Bruce McLaren Founding Era

Lore & Background

Bruce McLaren founded the team in 1963. The team first entered Formula One in 1966. Teddy Mayer took over direction of the group following McLaren's death while testing a Can-am series car in 1970. Mayer subsequently led McLaren to their first World Constructors' Championship in 1974 with Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi, who also won the World Drivers' Championship that year.

In Their Own Story

The rain lashed against the canvas roof of the Woking workshop in early 1964, but inside, the air was thick with the smell of welding fumes and high-octane fuel. Bruce McLaren wiped grease from his forehead, staring at the chassis of the M2B that lay bare on the stands. It wasn't just a collection of tubes and rivets; it was the physical manifestation of a dream he had chased since his karting days in New Zealand. He ran a hand over the smooth curve of the fuel tank, checking for imperfections with eyes that missed nothing. 'It has to be perfect,' he muttered to Ron Tauranac, who was tightening a bolt on the rear suspension. There were no safety nets here, no factory budget to cushion a mistake; only their skill and their will. As the distant rumble of a test engine echoed from the track outside, Bruce knew that when they finally took this machine to Monaco, the world would have to take notice.

Reader's Guide

The team's first F1 race win occurred in 1968 when Bruce McLaren won the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch driving a McLaren M7A Ford. Later that year the team scored its first Grand Prix win when Bruce McLaren took the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps. By the end of the season Denny Hulme had won two further Grands Prix—in Italy and Canada (the team's first 1-2 finish in a World Championship race). Emerson Fittipaldi won the F1 world championship in 1974, and McLaren also took their first constructor's title at the same time.

Did You Know?

• Bruce McLaren did not win a Formula 1 World Championship driving for his own team.
• The team was founded by New Zealander Bruce McLaren in 1963.
• The team's first Grand Prix win was at Spa Francorchamps in 1968.