Bruce McLaren’s team made its debut in the Formula 1 world championship in 1966, but the New Zealander did not take his first victory until the 1968 Belgian GP. Since then, 19 other drivers have managed to win at least one race with McLaren and seven They have won the title.
To select the 10 best McLaren drivers, we have taken into account the success of each of them with the Woking team, the impact they had there and more, but their records in other teams and / or moments are not included.
10. David Coulthard
McLaren years: 1996-2004
Races: 150
Wins : 12
Titles : 0
A hard-working team driver, Coulthard is McLaren’s longest-serving driver and fifth-most wins in the team’s history. He finished third in the drivers’ championship three times with McLaren and was runner-up in 2001.
Coulthard arrived in 1996 and formed a solid partnership with Mika Hakkinen . The Finn scored more points in 1996, while the Scotsman finished ahead the following season. Even more important to him was securing McLaren’s first win in over three years.
The new rules and the MP4-13 brought McLaren to the front of the F1 grid in 1998. Hakkinen seized the opportunity and edged out Michael Schumacher in the title hunt, while Coulthard could only manage one win, although he helped McLaren to take the constructors’ title ahead of a resurgent Ferrari .
1999 was a similar story, despite Schumacher breaking his leg at Silverstone and missing six races. Several McLaren calamities helped Eddie Irvine close in on Hakkinen in the title fight which was eventually won by Mika, while Ferrari snatched victory in the constructors from Woking despite very good pace from the MP4-14.
Coulthard scored the best three wins of his career in 2000 to finish third in the standings again, while Schumacher finally ended Ferrari’s long wait for the drivers’ title by beating Hakkinen . Coulthard’s win over both at Magny-Cours showed he could take on the best, but he just couldn’t do it often enough.
2001 was perhaps the best version of Coulthard . He overtook Hakkinen to take 10 podiums, but a series of problems, including a mistake that cost him pole position at the Monaco GP, saw him miss out on his chances and he finished well behind a more than dominant Schumacher .
Ferrari and Williams were ahead of McLaren in 2002. Coulthard overtook team-mate Kimi Raikkonen to take one of his best wins at Monaco, but that momentum slipped away from him in 2003, before joining the then-new Red team . Bull for 2005.
9. Jenson Button
McLaren years: 2010-16, 2017 (single race)
Races: 136
Wins : 8
Titles : 0
Jenson Button or his McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso could have made this list. Alonso lived through two different eras in the team, came closer to winning a title and worked harder than anyone with some of McLaren’s worst cars. However, he did not get great results, while Button did with Lewis Hamilton.
Joining Hamilton in 2010, after winning the world title with Brawn , raised the bar quite a bit. The British driver won already in his second race alongside McLaren in Australia and was often able to match Hamilton in the race or qualifying.
During their three seasons together, Button scored more points, but Hamilton had more wins. Perhaps Jenson’s best season came in 2011, when he won three races and finished a brilliant runner-up while Hamilton languished in fifth place.
Hamilton ‘s departure to Mercedes in 2013 coincided with a recession for McLaren . Button overtook his new teammate Sergio Pérez , who created some tension on the track, but could only finish ninth in the championship.
Button continued with the team even during the collapse of the McLaren and Honda partnership, finishing five points ahead of Alonso in 2015. The Asturian however beat him in 2016 and Button retired from F1 at the end of that year, although he returned to appear in Monaco 2017 to replace an Alonso who had gone to compete in the Indianapolis 500 .
8. Kimi Raikkonen
McLaren years: 2002-06
Races: 89
Wins : 7
Titles : 0
Kimi Raikkonen won his only Formula 1 title with Ferrari , but was probably at his peak during his previous spell at McLaren .
The young Finn joined McLaren in 2002, following a promising rookie campaign with Sauber . In his first season he was outclassed by experienced teammate Coulthard , but was one of the stars in the following season.
