BIOGRAPHY
When Bruce McLaren joined the Cooper team on a full-time basis in 1959, he proved a perfect partner for Jack Brabham. The two men did more than just drive they had an active input into the design and development of the cars, which then was almost unheard of. After Jack left at the end of 1961, Bruce could have, should have, made a significant contribution to Cooper design. However, Charles Cooper was so mortified at Brabham's apparent ingratitude that he kept McLaren at arms length.
Bruce, like Jack before him, started his own team to run in events which the Cooper works did not. The first sign that he intended to follow Brabham and set up his own construction company came over the winter of 1963/64. Cooper's long-time draughtsman/designer, Owen Maddock, left to freelance and his first job was to design a 'big-banger' sports racer for McLaren.
The McLaren M1 was the first of what would become a highly success line of sports cars. Lacking his own construction facility, Bruce subcontracted their manufacture to Elva, which was owned by Trojan.
At the end of 1965, McLaren left Cooper to set up his own Formula One team. He recruited Robin Herd, who had been working on systems for Concorde, and Herd penned a radical design with a monocoque made from Mallite, which was a sandwich of aluminium and balsa wood. The first two years of the McLaren F1 team were dogged by the lack of a suitable engine, but the availability of the DFV in 1968 elevated McLaren to the status of a top team. McLaren's huge success in the North American Can-Am sports racing series, helped put the fledging company onto a secure financial footing, as did success in Formula 5000 and Indycar.
After Bruce was killed in 1970, the team was run by Teddy Mayer, brother of Timmy Mayer, who had been killed driving a McLaren-entered Cooper in the Tasman series in 1964. Throughout most of Mayer's stewardship McLaren prospered. It secured sponsorship from Marlboro and won drivers' championships in 1974 (Fittipaldi) and 1976 (Hunt) and the Constructors' Cup in 1974.
By the end of 1971, McLaren had won 24 Grands Prix, but the introduction of ground effect saw it lose the plot. In 1978 and 1979, McLaren scored just 15 points each season, in 1980 it was down to just 11 points and Marlboro was losing patience.
In the meantime, Ron Dennis had commissioned John Barnard to design a new Formula One car, which would have a carbonfibre monocoque. Dennis had been running a preparation company, Project 4, which had run cars in Formula Three and Two, and which had also prepared cars for the Procar Championship. Procar was a series which used BMW M1 coupes and the races were staged on the Saturday of a Grand Prix weekend, with many of the top F1 drivers taking part.
Dennis had established a reputation second to none for his standards and had also forged close links with Marlboro. At the end of 1980, and with the assistance of Marlboro, Dennis took 50% of McLaren shares and became, with Mayer, joint managing director. Within 18 months Dennis was in sole charge.
At the beginning of 1981, the new Barnard design, the MP4 was unveiled: 'M' for 'McLaren', 'P4' for 'Project 4'. John Watson ended McLaren's drought of success by winning the British GP. Then Dennis pulled off a master-stroke and persuaded Niki Lauda to come out of retirement. Though the cars would use DFV engines until the end of 1983, the chassis was so sweet that Lauda would take two wins and Watson three.
The first turbocharged McLaren ran before the end of 1983 with an engine built by Porsche, but labelled TAG. Techniques Avant Garde, a company founded by Mansour Ojeh, had bought into McLaren International, as the company had become, both to use Formula One as a flagship for its other activities and to cooperate with McLaren on various hi-tech developments. There was some idea of using the TAG engine in helicopters, but that came to nothing.
It is, incidentally, incorrect to call the unit a Porsche engine. Porsche was a subcontractor which supplied the basic engine to a specification laid down by John Barnard. All the development work was carried out by KKK turbochargers and Bosch, the electronics company. They too, were subcontractors, employed by TAG.
With a McLaren-TAG, Niki Lauda won the 1984 Drivers' Championship, and Alain Prost won it back-to-back in 1985 and '86. McLaren took the constructors' title in 1985 and 1986.
The last year that McLaren used the TAG engine was 1987, by which time it was slipping behind and John Barnard had decamped to Ferrari. Then Ron Dennis pulled of a coup by persuading Honda to dump Williams and switch to McLaren. McLaren also fielded the two best drivers of the day, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, and embarked on a period of unprecedented success. For four straight years, 1988-91, McLaren won both drivers' and constructors' championships every year. In 1998, but for a collision on the penultimate lap of the Italian Grand prix between Senna and Williams 'stand-in' Jean-Louis Schlesser, McLaren would have won every round of the championship.
After Honda retired at the end of 1992, McLaren kept afloat first with customer Cosworth engines which, thanks to the genius of Ayrton Senna, brought five wins. McLaren signed a deal with Peugeot for 1994 and they consigned it to the status of a midfield runner.
Ron Dennis proved he had lost none of his touch when, for 1995, he announced a long-term relationship with Mercedes-Benz. The engines were actually designed and built by Ilmor, but backup and input from Mercedes-Benz. It took the new partnership until 1997 until it won a race (that year it won two) but in the summer of that year, it became known that Adrian Newey would leave Williams and join McLaren.
Newey was an important factor in Williams slipping down the order and McLaren returning to the fore with a constructors' title in 1998 and back-to-back Championships for Mika Hakkinen, 1998 and 1999.
There is no question, however, that Ron Dennis's eye for detail and presentation, plus his superb business acumen, has been the main reason for McLaren's success. Early into his reign, a mechanic turned up at Heathrow ready to fly to Brazil, and he was not wearing his team tie. The mechanic did not go to Brazil.
Ron would send an advance party to race circuits to paint and fettle the McLaren pit garages to an appropriate standard. This underlined the entire Dennis philosophy - he imposed his standards on the pit garages, he did not accept those of the circuit owner. In the same way, a car's bodywork is not polished between races, the paint is likely to be stripped off and the whole body painted again from scratch.
It is this insistence on standards which impresses McLaren's sponsors (sorry, corporate partners) and that in turn ensures both the team's prosperity and its continued success.
Despite an exciting driver line-up comprising David Coulthard, then in his seventh year with the Woking outfit, and Finnish charger Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren failed to live up to its promise. After just a couple of races it was clear that the MP4-17 was no match for Ferrari's 2001 car, as used in the first couple of races, far less the 2002 version.
The MP4-17 was not one of the Woking team's finest while Mercedes' FO 110M was hardly the German manufacturer's best power-plants. Put these together with Michelins that only seemed to perform when it suited them and you have a relatively poor package which explains why the Silver cars were unable even to compete with the Williams F1s
Admittedly Coulthard was one of only two non-Ferrari drivers to grab a win, while Raikkonen was desperately unlucky not to take a magnificent win at Magny-Cours, but on the whole 2002 was a season to forget for Ron and his boys.
