McLaren Formula One - The Early Years

The start of the 2007 Formula One season has seen the spotlight fall firmly on the McLaren Formula One team with the arrival Lewis Hamilton on the scene. With his incredible success so far in his debut season and a few controversies along the way, McLaren has barely been out of the sports news pages.

However this success is not new for the team. During its history the team has won 8 constructors championships and 11 drivers championships with motor sport legends such as Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Ayrton Senna and more recently Mika Häkkinen. In fact they are the second most successful formula one team after Ferrari, with more Grand Prix wins under their belt than any constructor other than Ferrari.

The team was founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren and was at that time know as Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited. They spent their first three years building a formula one car and were finally ready to make their debut at the Monaco Grand Prix of 1966 with the team founder at the wheel The first race ended in failure as a result of a serious oil leak however the team went on to score their first championship point later that year. 1968 saw the team score their first race win as Bruce piloted the McLaren Ford to victory in Belgium. They then went on to record further wins in Italy and Canada later that year.

The 1970s started in tragedy for McLaren as Bruce McLaren lost his life in a testing accident at Goodwood. Although the team continued his legacy they wouldn’t see another race win for two years. Finally at the South African grand prix in 1972 Denny Hulme, former world champion, recorded his first race win for McLaren since Bruce’s death..

1974 saw a turnaround in the teams fortunes. Emerson Fittipaldi joined the team and with his driving managed to win their first world constructors title as well as the world drivers title. They even managed to win the Indianapolis 500 in the same year. The team’s next championship win came in 1976 with James Hunt taking over from Fittipaldi and taking the drivers championship. . By the 1980’s McLaren were back on form. The McLaren team merged with Ron Dennis’ Formula 2 team to from the current McLaren F1 team and they began their dominance of Formula one. A succession of top drivers over the next few years, the likes of Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna brought great results with McLaren taking the championship in 1984, 1985, 1988 and 1989.

Team mates Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost achieved the highest number of double race wins of any pair in F1, notching up 14 wins between them in 1988 and 1989. This partnership holds the record for the most wins in a season, winning 15 out of the 16 races in 1988. 1988 was seen as the pinnacle of their success to date. The winning combination of Senna & Prost together with class leading new Honda engine meant that not only did they win all but one race, they also led all but 27 laps of the season, a record still unbeaten today.

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Fernando Alonso Will Be World Champion - Flavio Briatore

Flavio Briatore, Renault Team Boss believes that Fernando Alonso is going the win the world championship.

The flamboyant Italian was the team boss of Renault when he scouted Alonso and he guided him to his first 2 world championships in 2005 and 2006.

Lewis Hamilton, Alonso’s nearest competitor has moved 10 points ahead in the standings after another win at the USGP.

“Fernando will win, I’m 100% sure,” Briatore said in a newspaper interview. “He knows what he needs to do. Last year there was a moment when it looked like he would lose the title. Everybody thought he was going to lose it. But pushing together we ended up winning."

“To win, he must do the same thing he did in the last four races last year. Focus on his work in the car, not let outside voices distract him.”

Briatore added: “I think Fernando, above all, is a champion. Like everybody, he is having difficulties to adapt to a new team. He has gone from using Michelin tires to using Bridgestone, while Hamilton already knows the tires from GP2.

“He has experience and, if the McLaren stays ahead of the Ferrari, he must remain calm, focus on himself, forget about the rest, and that way he will win the title.”

Eleven Teams Will Compete in Formula One in 2007

Again in 2007, eleven teams will compete in Formula One.

A few changes and notes of interest from last season include:

• Champion Fernando Alonso moves from Renault to McLaren.
• McLaren second driver is Lewis Hamilton who replaces Pedro de la Rosa. Pedro de la Rosa remains with McLaren as a test driver.
• Rookie Heikki Kovalainen moves into the seat vacated by Fernando Alonso, and notable rookie Nelson Piquet Jr. and veteran Ricardo Zonta will test for Renault.
• Ferrari's Felipe Massa is officially the number one driver, relegating Kimi Räikkönen to an unfamiliar number two seat. Räikkönen moves to Ferrari from McLaren following the retirement of Michael Schumacher.
• The new team for this season is Spyker, the Dutch sportscar maker. They purchased Midland F1 in September. They will be running with Ferrari engines.

Below are the teams and their drivers, with their primary driver listed first. Drivers in their first full season are designated with (R).

• McLaren -- Fernando Alonso -- Lewis Hamilton(R)
• Renault -- Giancarlo Fisichella -- Heikki Kovalainen(R)
• Ferrari -- Felipe Massa -- Kimi Räikkönen
• Honda -- Jenson Button -- Rubens Barrichello
• BMW Sauber -- Nick Heidfeld -- Robert Kubica(R)
• Toyota -- Ralf Schumacher -- Jarno Trulli
• Red Bull -- David Coulthard -- Mark Webber
• Williams -- Nico Rosberg -- Alexander Wurz
• Toro Rosso -- Vitantonio Liuzzi -- Scott Speed
• Spyker -- Christijan Albers -- Adrian Sutil(R)
• Super Aguri -- Takuma Sato -- Anthony Davidson(R)

McLaren sponsor Santander to back Bruno Senna in GP2

The Spanish bank, a McLaren Mercedes sponsor, is rumored to be ready to sponsor Brazilian Bruno Senna, the nephew of Formula One's three time world champion Ayrton Senna. Senna will be sponsored through Santander's Brazilian arm, 'Banco Santander do Brasil'. Ayrton Senna was a national hero in Brazil and was elevated to legendary status following his on-track death in 1994

Santander is also expected to announce that it will purchase naming rights for July's British Grand Prix.