Armed with the MP4-17D, Raikkonen consistently scored points. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) and Montoya (Williams) had more wins, but his eight podium finishes gave him a chance to reach Suzuka with title chances.
Schumacher finished eighth in that last race, while his teammate, Rubens Barrichello , took the victory, preventing Raikkonen , who needed to win and Michael from scoring no points, from finishing second.
Ferrari were unstoppable in 2004 and McLaren took a step back, but Raikkonen managed a brilliant win over Schumacher at Spa despite a gearbox failure.
Rule changes hurt Ferrari in 2005. The Raikkonen-MP4-20 combination was the fastest of the season, but unreliability was key in their fight against Alonso , who put in a brilliant campaign to take the title with Renault . .
McLaren was less competitive in 2006 and, with Alonso signed for 2007, Raikkonen joined Ferrari and replaced Schumacher . There he would beat the McLaren drivers Alonso and Hamilton, fighting for the title, by a single point difference.
7. Emerson Fittipaldi
McLaren years: 1974-75
Races: 28
Wins : 5
Titles : 1
Already world champion with Lotus , Fittipaldi’s surprising move to McLaren in 1974 was a coup. The Teddy Mayer -led team already had a title-challenging car in Gordon Coppuck’s M23, but now had a top driver to go along with it.
Niki Lauda with Ferrari set the pace but suffered too many misfortunes. Fittipaldi won already in the second race in Brazil, overtook Lauda to win in Belgium and managed a consistent campaign to get into the title fight.
Victory at the Canadian GP propelled Fittipaldi into the deciding race at the US GP tied on points with Ferrari’s Clay Regazzoni with Tyrrell driver Jody Scheckter mathematically still in contention. Fittipaldi was the only one of the three to reach the finish safely, and his fourth-place finish was enough for the Brazilian to take the crown by three points.
Fittipaldi won the first race of 1975 in Argentina, took a fortuitous win at the British GP and took four second places. But that simply wasn’t enough to stop the Lauda/Ferrari combination and Fittipaldi finished as runner-up that year.
He would probably have been a favorite again in 1976, but left to join his brother Wilson ‘s namesake team backed by Copersucar .
6. James Hunt
McLaren years: 1976-78
Races: 49
Wins : 9
Titles : 1
When Fittipaldi made an unexpected move to his brother’s team, McLaren had to find a replacement and James Hunt, who had already won a race with Hesketh , got his big break and made the most of it.
Arguably faster than the more experienced Fittipaldi , Hunt made the most of the aging M23 and staged a historic fight against Lauda and Ferrari . It was a battle that Lauda was winning until he suffered a horrible accident at the German GP.
Hunt took advantage of Lauda ‘s absence and continued to win after the Austrian’s heroic comeback, setting up a dramatic finish. Niki withdrew from the Japanese GP due to poor metrology and James finished third despite a late puncture, taking the 1976 drivers’ title by a single point.
Perhaps he drove even better in 1977, with three consecutive pole positions at the start of the season. Hunt also took three wins in the new M26 but, like Lotus’s Mario Andretti and Brabham’s John Watson, unreliability prevented a challenge to the Lauda/Ferrari combination.
McLaren were a fading force in 1978 when Lotus benefited from ground effect and Hunt left for Wolf Racing at the end of the year. There he only played seven races before retiring.
5. Niki Lauda
McLaren years: 1982-85
Races: 58
Wins : 8
Titles : 1
McLaren boss Ron Dennis tirelessly pursued the retired double world champion and after a test to prove the Austrian still had what it took, Niki Lauda returned to F1 in 1982. It took just three races for him to get one. victory, in Long Beach.
Lauda felt he had the measure of team-mate Watson , despite the Northern Irishman beating him in the drivers’ standings in 1982 and 1983. But when Alain Prost replaced Watson in 1984, the dynamic changed.
Prost ‘s arrival coincided with the TAG Porsche-powered MP4/2 that Lauda had helped develop, and McLaren were the dominant force in 1984. The duo won 12 of 16 races, in a titanic but friendly battle that went to the final round. Lauda ‘s second place finish at the Portuguese GP gave him the title by half a point over race winner Prost .