For 2003 McLaren retained the same line-up, though the new MP4-18 wasn't expected to make its debut until Imola at the earliest. At least, that was the plan.
Things got off to a brilliant start with David Coulthard taking victory at Melbourne, though Montoya's unforced error, when he spun whilst leading, was a major contributory factor. Two weeks later Kimi Raikkonen's win at Malaysia seemed far more convincing. McLaren was shaping up as a genuine title contender.
Although Raikkonen stood atop the podium in Brazil, it was later discovered that the timekeepers had made a mistake and therefore Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella was subsequently handed the win.
This was to be the last time that a McLaren driver stood on the top step of the podium for the remainder of the year, though there were times when they came close.
Coulthard struggled with the new qualifying format, which placed the emphasis on a driver's ability to perform on one 'hot lap', while Raikkonen struggled with a car that was clearly past its sell-by date.
Both drivers eagerly awaited the arrival of the MP4-18, but it proved to be a long wait. The car finally made its test debut in mid-May, ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. But a series of unexplained crashes in testing, and the car's failure to pass the mandatory FIA crash tests, meant that McLaren had to go back to the drawing board (literally), while Coulthard and Raikkonen had to persevere with the MP4-17D.
That Raikkonen was able to take the title fight to the wire, speaks volumes for the Finn, though given the fact that he had one win to Schumacher's six, it could be argued that the new points system worked in his favour.
A difficult season for the Woking outfit was not helped by the fact that Ferrari added yet another couple of trophies to its cabinet, while WilliamsF1 and Renault both appeared to be shaping up as serious contenders for 2004.
In November 2003, McLaren confirmed Formula One's worst kept secret, namely that Juan Pablo Montoya would partner Kimi Raikkonen in 2005, a real fire and ice partnership if ever there was one. However, with the Colombian's arrival over a year away, the job was to focus on 2004.
In pre-season testing, the McLaren MP4-19 looked good, and there were many who believed that the Woking team was on course to reclaim its former glory. The car was the first of the 2004 contenders to be launched, and there was nothing to suggest that it wouldn't take the fight to Ferrari, certainly no sign of the dismal failure we were about to witness.
Along with DC and Kimi, the team retained both Alexander Wurz and Pedro de la Rosa as test drivers, Ron Dennis opting for continuity.
Although few predicted that Ferrari would be as dominant as it clearly was, come Melbourne, far less would have foreseen the McLaren being such a hopeless car.
By midway through the season the team had scored just 17 points, and were in serious danger of losing sixth place in the Constructors' Championship to Sauber. Behind the scenes the team was working franticly, as all involved tried to save face.
In France, the team introduced the MP4-19B, which in reality was a bigger progression - compared to the MP4-19 - than the name suggests. Clearly, progress was being made and in the next couple of races the team more than doubled its points tally.
If proof were needed that McLaren was making progress, it came at Spa, where Raikkonen took a well-earned victory. It was far too late to make any serious impression on the championship, but it proved that McLaren had the resources and determination to regroup and fight back.
It's difficult to know where to point the blame, in reality even Ron Dennis stands accused, the Englishman getting far too involved in his Technology Centre.
The Woking outfit headed into 2005 with its scintillating 'fire and ice' driver line-up, comprising Raikkonen and Montoya.
Having staged such an amazing fight back in 2004, all eyes were on McLaren, and of course Mercedes, to see if the team would make the job any easier for itself in the new season.
Ironically, having finished outside the Top 4 the previous season, the Woking team was able to take full advantage of the Friday test sessions, one of the little scraps that team boss Ron Dennis had previously thrown to the 'minnows'. As it happens, like Renault and BAR beforehand, McLaren was able to put these sessions to great use.
Depending on your point of view, you might say that McLaren lost the drivers' and constructors' titles in 2005, rather than Renault winning them.
On its day, the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-20 was stunning, unfortunately those days were all too infrequent. For despite its pace, the car was fragile, unlike the Renault, which for much of the season appeared bullet-proof.
As a result of a problem in the first few rounds of the championship, which, amongst other things, saw the MP4-20 failing to qualify well, Renault got its season off to a dream start, taking four straight wins. With a 21 point deficit after four races, the Woking team was always facing an uphill task. Yet it persevered.
The statistics tell the story, 10 wins, 7 poles and 12 fastest laps. But then there was the half-shaft failure at Imola and numerous engine failures in practice, resulting in grid demotion, making Raikkonen, in particular, have to work that much harder and against greater odds.
To its credit, McLaren, and its drivers, rose to the occasion, but the poor start to the season meant that the Woking cars had to be pushed ever harder, and consequently paid the price.
There were other factors that probably contributed to McLaren's failure, such as, team boss, Ron Dennis' preoccupation with the new factory and the Mercedes SLR project. Then there was the mystery injury which kept Juan Pablo Montoya out of two races, not to mention the points thrown away at the Nurburgring, when Kimi, with the team's 'blessing', pushed his Michelins just a little too far.
Reading this, one might think that 2005 was a season of 'doom and gloom' for McLaren, but it wasn't, indeed the Woking outfit provided race fans with some of the true highlights of the year. With Montoya recovering from his 'tennis injury' we saw spirited performances from his understudies, Pedro de la Rosa and Alexander Wurz, while Raikkonen kept us on the edge of our seats with his 'never say die' performances, including what must rank as the move of the season, his pass on Giancarlo Fisichella at Suzuka.
If people thought 2005 was doom and gloom, 2006 <i>was</i> the real deal, certainly by McLaren standards.
Although the Woking outfit already knew it had Fernando Alonso under contract for 2007, the team suffered the loss of several leading technical figures with Adrian Newey and Peter Prodromou heading off to Red Bull and Nicholas Tombazis returning to Ferrari. Furthermore, despite the attempt at a 'brave face', with the recruitment of, Red Bull head of vehicle design, Rob Taylor, such to-ing and fro-ing is not a good foundation for a World Championship assault.
In the first couple of races things looked OK, and it seemed McLaren might finally have the equipment with which Raikkonen and Montoya could challenge for the title. However, slowly things began to fall apart and it was clear that the MP4-21 was not the car with which McLaren would be able to challenge Ferrari, far less Renault.
The package had run well in testing, completing a tremendous amount of miles and hovering at the top of the timesheets. However, as the season progressed, the MP4-21's weaknesses became all too apparent.
Firstly, the reintroduction of pit stops for tyres worked against McLaren, the MP4-21, like the MP4-20, being easy on its tyres. Then there was reliability, particularly when it came to the Mercedes 108S.
A lapse of concentration - he was listening to his radio - cost Raikkonen victory in Hungary, while at Monaco, where the MP4-21 appeared to be the best package, the Finn suffered a fire in his engine bay.
