Last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix ended a winless streak for McLaren that went back almost nine years. Motorsport Week reflects McLaren’s years in the wild, his decline and ongoing rebound back to the battle for the title.
2012
Housing: MP4-27
Designer position: 3rd – 378 points
The podium (from left to right): Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari, second; Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren, race winner; Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari, third. 11/25/2012. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 20, Brazilian Grand Prix, Sao Paulo, Brazil, race day.
Before Ricciardo’s triumph at Monza, it was Jenson Button who took McLaren’s final win at the end of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix. It could have been Lewis Hamilton at the top had it not clashed with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg in the battle for the lead.
The MP4-27 was a car at the top that took six wins and eleven podiums in the hands of Button and Hamilton, but proved that it didn’t come out on top against the Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull combo.
Lacking consistency and reliability, the car ultimately proved to be Hamilton’s last season on the team before leaving for Mercedes.
2013
Housing: MP4-28
Designer position: 5th – 122 points
Sergio Perez (MEX), McLaren-Mercedes and Jenson Button (GBR), McLaren-Mercedes 13.10.2013. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 15, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka, Japan, race day.
Following Hamilton’s departure, Sergio Perez was brought in to fill the void and the omens looked good in pre-season testing when the car was fast in winter testing, leading many to believe it would be a challenge for Red Bull could.
The team was disappointed after it was discovered that a suspension element was incorrectly fitted, resulting in an extremely low ride height that enabled faster times.
Once corrected, the car was found to be inconsistent and slower than expected, and it was only able to fight for regular points.
2014
Housing: MP4-29
Position of the designers: 5th – 181 points
Third placed Kevin Magnussen (DEN) McLaren MP4-29 celebrates with the team as he enters Parc Ferme. March 16, 2014. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 1, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, race day.
After McLaren decided to promote test driver Kevin Magnussen in place of Perez, McLaren entered the new age of hybrid powertrain controls with a renewed sense of optimism in 2014 thanks to the performance advantage of Mercedes. Ron Dennis would also return as CEO to the fortune of the Boost teams.
The opening race in Australia proved to be the car’s best race as Magnussen crossed the finish line in third behind Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull and Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes. However, a penalty for Ricciardo resulted in his being disqualified, which allowed Button to take the last spot on the podium.
But the partnership with Mercedes was loose at best due to McLaren’s decision in mid-2013 to take over Honda Power from 2015. His MP4-29 was also a relatively lackluster machine, which limited results.
After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the team tested the new Honda engine at the end of the season …
2015
Housing: MP4-30
Position of the designers: 9th – 27 points
Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren MP4-30. 11/15/2015. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 18, Brazilian Grand Prix, Sao Paulo, Brazil, race day.
McLaren’s demise took a sharp turn for the worst after he switched to Honda as the power plant supplier. The Honda RA615H was designed with the chassis philosophy of “size zero” in mind, and the partnership began bleakly amid a lack of overall performance and chronic unreliability.
It coincided with Fernando Alonso’s shocking return to the team, which he abruptly left in 2007.
A test accident for Alonso in Barcelona prevented him from participating in the opening race in Australia and Magnussen would stand in for the Spaniard.
Fifth place in Hungary proved to be McLaren’s best result of the season as it slumped to ninth place overall, just ahead of the limited Manor Marussia team.
2016
Chassis: MP4-31
Designer position: 6th – 76 points
(from left to right): Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren MP4-31 and team-mate Fernando Alonso (ESP) McLaren MP4-31 fight for position. 11/13/2016. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 20, Brazilian Grand Prix, Sao Paulo, Brazil, race day
The season started dramatically in Australia when Fernando Alonso collided with Esteban Gutierrez von Haas at Turn 3 and rolled into the gravel. With a broken rib, he would miss the next lap in Bahrain, where Stoffel Vandoorne stepped in for the Spaniard and scored a point on his F1 debut.
Honda made gains with its engine to at least bring McLaren back into midfield, which was able to score points on a regular basis, although the podium remained a distant dream.
A significant change was made off-track when Ron Dennis left McLaren and was replaced by commercial guru Zak Brown.