Lauda rarely matched Prost in 1985 and was unlucky. While the Frenchman eventually claimed his first title, Lauda added just one more win at Zandvoort – the 25th of his career and the eighth for McLaren – before hanging up his helmet for good.
4. Lewis Hamilton
McLaren years: 2007-12
Races: 110
Wins : 21
Titles : 1
Although Hamilton ‘s remarkable racing career at Mercedes has meant that his years at McLaren have become almost unnoticed, his six seasons there meant his first races, his first title in 2008, his first 21 wins and some performances. arrogant
Hamilton ‘s surprising pace on his arrival in 2007 and McLaren ‘s inability to manage their drivers saw both him and team-mate Alonso lose out to Raikkonen in the championship battle.
There were a few mistakes in the early years, most notably in the pitlanes in Shanghai (2007) and Montreal (2008), but his speed and skill were never in doubt. Hamilton , with five wins to Felipe Massa ‘s six, was perhaps a bit lucky to win the 2008 title and was arguably a better driver the following season.
Although the MP4-24 was not born in the best possible way, the team and the driver worked hard to become winners in the second half of the year.
Accompanied by defending champion Button in 2010, Hamilton had bright and difficult moments. That was particularly so in 2011, the year in which he finished well behind Button in the standings despite taking three wins each.
Hamilton ‘s 2012 season was more impressive, but unreliability hampered his efforts against Sebastian Vettel and Alonso . Losing the Abu Dhabi GP was painful and helped Lauda lure Hamilton to Mercedes for 2013, just as McLaren’s fortunes plummeted.
3. Mika Hakkinen
McLaren years: 1993-2001
Races: 131
Wins : 20
Titles : 2
Hakkinen formed a strong personal bond with Dennis , particularly after his life-threatening accident at Adelaide 1995. The Finn had to wait a long time to take his first victory at the 1997 European GP, in his 96th F1 race. ), but after that triumph he became Schumacher ‘s toughest rival.
Hakkinen caused a stir by overtaking Ayrton Senna on his McLaren debut at the 1993 Portuguese GP despite not finishing the race. He became a full-time McLaren driver in 1994, but Hakkinen ‘s rise coincided with a weaker period for the Woking outfit.
Mercedes arrived as a motorist in 1995 and Coulthard joined the following year. David scored more points and took two wins in 1997, while Hakkinen was unlucky to miss out on potential victories at Silverstone and the Nurburgring.
Adrian Newey ‘s McLaren MP4-13 was the fastest car of 1998 and Hakkinen rose to the occasion. Despite the resurgence of Ferrari and the banning of McLaren’s asymmetric braking system, Hakkinen was victorious at the Japanese GP and managed to beat Schumacher in the title hunt.
With McLaren’s first drivers’ title since 1991, Hakkinen doubled down on his success in 1999, but it should have been easier than it was. The accident that broke Schumacher ‘s leg at the British GP was followed by several team slip-ups that saw Irvine and Heinz-Harald Frentzen challenge for the title.
Despite the return of Schumacher , Hakkinen ‘s brilliant victory in the final race at Suzuka saw him win the overall standings by two points from Irvine, although Ferrari took the constructors’ crown.
Ferrari went from strength to strength and Schumacher finally clinched the title in 2000, this time winning his duel with Hakkinen in Japan.
Mika’s motivation was perhaps flagging in 2001 and Coulthard became Schumacher’s “closest” rival. Hakkinen still scored two of his best wins, at Silverstone and Indianapolis, before taking a sabbatical from F1 that turned into retirement.
2. Alain Prost
McLaren years: 1980, 1984-89
Races: 107
Wins : 30
Titles : 3
When Renault ruled out Prost after his unsuccessful 1983 title bid, Dennis pulled off a masterstroke by signing the Frenchman. Driving John Barnard’s TAG Porsche-powered MP4/2, the team crushed the opposition in 1984 and won 12 of 16 races.