The incident in 2005, when Montoya missed a couple of races due to his tennis injury, had caused tension between the Colombian and his boss, and as the 2006 season developed the it was clear that matters hadn't improved. With Alonso already signed for 2007, it was doubtful whether Montoya would be retained. However, the Colombian took matters into his own hands by announcing that he was to leave F1 at the end of the season and switch to NASCAR. As the news was still sinking in, McLaren announced that Pedro de la Rosa would replace the Colombian who would; "spend the next few months in Miami with his family, while making initial preparations for his debut in NASCAR". Game, Set and Match to Ron.
As the season progressed, McLaren could only sit back and watch Renault and Ferrari battle it out for the championship(s), with the English team's third place facing a late assault by Honda.
Under the circumstances Raikkonen and de la Rosa did the best they could. However, the fact is that a season which started out with the prospect of the Woking team taking its first title since 1998 ended with the team failing to win a single race, the first time since 1996.
Following the Woking team's dismal 2006, prospects for 2007 were altogether different, with many predicting a return to the very top. An all-new driver line up, new sponsors, new part-owners (Bahrain's Mumtalakat Holding Company ) and new livery... everything appeared to be in place for a return to glory. How sad therefore that a season which promised so very much was to end so badly, with the team almost brought to its knees by events both on and off track.
Although from the outset it was clear that Ferrari's F2007 had the pace, over the course of the season the red car simply didn't have the reliability. Then again, there was the Hamilton factor.
Nothing, but nothing, had prepared us for quite how good Lewis Hamilton was to be in his debut season. Even though he's been in the job for as long as he can remember even Ron Dennis must have been caught off guard. Sure, we knew the youngster had been good in every other formula he'd raced but this didn't mean he'd cut it in F1, one only has to think back to Jan Magnussen.
However, it was Hamilton's 'out of the box' brilliance, coupled with McLaren's failure to designate a proper driver hierarchy that ultimately led to failure. That and the spy saga.
Fernando Alonso, a double World Champion, was clearly as surprised as the rest of us by Hamilton's ability, however he assumed he would be treated in a manner befitting his titles, i.e. as number one. He was wrong. Consequently, it wasn't long before there was all-out war between the two, the situation coming to a head in Hungary when Alonso, feeling that Hamilton had already broken the rules by refusing to allow him past at the start of the third phase of qualifying, returned the compliment by deliberately holding back his teammate at the final pit stop, thereby preventing him from a final stab at pole.
Suddenly, talk of bad feeling within the team was no longer a matter of idle speculation, it was now out in public for all to see. Ron Dennis made no secret of his anger at what happened, nor did the FIA. However, with the benefit of hindsight, we now know that there was far more going on in Hungary than the driver war in qualifying, for it was in Hungary that Alonso is known to have threatened to use incriminating e-mails which showed his team's role in the spy saga, which was already beginning to overshadow on-track activities.
While Ferrari reliability, coupled by a number of hit-and-miss performances from its drivers, stifled the Italian team, the McLaren drivers were consistently climbing the podium. Alonso, in only his second outing for the Woking team, took victory in Bahrain, the first of four wins. While Hamilton, following a string of four second places, took his maiden GP win in Canada, following it a week later with another win, this time at Indianapolis.
At season end, Bernie Ecclestone said that McLaren had lost the championship(s), and while partly true, this is a great disservice to Raikkonen and Ferrari's determination never to give in.
The spy saga, which had dominated much of the season, finally put paid to McLaren's Constructors' Championship hopes - that and the Hungarian GP debacle - a few days after the Italian GP, when the Woking outfit was fined $100m and excluded from the Constructors' Championship. Now, all that remained was the drivers' title.
While Raikkonen fought back in Belgium, thereby closing the title gap to thirteen points, Hamilton hit back with a superb victory in Japan. The rest, as they say is history. Due to a combination of driver and team errors, unforgivable on McLaren's part, all was lost, with Hamilton finishing runner-up to the Finn and Woking teammate Alonso finishing third in the title race, though with the same number of points as the Englishman.
Thus, at season end, Ferrari had both titles whilst McLaren was $100m poorer, no titles, no points and consigned to spend 2008 at the 'poor' end of the pitlane.
Sadly, there was to be another twist to the sorry saga. McLaren protested the result of the Brazil GP, when BMW and Williams were found to have used 'illegal' fuel, and though the Woking team insisted that it did not want Hamilton to win the title by default, went ahead with its claim. Once again, it lost, and all that was gained was dragging out the result of the 2008 championship for a few more weeks.
It came as no great surprise, when, on November 2, McLaren announced that it was parting company with Alonso, subsequently taking over a month to name his successor, Heikki Kovalainen.
The day before naming Kovalainen as Hamilton's partner, McLaren dropped a further bombshell when it issued a statement admitting that "Ferrari information was more widely disseminated within the team than was previously communicated". Prior to this apology there was still a threat hanging over the Woking team, with the FIA scheduled to investigate its 2008 contender in February, just weeks before the start of the season. However, the public apology caused the FIA to draw a line underneath the whole sorry saga. That said, Ferrari is still continuing its investigations, and there could be further shocks to come.
The apology cast doubt on Ron Dennis' future with the team he helped build, with the British media in particular appearing to turn on the Woking boss. However, the long off-season and the prospect of the English youngster claiming the title helped repair much of the damage.
The MP4-24 had a longer wheelbase than its predecessor, however, it was in the aero that the car scored, both in terms of its front wing and the new regulations re roll-hoop dimensions.
Having worked well with Bridgestone's tyres in 2007, the Woking team was able to carry this forward in 2008, the MP4-23 being able to generate heat into its tyres far quicker than its rivals. This tyre efficiency paid off in qualifying and also meant that the drivers didn't over use their tyres in the races, other than in Turkey.
Also, being slightly more aggressive on the Bridgestone rubber than the Ferrari gave McLaren a distinct speed advantage in the wet, a fact which was clearly noticeable in Belgium.
Throughout the season the team continued to evolve the car at an alarming rate, with Engineering Chief Paddy Lowe admitting that the quest to keep pace with Ferrari was virtually open warfare.
Hamilton's aggressive driving style is said to have played a key role in the development of the car, and this might partly explain why Kovalainen was not always to match the English driver, the Finn often struggling to keep his rear tyres intact, particularly during the first part of the season.
After his excellent win in Melbourne, Hamilton struggled in Malaysia and Bahrain, claiming that he preferred the feel of the 2007 car. However, in time the car was the way he liked it, stiff at the front and soft at the rear, which not only allowed him to give some strong performances but also allowed him to look spectacular.
