72, and when Ferrari began to make a comeback, it was no surprise that McLaren didn't win a single race, and remained at fourth equal in the championship. However, Hulme won the CanAm title again from customer Lothar Motschenbacher with Gethin third. Peter Revson finished second at the Indy 500. Drivers' Championship: 4th, Hulme, 27pts; 14th, McLaren, 6 pts; 17th = , Surtees, 3pts; 22nd=, Gurney and Gethin, 1 pt 1971Model: M7C, M14A and M19A Not surprisingly, the team was still in the process of rebuilding as 1971 started. Gordon Coppuck was concentrating on the design of the team's IndyCar challenger, while Ralph Bellamy joined from Brabham for a year to design the factory's Formula One M19A. It featured rising rate suspension which initially seemed a good idea. Elsewhere, the management of the team passed to Phil Kerr and American Teddy Mayer who had both been Bruce McLaren's right hand men in various departments. Hulme lead the first race of the year at Kyalami until a bolt fell out of the rear suspension but thereafter, the team was in trouble, partially due to tyre vibration and understeer. Bruce's engineering ability was sorely missed. Mark Donohue became a semi works driver in his Penske entered machine to try and solve the problem, bumping Gethin out of the team to BRM, with whom he won the Italian Grand Prix that year. Donohue's third place in Canada was the highlight in a year dominated by Jackie Stewart and Tyrrell, while McLaren scored just ten points, including Donohue's four. But McLaren again won the CanAm series with the M8F, Hulme ahead of Revson. The American again finished second at Indy. Drivers' Championship: 9th= , Hulme, 9pts; 16th=, Donohue, 4 pts; 1972Model: M19A and M19C McLaren's commitments can be typified by the weekend of May 19, 1972. That weekend, Hulme won the Oulton Park Gold Cup in the Formula One M19A, Jody Scheckter won the last Crystal Palace Formula Two race in McLaren's stillborn F2 production car, the M21, and Mark Donohue won the Indy 500 in Penske Racing's M16B. A fine McLaren weekend. For the record, McLaren were finally beaten in the CanAm championship that year, after five consecutive victories, while their F5000 involvement was petering out. But a new era was dawning. The team had full sponsorship from Yardley and this year ran the previous year's M19s but with changes to wings and tyres. They now had rising rate front suspension, and constant rear suspension. The season started well, with Hulme second in Argentina and then first in South Africa where Revson was third. But Emerson Fittipaldi and Jackie Stewart made sure that they had little subsequent success, although Hulme and Revson were second and third in Austria, Hulme was third in Italy, Revson finished ahead of Hulme and behind Stewart in Canada and Hulme finished third in the USA. So Fittipaldi won the championship from Stewart, while Hulme was definitely best of the rest in third and Revson was fifth. After his Formula Two promise, Jody Scheckter was given his Formula One debut in the American Grand Prix where he finished ninth. Drivers' Championship: 3rd, Hulme, 39 pts; 5th, Revson, 23 pts; 12th=, Redman, 4pts 1973Model: M19C and M23 At the end of the previous year, Teddy Mayer and Phil Kerr had announced that McLaren would no longer be involved in CanAm, so now the concentration was on Formula One and IndyCar racing. Changes in regulations meant that the elderly M19s would become obsolete by the European season, but Hulme finished fifth in Argentina, and then third in Brazil, while Revson finished second in South Africa where Scheckter qualified third and was heading for fourth until his engine failed. And if that promise wasn't enough, the writing was already on the wall for McLaren: Gordon Coppuck's M23, complete with obligatory deformable structure, allowed Denny Hulme to start from pole on its debut in South Africa and once again lead, only to be delayed again, this time by a puncture. It looked good, and it was good. The M23s usually started from the front three rows and were usually in the points. Hulme scored the first win of the year at Anderstorp and Revson won at Silverstone, a race indelibly engraved in the memory of motor sport for young teammate Scheckter's first lap accident which eliminated nine cars. Hulme was third. Stewart and Peterson often traded wins, but there was usually a McLaren in the points. Jacky Ickx did one race thanks to his Nürburgring knowledge and finished third behind the Tyrrells. Revson was eventually awarded a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix win, but in spite of a promising season, the pair had to give best in the Drivers' championship to the Tyrrell and Lotus drivers. McLaren were similarly placed in the Constructors' series. Drivers' Championship: 5th, Revson, 38 pts; 6th, Hulme, 2pts; 9th, Ickx, 12 pts(8pts in Ferrari) 1974Model: M23 A new era for McLaren, and a partnership that would last for many years: Team Texaco was born, managed by Teddy Mayer, while Yardley's involvement was slightly reduced to one car run by Phil Kerr, principally for Mika Hailwood. Leading the team was 1972 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi