McLaren

March 13, 2006 The 2006 Formula 1 season erupted to life yesterday with strong indications that four teams will contest the win at each Grand Prix, and three, maybe four drivers will contest the title. 2006 champion Fernando Alonso won the race narrowly in his Renault but it was the renewed pace of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher that gave everyone heart, with an all red front row on the grid for the first time since the 2004 Hungarian Grand Prix as the Scuderia Ferrari driver equalled the record of 65 pole positions set by the late Ayrton Senna. The performance of the day though was that of Kimi Raikkonen who drove through the field from dead last in his McLaren Mercedes to take third. Honda’s 2006 challenge appears credible after a year from hell in 2005, with Jenson Button missing the podium by just six tenths of a second. Finally, the first race performance of seventh place by Nico Rosberg (son of Keke) was a ripper, particularly considering the rookie cut the fastest lap of the race in a Williams Cosworth which was nowhere near the fastest car.  Read More

February 13, 2006 It was sadly many years after the death of New Zealand racing driver and automotive engineer Bruce McLaren that his dream of creating the world’s fastest road car became a reality with the McLaren F1 road car. McLaren’s legacy in all forms of racing, from winning Le Mans in the famous GT40, to creating one of the most successful Formula One teams in history, puts him among automotive history’s immortals. And now one of his most significant creations is to go under the hammer: the stillborn M6-GT, of which only two examples were ever completed by the factory. The official Bruce McLaren Trust web site chronicles the history of the car which was modeled after the McLaren M6 CanAm monocoque sports racer. The head of the McLaren design department during the development of the M6-GT was aerospace engineer Robin Herd who recalls the M6 McLaren tests and certifies it as one of the earliest examples of a ground-effects car, with the nose shaped to create negative pressure under the car. From an article on the McLaren Interntaional site, “On the day of the big test … we went all high-tech with a half-inch rubber tube taped to the bottom of the car leading to a pressure gauge which I was holding. I had crammed myself into the passenger seat and Bruce was barrelling into the first corner at Goodwood … when the gauge suddenly registered negative pressure. I had rather hoped that Bruce would be concentrating on staying on the road, but he spotted the change on the gauge and started whooping and shouting and laughing and banging my arm. We’d cracked it!”  Read More

September 4, 2005 McLaren once again showed it had the fastest cars and the worst luck of the leading Formula 1 teams at the weekend when its drivers won the race, but Renault and its champion-elect Fernando Alonso continue to fight an effective rear-guard action – Alonso increased his championship lead while Renault only conceded one solitary point in the manufacturers championship and maintains an eight point lead. The race was only the third time in F1 history that all cars have completed a race, and the first time since the 1961 Dutch Grand Prix. It was also the official end of an era – Michael Schumacher and Ferrari came away without points and neither have any chance of retaining the titles they have owned for half a decade.  Read More

July 10, 2005 McLaren’s Juan Pablo Montoya took his fifth career win here at Silverstone, but the real story played out on the lower podium steps where Renault’s Fernando Alonso took second place and extended his championship lead over third placed Kimi Raikkonen. For Montoya, it was his first ever win for West McLaren Mercedes (indeed his first ever podium with the team) since he joined at the start of this season. Kimi Raikkonen put in another gritty drive, overcoming a ten place penalty on the grid due to an engine change after qualifying, fighting his way up from 12th on the grid to third at the flag.  Read More

June 12, 2005 McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen won today's Canadian Grand Prix to gain ten important Championship points and move back into contention for the World Championship with 37 points as points leader (63) Fernando Alonso failed to finish. Raikkonen’s win brought McLaren to 63 points in the Constructors' ranking just 13 points behind Renault. It was also a day of the resurgent Ferrari team, with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello scoring strong second and third places and bringing Ferrari into a five way fight for the Constructors championship.  Read More

May 22, 2005 MAJOR PICTORIAL COVERAGE OF RACE & FESTIVITIES: McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen drove an impeccable race to completely dominate the World’s most famous motor race, the Monaco Grand prix today, and in so doing, breathed life into the championship race and gave hope to McLaren that it could catch the early season form team of Renault and Fernando Alonso. The Williams of Heidfeld and Webber finished second and third bringing to five the constructors with a realistic hope of winning the constructor’s title though bookies installed McLaren as favourites following the race. Though both Ferrari’s finished in the points, Michael Schumacher’s chances of winning the title for a fifth straight time now look completely gone.  Read More

May 8, 2005 McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen dominated the Spanish Grand Prix today, ending Renault’s domination of the 2005 season and replacing Michael Schumacher as the man most likely to prevent Renault’s Fernando Alonso from taking the drivers’ title. Michael Schumacher retired from the event, effectively ending his chances of retaining the title and with both Schumacher and team-mate Rubens Barrichello out of the points at the Circuit de Catalunya, Ferrari is now also likely to lose its constructors title with McLaren looming as Renault’s biggest threat.  Read More

The new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is a stunning combination of modern passenger car design and classical 1950's SLR styling elements from Mercedes-Benz and its Formula One ally, McLaren. The high-performance sports car made its world debut in September 2003, incorporating gull-wing doors, sidepipes, air gills in the wings and the distinctive twin-headlamp face, plus styling touches from the Silver Arrows Formula One car.  Read More