Mercedes continued to do the business engine-wise, the German outfit continuing to improve power and torque despite the engine freeze. Indeed, in the second half of the season the Mercedes was widely considered to be the best unit out there. Ironically, however, it was Kovalainen who suffered the only (race) engine failure of the season, indeed, the first since 2006.
While Kovalainen never quite matched the dizzy heights of Hamilton's success he played the part of 'support' to perfection, and there was no sign of the in-house hostility that had dogged the team the previous season.
While the Woking outfit was delighted to win its first drivers crown since 1999, it lost out in the battle for the Constructors' Championship. This was partly due to the fact that the Ferrari duo was more effective than the Woking duo and also a couple of occasions when the British team slipped up on strategy. That said, they gave Ferrari a run for their money.
Sadly, once again the race stewards also played their part in the championship fight, never more so than in Belgium when a hotly debated penalty saw Hamilton forfeit his win giving it to championship rival Felipe Massa.
Going into 2009, other than the raft of new rules, the big change at McLaren saw Ron Dennis stand down as team boss, the Englishman announcing his decision at the launch of the MP4-24. While Dennis went off to focus on other aspects of the McLaren empire, the role of team principal went to Martin Whitmarsh.
Hamilton and Kovalainen were both retained, and with much more expected of the Finn in his second season with the team it was widely anticipated that the Woking outfit could be looking at its first Constructors' crown since 1998.
Given the team's dreadful start to the 2009 season, one has to say that third place in the final standings marked a significant achievement.
Once serious testing got underway, it was clear there was a problem with the MP4-24, with the car up to three seconds off the pace. To put it simply, in terms of the new regulations the Woking outfit had got its aero calculations totally wrong. This, together with the fact that the team had, like many others, gone along with the spirit of the new aero rules and stuck with a single diffuser, not to mention fully embracing KERS, meant the team struggled from the outset.
However, the traditional 'never-say-die' spirit soon kicked in and by the time of the Spanish GP the MP4-24 was running with a double diffuser. Nonetheless, the team continued to struggled, and it is largely down to the pace, efficiency and reliability of the Mercedes engine - not to mention one of the best KERS systems of the few in use - that the team was able to end the year with most of its credibility intact.
The crucial moment of the season came in Hungary when Hamilton used his KERS to full advantage, overtaking Mark Webber and giving the team its first win of the year.
The team readily admits that for much of 2009, the MP4-24 was the worst car out there, however, hardly a race went by without the former champions introducing a raft of new parts, particularly so at the Woking outfit's home race. Indeed, the team even introduced a short wheelbase version of the car, which was used with great effect at Valencia before Hamilton decided he didn't like the feel of it.
Second in Valencia, coupled with a further win in Singapore and podiums in Japan and Brazil saw the 2008 champion climb up to fifth in the final standings, with many saying the Englishman showed more mettle than in his two previous seasons.
However, despite the amazing turnaround, which saw McLaren edge out Ferrari to take third in the Constructors' Championship, the season was overshadowed by events at the season opener and what was to become 'Lie-gate'.
Having finished fourth in Melbourne, Hamilton was subsequently promoted to third following an investigation into an incident involving the English driver and Toyota's Jarno Trulli, the Italian having been adjudged as overtaking the McLaren driver under a yellow flag.
However, it subsequently transpired that Hamilton and McLaren sporting director Dave Ryan had lied to the stewards leading to the English driver being disqualified and Ryan - a long-time servant of the Woking team - being given his marching orders at the next race.
While the incident severely dented Hamilton's 'golden boy' image, the Englishman being forced into making a grovelling apology, it also put his team back in front of the FIA and, more importantly, Max Mosley.
Whether it was Hamilton's contrition, the firing of Ryan or, more likely, the fact that Ron Dennis severed all official ties with the F1 team, we do not know, but the fact is that the Woking team escaped relatively lightly having been given a three-race suspended ban.
While the MP4-24 was not a good car, this doesn't fully explain why, once again, Kovalainen was unable to cut the mustard, the Finn's best result of the year being his fourth in Valencia.
Good strategy in Brazil saw Hamilton finish third, despite having started from eighteenth on the grid, however, other than the Woking outfit's determination to close the gap to its rivals which had existed since testing first got underway earlier in the year, it was Hamilton's determination - perhaps driven in part by the shame of lie-gate - that put the Woking team back in contention.
For 2010, McLaren once again chose to ignore the sceptics and take a major risk. Despite the problems when they partnered Prost with Senna and Alonso with Hamilton, the Woking team chose to bite the bullet, recruiting 2009 world champion Jenson Button to partner 2008 champ Hamilton.
As if this wasn't enough, Mercedes sold its 40 percent stake in McLaren and headed off to Brackley to form its own team, though the German manufacturer agreed to continue supplying engines for the Woking team for the foreseeable future.
Although an improvement on the MP4-24, the 25 was not the best car that Woking has produced. Indeed, the results and the fact that the team's drivers were leading the championship mid-season was more about the unreliability of the Red Bull RB6 and the great strategy and performances of Hamilton and Button. The MP4-25 flattered to deceive.
In sitting down to design the car, and making full use of the green light that had been given to double diffusers, Paddy Lowe and his team had opted for an unusually long wheelbase and an unusually long gearbox. However, in terms of the double diffuser, which was prone to stalling when the rear ride height was increased, the team opted to run the car very stiff. This meant that unlike previous Woking cars the MP4-25 hated bumps and kerbs.
On the other hand, the MP4-25 did feature a typical piece of Woking ingenuity, the F-duct. The F-duct was a driver controlled device which, using a scoop on the front of car, channelled air through a duct in the cockpit and towards the rear. Changes in the pressure in the duct, in combination with small slots on the rear wing, caused the wing to stall at high speed, thereby reducing aerodynamic drag and increasing top speed by as much as 6 mph on straights.
As soon as the F-duct made its appearance in Bahrain, the first round of the championship, the other teams cried foul, claiming that it was illegal. However, the FIA declared that it was not a moveable aerodynamic device and therefore fully legal. Of course, even as the FIA was deliberating the issue, rival teams were working on their own versions.
While most of the other teams were to copy the device, few matched the efficiency of McLaren's version which had been built into the original design of the MP4-25.
For the record, the F-duct was officially called the RW80, or switchable rear wing (SRW), at Woking. However, the F-duct tag came courtesy of the fact that the scoop was located beside the 'F' in the Vodafone logo on the front upper bodywork of the car.
In Bahrain, the season opener, the team struggled, and in all honesty, Hamilton's podium finish owed more to Vettel's engine problem. In Australia, a typically excellent strategic call by Button gave the team a surprise win, the 2009 champion getting his McLaren career off to a perfect start.