while the evergreen Denny Hulme stayed with McLaren for his seventh but final year. It was a thrilling championship. Hulme won in Argentina, beating Ferrari's Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni. Fittipaldi won at home in Brazil, while Hailwood was highest placed finisher in South Africa. Lauda, Fittipaldi, Peterson (Lotus) and Scheckter (Tyrrell) won the next four races; it was that open. Regazzoni and Reutemann (Brabham) also won. Going into the final round of the championship, McLaren led Ferrari 70 pts to 64, while Fittipaldi and Regazzoni were tied on 52 points. Scheckter still had a mathematical chance with 45 points. He qualified best, on row three, with Fittipaldi behind him and Regazzoni a row further back. Hulme's engine expired on lap five and he flew out of the circuit and Formula One before the race had finished. With Regazzoni's Ferrari handling appallingly, Fittipaldi knew he just had to shadow Scheckter to the flag, but the Tyrrell succumbed to a fuel pick up problem, and Fittipaldi finished fourth, securing the Drivers' title and the Constructors' too, a great day for McLaren. Sadly, the Yardley team didn't fare so well, with Hailwood crashing at the Nürburgring and breaking his leg, which ended his career. David Hobbs and Jochen Mass replaced him, but at the end of the year, Hailwood retired, Yardley quit and Phil Kerr followed Hulme home to New Zealand. But making it a better year, Johnny Rutherford took his M16C/D from 25th on the grid to victory at Indy, while he won another three IndyCar races during the year, narrowily failing to win the IndyCar championship. Drivers' Championship: 1st Fittipaldi, 55 pts; 7th, Hulme, 32 pts; 10th=, Hailwood, 12 pts 1975Model: M23 Patty McLaren, Teddy Mayer and Tyler Alexander remained the directors of McLaren at the end of the victorious season, but Alastair Caldwell also remained to manage the Formula One team.Largely unaltered was Gordon Coppuck's M23, now entering its third season. However, Fittipaldi had a new teammate in Jochen Mass. Fittipaldi started the season with victory over James Hunt (Hesketh) in Argentina and second to compatriot Carlos Pace (Brabham) at home in Brazil Mass was third. Mass salvaged a win from the Montjuich disaster but then Niki Lauda took over in the Ferrari with four wins in five races. McLaren's pair scored second in Monaco (Fittipaldi), and after a couple of non finishes, third and fourth in France. Fittipaldi won at Silverstone, Mass was fourth in the soaking Austrian GP, Fittipaldi second to Regazzoni at Monza, before harrying Lauda to the flag in Watkins Glen, with Jochen third. There were suggestions that Fittipaldi had been driving to score points. He led the sixth most number of laps, and in the end, he was 19.5 points behind Lauda in the drivers' series. Mass was seventh equal while McLaren were third in the series, a point behind Brabham. Perhaps they could have done better, but the M23 was an old car by now. At the Indy 500, Johnny Rutherford finished second in the rain shortened race, driving Coppuck's John Barnard modified M16E. Drivers' Championship: 2nd, Fittipaldi, 45 pts; 7th=, Mass, 20 pts 1976Model: M23 and M26 Two sets of circumstances combined to see James Hunt replace Emerson Fittipaldi for 1976. Hesketh, for whom Hunt had driven for the previous two years, pulled out of Formula One, due to lack of sponsorship. And Fittipaldi went off to drive for brother Wilson's team. Suddenly Hunt was team leader of McLaren, Mass staying on as his teammate. The tool for the year was intended to be Coppuck's M26, but it still wasn't ready, so M23s, lightened by 13.6 kilos were used initially, and became the favoured car for the year. And what a year! Ferrari won the first three races, Hunt the fourth, disqualified, and then reinstated. Lauda then won another two, Hunt came back to win in France and then in Britain, only to be disqualified, eventually, after an extraordinary race in which he was allowed to restart in the spare car. Hunt won in Germany too, but his chief rival, Lauda, was desperately injured in a fiery crash. While Hunt went on to finish fourth in Austria and first in Holland, Lauda fought back from the brink of death to line up at Monza, finishing a courageous fourth. Victories for Hunt in Canada and Watkins Glen saw Hunt trail Lauda by three points as they came into the final race, after a season of protests and controversy. It was raining hard as the cars lined up for the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, drivers having discussed whether they should race or not. Lauda pitted after just one lap, Hunt led. The Austrian had trouble seeing in the rain, due to his fire ravaged eyebrows. He reluctantly but responsibly pulled out. Hunt, however, had to finish third or higher. But his left rear tyre was punctured, and steadily he dropped back, eventually having to pit. Furious, he rejoined fifth, with just three laps to go. On new tyres, he passed Alan Jones and Regazzoni easily, now third. He took the chequered flag, but scarcely realised that he was third, refusing to believe it for several minutes after he'd come