Prost , who won seven GPs to Lauda ‘s five, was unlucky enough to miss out on the title by half a point, but made amends the following season with his long-awaited first crown.
Williams-Honda became the pacing force in 1986, but Prost put together one of F1’s best seasons to take advantage of the Nigel Mansell-Nelson Piquet fight and retain the title. In 1987 he was unable to pull off enough heroics, although he still had three wins.
Prost initially welcomed Senna to the team for 1988 and mastery of the MP4/4 made the fight for victory a one-on-one between the two. Prost scored more points, but Senna took eight wins to the Frenchman’s seven and won the championship thanks to the losing points rule of the time.
The relationship between the two remained relatively relaxed in 1988, but that changed in 1989. Prost was furious that Senna had broken a pact not to overtake on the first lap at Imola, was unhappy with the Brazilian’s aggressive driving and was suspicious of the Senna ‘s favoritism by engine supplier Honda .
Senna was wresting control of the team from Prost, but unreliability meant he had to be on the defensive in the final races of 1989. Finally, Senna’s controversial exclusion from the Japanese GP after a collision with the other McLaren and the subsequent recovery sealed the title in favor of Prost .
The Frenchman, who had started his F1 career at then-embattled McLaren in 1980, had won three titles in his second six-year spell with the team. But the working relationship with Senna was no longer tenable and he signed for Ferrari while celebrating the success of 1989.
1. Ayrton Senna
McLaren years: 1988-93
Races: 96
Wins : 35
Titles : 3
The Brazilian will forever be associated with McLaren , where he claimed 35 of his 41 F1 victories and all three of his world titles. It’s a close comparison to his arch-rival for this top spot, but Senna scored more wins and pole positions for McLaren and was ultimately the reason Prost left the team.
Senna joined as Prost’s teammate in 1988, creating a very strong line-up alongside the McLaren MP4/4. They only lost one of the 16 races played and it became clear very early on that it would be a direct duel between the two McLaren drivers for the crown.
Prost was arguably more consistent, but Senna took more poles (13) and wins (eight) to secure his first F1 title.
The tension between the two became toxic during 1989 and both made mistakes. Senna was fastest, but suffered from more reliability problems. When the Brazilian was excluded after victory in Japan, Prost became champion before moving to Ferrari .
With Prost gone , Senna was the clear leader of the team. Although his new teammate, Gerhard Berger , overtook him in qualifying at the first grand prix of 1990, there was little doubt that Senna would end up being the clear championship contender for McLaren .
After a brilliant battle that swung between Senna and Prost , the Brazilian deliberately crashed into the Ferrari at the start of the Japanese GP. Dennis was not impressed by that action, but they won another title that way.
Williams-Renault became a real threat during 1991, but a combination of Senna ‘s strong start to the season and Williams’ struggles kept McLaren-Honda ahead. Senna made the most of what he had, and was rewarded by capturing his third title at the end of what was arguably his best season.
Mansell and the Williams FW14B were unstoppable in 1992, with Senna taking just three fluke victories, even ending up beaten by Benetton’s rising star Schumacher in the final standings.
While Senna worked to try to get a seat at Williams , he started in 1993 with McLaren . Despite having to use Ford engines after Honda’s withdrawal, Senna put in some of his best performances to take five wins against the superior Williams FW15Cs of Prost and Damon Hill .
Senna took pole and victory in his last race at McLaren, at the 1993 Australian GP, before signing his ill-fated move to Williams . It was his 35th victory in 96 starts with McLaren, numbers that were then a record for a driver in a single team. From that moment, it was more than three years before McLaren won another grand prix.
If there is a single criticism of Senna ‘s impact at McLaren , it is that his salary demands towards the end of his career there hampered his ability to keep up with Williams in the car development race. But that is minor compared to the brilliant victories and titles he achieved, some against all odds, creating a golden era for McLaren.