The team had a difficult time in Malaysia, despite showing promise in the free practice sessions, while in China Button led home a Woking 1-2, the team's first since Monza 2007.
A frustrating race in Spain was followed by a similarly disappointing outing in Monaco, Button retiring after just 3 laps after a cooling duct was mistakenly left in the radiator.
Then came a string of strong performances which saw Hamilton taking back-to-back wins in Turkey and Canada, and left the Woking outfit leading the Drivers' Championship as the season entered its second half.
However, it was in the second half of the season that the team appeared to stumble. While quick in races, particularly at tracks like Spa and Abu Dhabi, the MP4-25 struggled in qualifying. Indeed, it was as if the car performed better on full fuel tanks. The failure to perform well in qualifying, particularly in Button's case, meant the team had it all to do on race day. Furthermore, the team was one of the last to run a blown-diffuser, after a false start at Silverstone the Woking outfit finally debuting its version in Germany.
In Italy and again in Singapore, Hamilton's over-enthusiasm got the better of him, however, his grim determination in the face of such opposition, especially with Alonso and Ferrari in the ascendant, was to be admired rather than frowned on.
Both drivers went into the final phase of the championship as title contenders, but in reality it was clear that, barring a miracle, it was always really going to be about Red Bull and Ferrari, though strong points finishes did at least secure the Woking team runner-up spot in the Constructors' Championship.
As far as the pre-season sceptics were concerned, the pairing of Hamilton and Button worked well, indeed, some might even say it was inspired. Both drivers impressed, for different reasons, with Jenson, in particular, silencing some of his critics.
Following a less than impressive performance in pre-season testing, the Woking team carried out some major, but much needed, changes to the car before the 2011 Australian Grand Prix, with particular attention to the exhaust system. The team had tried a number of innovative ideas but on the basis of the test results returned to a more conservative approach.
The result was almost instant, quickest in the opening practice sessions in Melbourne, though it didn't quite have the overall pace of the Red Bull, the MP4-26 was clearly the second quickest car out there. To prove the point, Hamilton qualified second, albeit off 0.766s off Vettel's pace, the Englishman repeating the feat in next day's race despite a broken undertray.
In the 'break' between Melbourne and Malaysia McLaren continued to develop the car, the team subsequently closing the gap to Red Bull to around 0.2s. While Vettel took another win, this time it was Button who brought the MP4-26 home in second.
If prove were needed that McLaren was getting things right, it came in China when the Woking duo finished second and third in qualifying. A poor start from Vettel saw the McLarens running first and second however, while poor strategy and a botched pit stop was to cost Button, Hamilton benefited from a clever strategic move that saw him pass Vettel with four laps remaining, giving the Woking team its first win since Spa 2010.
Numerous problems in Turkey, including another botched pit stop and poor strategy, coincided with a revival from Ferrari, while in Spain Hamilton pushed Vettel to the very end, crossing the finish line just 0.630s down on the German. The Barcelona event also marked the Woking team's first double podium finish of the year.
While much was expected in Monaco, a qualifying error meant Hamilton started ninth, the Englishman finishing sixth in the race after one of those mindless incidents that littered the youngster's season. Button, on the other hand, had an excellent race, and, thanks to brilliant tyre strategy, was challenging Vettel and Alonso for the lead when a late red flag meant the leading pair benefited from a controversial switch to fresh rubber.
There were no such mistakes in Canada however, where Button took a superb victory, thereby making McLaren the first team to see both its drivers take a win. The Englishman's victory, which saw him pass race leader Vettel on the last lap, survived a clash with teammate Hamilton, not to mention having to make five pit stops and serve a drive-through, came at the end of the longest race in F1 history - the event having been stopped and delayed due to the dreadful weather conditions.
A difficult race in Valencia, where the MP4-26 struggled in the heat, left Vettel with a 77 point lead in the championship having taken 6 victories from 8 races.
A temporary restriction on blown diffusers at Silverstone played into the hands of Ferrari, and while Hamilton was able to take fourth, Button suffered his first retirement of the season, the Englishman the victim of poor pit work which meant a rear wheel had not been correctly fitted during a pit stop. The 2009 champ suffered another retirement in Germany, this time a hydraulics failure, but at least the team had the consolation of a win courtesy of Hamilton.
Despite the two previous retirements, in Hungary Button celebrated his 200th Grand Prix in style, the Englishman using his silky smooth driving skills and tyre strategy fully to his advantage.
At Spa, Hamilton qualified third and Button thirteenth following a miscommunication with the team. In the race, Hamilton collided with Kamui Kobayashi, whilst Button fought back to take third behind the Red Bull duo.
Despite the fact that many felt the Red Bulls would be weak at Monza, Vettel took a convincing win, Button finished second for the third year in a row and Hamilton finished fourth after the mother of all battles with Michael Schumacher.
Taking second in Singapore saw Button take second in the championship, thereby becoming the only man who could mathematically stop Vettel winning the title. Hamilton however, having previously tangled with Felipe Massa at Monaco and Silverstone, had another coming together with the Brazilian, the Englishman receiving a drive-through for making a wild move on the Ferrari which punctured its right-rear tyre. This followed an incident in qualifying when Hamilton lunged down the Brazilian's inside, attempting to pass on an out-lap, which led the Ferrari driver to publicly criticise his English rival.
After the race the two were involved in an incident which was to set the tone for the remainder of the year. The Brazilian approached Hamilton in the post-race TV interview area of the paddock as he was conducting an interview. Patting the McLaren driver on the shoulder, Felipe said: "Good job, well done." The Englishman spun around and warned the Ferrari driver not to touch him.
In Japan, Button, having qualified second, just 0.009 seconds behind Vettel, got past the German in the second round of pit stops having conserved his tyres through his second stint and staying out longer before pitting. Ironically, it was the Englishman's first win for McLaren in dry conditions. Elsewhere, Hamilton and Massa had collided yet again. The Brazilian, who damaged his front wing endplate but managed to finish seventh, subsequently called on the FIA to take action against the McLaren driver.
In Korea, Hamilton became the first driver, other than a Red Bull driver, to take pole position in 2011 - McLaren's first pole since Canada 2010 - the 2008 champ and his teammate going on to finish second and fourth.
In India, Button finished second, unable to match the pace of Vettel, whilst Hamilton collided with Massa again, though this time it was the Brazilian who was handed the (drive through) penalty.
In Abu Dhabi, Hamilton and Button qualified second and third, while on race day, Vettel's first lap retirement allowed Hamilton to take victory after controlling the race from the lead. Button finished third after losing his KERS for a large proportion of the race.
In the season finale, in Brazil, Button finished third behind the two Red Bulls, the Englishman, having been overtaken by Alonso at the start, re-passed him in the final stages of the race. Hamilton ran in fifth for much of the race before retiring with a gearbox problem.