into the pits. James Hunt was World Champion by a point, Jochen Mass was ninth, and McLaren were second in the Constructors' championship, nine points behind Ferrari. And to cap it all, Johnny Rutherford had won the Indy 500 for McLaren for the second time in three years. Drivers' Championship: 1st , Hunt, 69 pts; 9th, Mass, 19 pts 1977Model: M23 and M26 A minute gap between the end of one season and the beginning of the next of just 75 days meant that McLaren quite understandably retained their M23s for 1977 while working on Coppuck's M26. Initially, it looked good. Hunt was on pole for the Argentina Grand Prix and for Brazil, finishing second in the latter. He was on pole again in South Africa, beating teammate Jochen Mass to finish fourth. But at Long Beach, he was only eighth and again on row four in Spain. Teammate Mass finished ahead of him on both occasions. Hunt qualified the M26 third in Anderstorp, but Mass finished second to Laffite. The M23 sometimes seemed better, sometimes the M26. Hunt scored his first win of the season at home in the latter. Meanwhile Lauda, Laffite and Andretti were also potential winners. It wasn't until Monza that McLaren were in the points again. In spite of Hunt's pole position, Mass finished fourth, but Hunt won at Watkins Glen in the now improving M26. He was branded the bad boy after thumping a marshal in Canada, only to return to glory in Japan with victory. But Lauda had had his revenge, Hunt was only fifth with Mass sixth in the championship. At least McLaren was third in the Constructors' series. Elsewhere, McLaren were once again involved with Johnny Rutherford and various customers in IndyCar racing but not with the success gained before. Drivers' Championship: 5th, Hunt, 40 pts; 6th, Mass, 25 pts 1978Model: M26 and M23(Lunger) Hunt had a new teammate in Patrick Tambay, while Formula One was undergoing a change. Renault had introduced their turbo car the previous year, although that wasn't the major technical trend. Former McLaren designer Ralph Bellamy and Colin Chapman had come up with the Lotus 78/79 ground effect cars, and it would be this innovation which would prove difficult for other teams to match in the coming years. Hunt and Tambay would continue to use the M26 in 1978 but they would be largely outclassed by Lotus in particular, but also Ferrari with the 312T3 and Brabham with their Alfa Romeo powered BT46s but principally, the Lotuses. Hunt scored fourth with the tried and tested M26 at the first race in Argentina, then fifth in Spain, while Tambay was fourth in Sweden. Hunt was third at Ricard and Tambay fifth in Monza but the team was back in eighth place at the end of the year. Some blame rested with Hunt, that he didn't seem to have the determination and fire of old. He had been ditched by the team and Ronnie Peterson signed for the following year, but the Swede tragically lost his life after a startline accident at Monza. Meanwhile, McLaren's proven old M23s were much in favour, being run in the British Formula One championship and appearing in various privateer hands at various Grands Prix. In America, Johnny Rutherford was still winning for the McLaren team in IndyCar racing, and there were privateer successes as well. Drivers' Championship: 13th=, Hunt and Tambay, 8 pts 1979Model: M28, M26 and M29 John Watson was signed to replace James Hunt for 1979, while Gordon Coppuck came up with his own copy of the previous year's all conquering ground effect Lotus. This was the M28 but to get the same ground effect figures as Lotus, the car had grown huge side pods in which to accommodate underwings. It made for a big car which was slow on the straights. It also suffered structurally, due to problems with the bonding. The M28 was raced for the first half of the season, and Watson scored an impressive third in Argentina, partially thanks to excellent Goodyear tyres, which masked the technical problems. Watson finished fourth in Monaco out of six finishers. However, as early as May 1, a decision had been taken to develop a new, compact replacement for the M28, known as the M29. This was more of a Williams copy than a Lotus, said Coppuck. In its first race, the British Grand Prix, Watson finished fourth and finished fifth at Hockenheim. Sixths in Canada and America followed, before the season fizzled out. Meanwhile, the American campaign was also coming to a halt. There were top three finishes in the States, but by the end of the season the team had been wound up. McLaren now only raced in Formula One. However, there was just one ray of sunlight in the future. In November of that year, the team tested an interim M29 with new underwings. Potential drivers for the following season were also on hand, including one Alain Prost. His opening laps were quicker than Watson's. He was quickly signed for 1980... Drivers' Championship: 9th, Watson, 15 ptsConstructors'Championship: 7th, 15 pts |
TIME LINE1970s IMAGES Andrea de Adamich
 Peter Gethin
 Denny Hulme at the 1972 South African GP
 Jody Scheckter
 David Hobbs
 Jochen Mass
 James Hunt at the 1976 Japanese GP
 James Hunt
 Patrick Tambay
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