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Full name

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

Base

Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom

Team principal

Martin Whitmarsh

Technical directors

Paddy Lowe

Neil Oatley

Race drivers

Lewis Hamilton

Heikki Kovalainen

Test drivers

Pedro de la Rosa

Garry Paffett

Chassis

McLaren MP4-24

Engine

Mercedes-Benz FO 108W

Tyres

Bridgestone

Debut

1966 Monaco Grand Prix

Constructors’ Championships

8

Drivers’ Championships

12

2008 position

2nd (151 points)

Founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren, McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed in the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and Canadian-American Challenge Cup. The team is one of the most successful teams in Formula One, having won over 160 races, 12 Drivers’ Championships and 8 Constructors’ Championships. The team were the first to design a car using a carbon fibre monocoque, which is now ubiquitous in its use by all teams.

The current team was formed by the merger of Bruce McLaren Motor Racing with Ron Dennis’s Project Four Racing in 1981. Shortly after the merger, Dennis organised a buyout of the original McLaren shareholders to take full control of the team. McLaren is part of McLaren Racing, a member of the McLaren Group. Engines are supplied by McLaren shareholder Mercedes-Benz through Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines. Dennis has been team principal since the 1981 merger, although he has agreed to transfer his position to longtime McLaren employee Martin Whitmarsh effective 1 March 2009. Dennis will continue to work within the McLaren Group.

This page is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “McLaren”