While the history books will show McLaren as having finished runners-up to Red Bull, 153 points down on the Austrian team, the fact is that the Woking outfit was the only team to take the fight to Vettel and Webber on a regular basis. Indeed, considering how good the Vettel/RB7 package was, six wins for the British team was pretty impressive going.
Ignoring the clashes with Massa, the fact is that in 2011 Hamilton messed up on a number of occasions, not least the joke at the expense of the stewards in Monaco and his (self admitted) failure to prevent what was happening in his private life interfering with his day job.
Meanwhile, Button had proved to be a revelation, driving better than at any other stage in his career.
It was hoped that the mistakes would have been learned from and that the MP4-27 would be good straight out of the box. However, while it was clearly on the pace to all intents and purposes 2012 was a disaster for the Woking team as it continually appeared to shoot itself in the foot.
If it wasn't strategy it was sloppy pit work, if it wasn't pace it was unreliability. Seven wins makes it clear that when it was good the 27 was very good, sadly, however, there were too many days when it wasn't.
Bad enough that the Woking outfit lost out to Red Bull, but to lose out to Ferrari also, who for much of the season only had one driver, was unforgivable.
While the season got off to the best possible start with Button winning in Melbourne, and Hamilton coming home third, there was the sequence of races beginning in Bahrain where things appeared to fall apart.
At a time when some were questioning the fact that Williams improvement coincided with Sam Michael's departure, the Australian having moved to Woking, the team was clearly hurting.
Hungary witnessed the beginning of another sequence of wins which put Hamilton, in particular, back in the title hunt, though things fell apart in Korea where the team scored a solitary point, its worst result of the year.
Button had his moments, however, he, more than almost any other driver had problems getting to grips with the 2013 rubber.
While the season concluded with convincing wins in Austrian and Brazil, the team was now reeling following Hamilton's defection to Mercedes.
The news that the Englishman had opted to leave the McLaren family, though predicted for much of the summer, still came as a shock when it became official. At Pitpass, editor Chris Balfe, Mike Lawrence and Mat Coch each saw it differently.
The news of Hamilton's departure came just days after gearbox failure cost the Englishman almost certain victory in Singapore, and while this was unlikely to have had an effect on his decision it might well have played a part. A subsequent fuel pressure failure which robbed him of the win in Abu Dhabi is hardly likely to have helped the situation.
Whatever the whys and wherefores, the fact is that Hamilton had gone, leaving Button as team leader and the precocious Mexican Sergio Perez as his number two.
Just weeks before the first of the 2013 launches, fingers were still being pointed, with Ron Dennis suggesting the team could have kept Hamilton if it had wanted, whilst others worried that since securing the Woking gig Perez had been somewhat disappointing.
Whatever, 2013 would be a make or break year for McLaren, and much like at Maranello, if things went wrong many felt heads were sure to roll. Under Whitmarsh's 'captaincy' the team had not only failed to win a single title, it had lost its favourite son.
Pre-season testing suggested that the MP4-28 could well give its rivals, even Red Bull, a run for their money. However, it was subsequently discovered that a suspension component had been incorrectly fitted on Button's car which created an extremely low ride height and thereby accounted for the fast lap times.
From the outset the drivers were critical of the car, and with good reason. Indeed, Whitmarsh was to later admit that at one stage he had considered reverting to the 2012 car. And that's the problem, with the raft of regulation changes scheduled for 2014 very little changed between 2012 and 2013, so why did McLaren feel the need to essentially come up with a whole new car?
The fact is, 2013 was McLaren's worst season for 33 years. It was the team's first season without finishing on the podium since 1980, and never qualified in the top five, its worst record since 1983. It was also the Woking team's first season without a win since 2006.
Button, who tried hard to hide his obvious frustration all season, ironically achieved his best result of the year in Brazil, the Englishman coming home 4th. Teammate Perez, who on a number of occasions, most notably Monaco, added to Button's frustration with his overzealousness, scored his best result in India where he came home 5th.
At season end, McLaren was fifth overall, almost 200 points down on fourth placed Lotus. Indeed, having been trailing behind Force India for much of the first half of the season, the Woking team should be thankful for the modifications to the Pirelli compounds that were to hamper the Silverstone outfit in the second half of the year.
Sadly, the team's Annus horribilis came at a time when it was meant to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding, the truth being that there was precious all to celebrate.
The fact that McLaren is to be reunited with Honda in 2015 meant there were fears that 2014 might be a season spent in limbo.
While Button was retained, Perez was dropped in favour of rookie Kevin Magnussen, prompting some to ask whether the Mexican's signing was a knee-jerk reaction to Hamilton's departure, and whether the Dane was entirely ready for F1, particularly with a front-running team.
Furthermore, despite having enticed Red Bull's Head of Aerodynamics, Peter Prodromou, back to Woking, when the MP4-29 was unveiled there was no replacement for Vodafone as title sponsor indeed, the sponsors logos were conspicuous by their absence.
In pre-season testing the MP4-29 was strong, not least due to the fact that Mercedes had clearly mastered the new power unit formula. Magnussen topped the overall times at Jerez, while he and Button were third and fourth in the opening test in Bahrain. By the end of the final test the duo had slipped to sixth and seventh, but no cause for alarm.
The season got off to the worst possible start when Magnussen and Button finished second and third in Melbourne, courtesy of Ricciardo being disqualified for fuel irregularities.
We say 'worst possible start' because basically this is as good as it got. Though there were some good performances, they were few and far between and never totally convincing. Furthermore, whilst clearly running the best power unit on the grid the spectre of Honda and the 'ghost of season to come', continually hovered over the Woking outfit.
In the second half of the season it was Force India's traditional meltdown that allowed McLaren to hold on to fifth position in the standings, the Woking outfit looking on enviously as (2013 write-offs) Williams took the fight to Mercedes.
Despite his growing frustration with 'the package' Jenson did what he (almost) always does, smile and be diplomatic. And despite Magnussen's reputation as being "lightning quick", Jenson had the measure of the youngster, beating him 10-9 in terms of qualifying and scoring three times as many points.
Much was expected in 2015 with the arrival of Honda, though the post-season test, where the team completed just 5 laps over the course of the two days, was hardly encouraging.
Without doubt however, the even bigger story of 2014 was the return of Fernando Alonso, you know... the man at the centre of Spygate all those years ago.
On December 11, after weeks of speculation, the team confirmed that the Spaniard was indeed returning to Woking, his place at Ferrari being filled by Sebastian Vettel. The team also took the opportunity to put Button (and his fans) out of their misery, confirming the Briton for a sixth season and thereby establishing one of the strongest driver partnerships.
