‘My father founded McLaren F1 – here’s what he’d think of team today’ | F1 | Sport

Bruce McLaren would be “incredibly proud” of the legacy he has left in Formula 1 as the team he founded gears up for its 1,000th Grand Prix. That’s the view of the person most qualified to speak on behalf of the late founder of McLaren Racing: his daughter, Amanda.

Only Ferrari have taken part in more F1 races over the decades with McLaren celebrating their 1,000th start in Monaco this weekend. And Amanda McLaren loves that her father’s name has stuck for every single one of them, despite his death in 1970 just four years after his team debuted on the grid.

She told Pit Lane Torque: “The fact that we still exist, and the name has remained the same over the years, I know my father would be incredibly proud of that, and so I am as well. The global brand that we are today, the papaya army of fans, it’s just so heartwarming. For a little while, we were McLaren-Mercedes, but the McLaren part was always stuck. And yes, we’re very, very grateful for that.”

Bruce McLaren Motor Racing first entered the World Championship at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix. The New Zealander took the outfit’s first race win two years later but died in a testing crash in June 1970, aged just 32. He never got to see any of the 13 drivers’ titles and 10 constructors’ championship successes that have followed in the decades since.

And Amanda, who was only four year old when he died, was left with no memories of her father. Though she has been shown a sense of who he was through the stories told by those who did know and love him. She said: “I actually do remember the evening of June 2nd when he was killed because I went to some friend’s house and was given a doll set.

“I can remember thinking, why have I been given this toy? It’s not my birthday and it’s not Christmas, but I was unaware of what had happened that day.

“What I’m very fortunate to have is all the people that did know him and speak so very, very fondly of him. The film footage, the books, the archives. Although I never really knew him, I feel like over the years I’ve been very fortunate to get to know him.”

Maiden titles were won in the 1970s with Brazil’s Emerson Fittipaldi becoming McLaren’s first champion in 1974, followed by James Hunt two years later. But the ’80s were undoubtedly McLaren’s heyday, first with Niki Lauda and then the iconic pairing of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.

“That was an iconic era, especially the Marlboro McLaren cars were so clean, so recognisable,” said David Coulthard, who was a teenager coming through the ranks in that period. Ayrton was obviously the benchmark driver of that era – of any era – though I personally was a little bit more drawn towards Prost as a driver.

“Some of the biggest moments from the 76 years of F1 come from Prost and Senna. Those iconic moments of these biggest names in the history of the sport, the multiple world champions going toe to toe, will live beyond my lifetime.”

Coulthard won 13 races himself but played second-fiddle to team-mate Mika Hakkinen who deliver two titles in the late-1990s. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari then launched an unprecedented era of success but Lewis Hamilton got McLaren back on top in 2008.

And with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri now at the wheel, they mark this milestone as the defending champions of both F1 titles. What better way to celebrate Bruce’s legacy which began six decades ago.