But hopes for a quick recovery should only last for a short time …
2017
Housing: MCL32
Designer position: 9th – 30 points
Fernando Alonso’s (ESP) McLaren’s McLaren MCL32 is returned to the box on the back of a truck. 03/10/2017. Formula 1 testing, day four, Barcelona, Spain. Friday.
Just when the outlook seemed to be turning positive, the 2017 season was a massive step backwards.
Honda revamped its drivetrain concept, but it turned out to be drastically underpowered and pathetically unreliable. Despite a seemingly solid chassis and aero package, the unit was unable to provide enough power to keep up with the midfield. Honda was now effectively three years behind the curve.
As in 2015, McLaren only finished ninth out of 10 teams, beating only a narrow Sauber team that used one-year Ferrari units.
2018
Chassis: MCL33
Position of the designers: 6th – 62 points
Fernando Alonso (ESP) McLaren MCL33. 03/25/2018. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 1, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, race day.
In 2017, Brown ensured McLaren moved away from Honda to take over Renault for the 2018 season, and initial prospects for the team were starting to look positive again.
But fifth place for Alonso turned out to be a bad morning as the MCL33’s shortcomings were exposed compared to Red Bull’s RB14, which also ran Renault Power. This led to an in-depth assessment of McLaren’s facilities and management structure when the team uncovered the setbacks previously masked by Honda.
Eric Boullier stepped down as team boss, with Brown effectively leading the team for a while, while Alonso and the struggling Vandoorne left at the end of the season. There was a notable change in tone from Brown when he realized the long term nature of the project.
2019
Chassis: MCL34
Design engineer position: 4th – 145 points
Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL34 and the McLaren team celebrate with Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) McLaren MCL34 after finishing third after a penalty from Lewis Hamilton. 11/17/2019. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 20, Brazilian Grand Prix, Sao Paulo, Brazil, race day.
In addition to Brown’s internal management restructuring, a new driver line-up with Carlos Sainz and rookie Lando Norris proved to be very fruitful.
The MCL34 was “the best of the rest” in midfield behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull throughout the season as a regular points season.
A clever strategy by Sainz during a chaotic race in Brazil resulted in fourth place, but a penalty for Lewis Hamilton meant the Spaniard climbed onto the podium and ended a five-year drought.
Off the track, Andreas Seidl brought a fresh management style with him, which revitalized the team, while James Key came on as technical director and strengthened a revised technical team that had already grown with the 2019 car. A reunification deal with Mercedes was also concluded for 2021.
2020
Chassis: MCL35
Designer position: 3rd – 202 points
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP), McLaren F1 Team 09/06/2020. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 8, Italian Grand Prix, Monza, Italy, race day.
After the pandemic shattered original plans for the calendar, the season kicked off in Austria, where McLaren picked up where it left off when Lando Norris secured a podium finish in the first of two races at the Red Bull Ring.
With Ferrari’s declining competitiveness, McLaren was able to collect more points over the course of the season to secure another step in the constructors’ championship.
It narrowly missed victory at Monza when Sainz ran out of laps in the second half of the race chasing after Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri.
There were more moves off-track, with Daniel Ricciardo signed for 2021 in place of Ferrari-bound Sainz; it showed confidence in McLaren’s long-term potential after declining his advances in 2018.
2021
Housing: MCL35M
Design engineer position: 3rd – 215 points *
With the 2020 chassis locked for another season without some aerodynamic tweaks, McLaren gave out its allowed tolerance on changes to make room for the Mercedes powerplant.
Norris shone through the first half of 2021, taking a trio of podiums and coming close to pole position twice. Ricciardo, however, was slightly off the pace in McLaren’s hard-fought battle for third place in the overall standings with Ferrari.
Nonetheless, Ricciardo persevered and was rewarded at Monza when he led Norris to take a 1-2 and end McLaren’s 170-race wait for the number 183 win.
When Ricciardo and Norris celebrated on the podium, it was a world away from the gloomy days of 2015, which included fake podium ceremonies, lounge chairs and terse radio messages …
The post McLaren’s nearly nine-year journey back to victory – Motorsport Week first appeared on monter-une-startup.