Magnussen was retained as test and reserve driver, whilst Stoffel Vandoorne was also kept on the books, the Woking team having some useful talent in reserve... just in case things went wrong.
Behind the scenes, Ron Dennis was back in charge, with Martin Whitmarsh moving on to pastures new. Indeed, with Dennis seeking to increase his shareholding in the company, possibly with an eye on a future deal with Honda, there looked to be big changes ahead.
Other than the competitiveness of the MP4-30, the other big question marks facing McLaren in 2015 would be Honda - and whether it could perform - Alonso - and whether he could behave, and sponsors, the Woking outfit appearing to have haemorrhaged more than its fair share in 2014.
Whilst nobody really expected this latest incarnation of the legend that was McLaren-Honda to sweep all before it, rekindling those glory days of the 80s and 90s, surely nobody expected it to be the unmitigated disaster that it was.
Sadly, those 5 pathetic laps in Abu Dhabi in late 2014 were a portent of what was to come, the MP4-30 managing just 12 laps over the first two days of pre-season testing at Jerez.
When Alonso completed 32 laps on the third day of testing, there was a collective sigh of relief in the McLaren camp, but then came Barcelona.
On the final day of the fist Barcelona test, Alonso crashed heavily at T3 in circumstances that have never been explained. Indeed, it was the statements then denials that first got people wondering what on earth was going on, a question that was oft repeated over the course of the year.
Ruled out of the opening race of the year, Alonso was replaced by reserve driver Magnussen, the fact the Dane's car broke down on its way to the grid tells you all you need to know.
The first points came at Monaco, whilst the biggest haul came at another slow, twisty track, the Hungaroring, where the Woking outfit came away with 12. At season end the legendary McLaren was ninth in the standings - its worst performance since 1980, just 27 points to its name.
For a record-breaking partnership, the sad fact is that in 2015 the only record the team could claim was penalty points, Alonso and Button having amassed over 300 between them.
In the early stages of the season, even approaching the summer break, Eric Boullier and the team was insisting that the problems were systematically being resolved and that results would follow. As the season resumed it was clear that there was no quick fix - or any kind of fix - in sight.
Both Alonso and Button performed admirably in insisting that things would improve however, radio communications and the occasional paddock interview made clear that both were having to work overtime in keeping their emotions in check.
As the season wore on, with no sign of a change in fortune, the pair appeared to accept their lot, witness Alonso's sunbathing during qualifying in Brazil and the subsequent visit to the podium for a (forbidden) photo opportunity.
As sponsors deserted the team or failed to renew, the drivers overalls looked like something for a washing powder advert.
And whilst McLaren insisted that lessons were being learned and things would get better, Honda was giving little away... literally.
Speaking at season end, Ron Dennis, who has seen more than his fair share of problems over the years, insisted that 2015 was not an Annus Horribilis. There were times you almost believed him.
With Alonso and Button retained for 2016, even though both admit to having had serious doubts, McLaren and Honda had to take a major step forward, for another season like 2015 might not just drive away its two world champion drivers but even more sponsors.
Dennis has always been regarded as a great leader, albeit something of a control freak, now was the time to put the road car dream to one side and roll up his sleeves and get stuck in, and that meant kicking a few backsides at Honda.
For various reasons, 2016 was a historic year at McLaren, though not for the reasons one might expect.
While on paper there was an improvement on 2015 - could it have got worse - is finishing sixth in the standings really such an achievement for a team with such an illustrious history.
True, Honda made strides, as it needed to, and free of the dreaded token system we expect this to continue in 2017.
The MP4-31 was also an improvement, but again, not as good as the sport has come to expect from the Woking outfit. If nothing else however, the team was able to begin to move away from the controversial 'size zero' concept.
Thankfully, (slightly) improved reliability together with a few changes to the regulations means we didn't get some of those telephone number grid penalties we'd got used to in 2015, indeed, the Woking cars even made it through to Q3 on numerous occasions, in Hungary both of them.
Like many, the team switched attention to 2017 quite early on in the season, and while it did introduce some updates, some, notably the rear wing introduced in Austria, proved to be not worth the effort.
Whereas fellow garagistes Williams struggled in slower corners, McLaren excelled, hence strong performances in Sochi, Monaco and Singapore. However, despite the improvements the Honda still lacked grunt, and the shortcomings in the car were obvious on those tracks with longer fast corners, Suzuka being a prime example.
While Fernando Alonso's horrific crash in Melbourne had the conspiracy theorists busy the Spaniard was back in action for China. Though tenth marked his third worst season since he entered the sport he has much to be proud of, usually giving it 100% and despite the issues still managing to keep a smile (grimace) on his face.
A brace of fifths, a sixth and a number of sevenths were more about the dogged determination of the Spaniard than the improvements made by the team and engine supplier.
Teammate Button was another matter entirely. Though he said the right things and continued to smile, it was clear he was tiring of the whole thing. That said, who could blame him, surely had it been known that the second marriage of McLaren and Honda would be so fraught with issues would anyone have signed up.
Stepping in for Alonso in Bahrain following his horrific Melbourne crash, Stoffel Vandoorne did a sterling job and in finishing tenth - scoring the team's first points of the year - out-qualified Button in the process.
The continued absence from the podium, far less the top step, meant that sponsors continued to desert the team, the Woking outfit now showcasing brands that might normally be seen down the other end of the pitlane.
But if the team's on-track issues were of concern, so too were the problems in the boardroom.
As the rift between the main shareholders in the team grew ever wider, and Ron Dennis failed to secure the necessary funding to buy-out Mansour Ojjeh and the Bahrain Sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat, the impossible happened, the Briton was effectively ejected. Almost at a stroke, the man who had put his life into the team was gone.
No sooner had Dennis gone than some of his recent signings were also being shown the door also, including former VW Motorsport boss Jost Capito, who only arrived in September.
Brought in to sort things out - and according to the blurb - put the Woking outfit back on top of the podium and adorn the cars with major sponsors logos - was marketing guru Zak Brown, a man who only a few weeks earlier was being linked with Bernie Ecclestone's job.
So, 50 years after Bruce founded the team, it was all change at Woking, and one couldn't help but feel it wasn't a change for the better.
The method behind Dennis' departure was shocking, the Briton virtually erased from the McLaren story overnight. Indeed, having announced his 'retirement' at Monza, Button got a better send off.
For 2017 Alonso was joined by Vandoorne, and while we pondered what next for the Woking outfit, one wondered whether we were witnessing the birth of McLaren 3.0 or the further demise of a once all-conquering team.
While fans and the crew at McLaren, along with drivers Alonso and Vandoorne, had an excruciating time of it in 2017, Zak Brown was seemingly having the time of his life.
Wearing his numerous hats, be it McLaren executive director, non-executive chairman of the ever-expanding Motorsport Network or simply team owner at United Autosports, the American rarely found himself without a camera or microphone pointing in his direction... and boy did he love it.
While McLaren struggled to ninth position in the team standings, Brown, having put himself almost centre stage during Alonso's Indy 500 exploits, was already planning the next stage in the Spaniard's quest for the sport's triple crown.
Though most of us thought he'd been recruited to find a title sponsor for the Woking outfit - a concept the American subsequently dismissed - by the end of 2017 the drivers' overalls were as bare as ever and the only positive PR emanating from Woking appeared to be in respect of Brown, Alonso, IndyCar, Daytona and Le Mans.
From the start of pre-season testing it was obvious that the team was in for another difficult year. Despite the scrapping of the infamous token system, despite producing a whole new engine whose architecture followed the example of Mercedes, Honda remained at sixes and seven.
As Yusuke Hasegawa so rightly put it, it was like playing "Whack-a-mole" for as soon as one problem was solved another duly followed.
With the allocation of power unit components now down to four, it wasn't long before the penalties began to mount and by season end Alonso and Vandoorne had amassed 23 between them.
As speculation as to 'when' McLaren and Honda would divorce rather than 'if', Alonso headed off to Indianapolis to begin work on his assault on the triple crown.
That he opted to skip the Monaco Grand Prix, arguably the most important events on the calendar in terms of doing business and attracting sponsors is one thing, that Zak Brown chose to follow him to Indianapolis quite another.
Ironically, despite the brilliant effort put up by Alonso his Indy dream came to nothing, the Spaniard suffering an engine failure. And before you ask, the answer is yes, it was a Honda.
As speculation over McLaren's relationship with Honda continued, Sauber did a deal with the Japanese manufacturer only to scrap it and continue with Ferrari. However, it was another Italian team, Toro Rosso, that finally partnered with Honda in a deal which will see McLaren switch to a French engine manufacturer for the second time.
It was a year of lowlights, though if one was forced to pick a decent weekend one would point to Hungary, the only event at which both drivers finished in the points.
Under the circumstances both drivers gave their best, and despite open criticism over the radio and in press conferences Alonso continually performed beyond the call of duty. Indeed, while it was sad to see Vandoorne suffer such a wretched debut season it was heart-breaking to witness Samurai Alonso giving his all as he battled for 15th place.
If Ron Dennis was wondering what on earth had happened to his beloved team, Bruce McLaren will have been spinning in his grave, it was that shambolic and with absolutely no sign of things improving.
Despite the promise of a step forward now the team had Renault engines, one still had to wonder at Brown's management. With no significant sponsors on board, the American instead talked of another livery change - the Woking outfit cynically scrapping the corporate grey for a papaya black and white look in 2017 - and a "radical garage".
We hoped that at the end of 2018 we would be in a position to talk of a serious revival at Woking, but under the current leadership we somehow doubted it. Turned out we were right.
If nothing else, 2018 proved that McLaren's issues went beyond Honda, for while the Renault power unit took Red Bull to four wins, the Woking team's best result came in Melbourne, helped in no small part by Haas shooting itself in the foot in terms of a brace of unsafe releases.
Like Williams 2018 contender, the MCL33 suffered a basic flaw in its aero, in this case low downforce and high drag, not exactly what you want on the straights when you are already running an underpowered engine. A new nose was subsequently introduced but this failed to cure the problem.
Behind the scenes, Brown continued to take the team further and further away from its previous management structure, with Eric Boullier dropped as racing director and Gil de Ferran recruited as sporting director. While the team was successful in luring James Key away from Toro Rosso, the Faenza team didn't make things easy and the enforced time the Briton will spend in his garden before heading to Woking means he will have zero impact on the MCL34.
Despite speculation that development of the car ended early, the team insists that it continued until the end of the European season, even if the results do not reflect this.
As for the drivers, well, while Vandoorne could put 2016 and 2017 down to Honda, the switch to Renault showed little improvement. The only driver to be out-qualified by his teammate at all 21 races, the Belgian appears to be another of those drivers who dominates every championship he contests until he makes that final leap up to F1. Then again, perhaps those first two seasons destroyed him.
Even Alonso, the Samurai, eventually found himself worn down, and while Vandoorne heads to Formula E, the Spaniard is returning to America to contest the Indy 500.
Finishing sixth in the standings flatters the Woking outfit, for but for Force India's financial issues McLaren would have finished a distant seventh.
For 2019 the team would have an all-new line-up, with in-house protege Lando Norris joining Renault and Toro Rosso veteran Carlos Sainz.
Meanwhile, Zak Brown seemed determined to convince anyone who was ever sceptical about marketing people that they were right all along, the American talking much but appearing to say very little.
Rather than taking the team forward and upward, Brown seemed to be increasingly relying on its history, while distractions like a full team assault on Indianapolis were hardly likely to help.
Indeed, though Alonso had supposedly retired from F1, there was talk that he would test the 2019 car, as McLaren continued to appear to be the Spaniard’s own little play thing.
In January, the team announced the recruitment of former Porsche WEC boss, Andreas Seidl, as managing director, the Woking team seeming to appoint new people to new roles on a regular basis but appearing overall to achieve nothing.
"At present it is hard to see the legendary Woking team be anything but an also-ran in 2019...," we wrote, "let's hope we are wrong."
We were.
Seidl was an inspired signing, indeed, as it turned out, was Sainz.
One only has to look down the pitlane to Williams to realise that history counts for little in F1, and that when you are down, there is always the opportunity to sink that little bit further.
Though McLaren had shown signs of improvement in 2018, ahead of the 2019 season there was little to inspire. Seemingly not good enough for Red Bull or Renault, Sainz appeared to be looking into the 'last chance saloon', while Norris had not exactly inspired in F2.
However, from the moment Seidl took up his position on 1 May, things began to change.
From the outset the German did away with the Alonso nonsense, while also subsequently agreeing a deal which would see the Woking team re-partner with Mercedes from 2021.
With Key in charge of all things technical, Seidl focussed on streamlining the management, while generally improving the team and restoring its fighting spirit after those years in the doldrums. A new windtunnel was commissioned as was a state-of-the art simulator.
With Seidl in charge, Brown, could get on with what he was actually good at, and with the aid of several other new signings the Woking team began to attract new sponsors.
On track, despite a somewhat shaky start, things soon began to settle down, and in a nine race streak from Azerbaijan the team scored 74 points, with double finishes in the three of them.
While the Renault engine lacked the grunt of its rivals, and, ironically, was now losing out to Honda, the MCL34 was a good car that, like a fine wine, improved with age.
As the season developed the team improved in qualifying, whic
