After 3,213 Days, McLaren Finally Wins a F1 Grand Prix

In McLaren’s distinguished Formula 1 history, it has won 20 world titles and been represented by legends of the sport but it entered the Italian Grand Prix weekend having failed to add to its tally of 182 wins for almost nine years.

When Jenson Button hoisted aloft the victor’s trophy in Brazil at the end of the 2012 season, McLaren thought it was well-placed to contend for titles.

But it tumbled into the midfield the following season, hamstrung by its own lackluster machinery, while a reunion with Honda over its power unit supply for 2015 promised much but delivered little.

Instead of rekindling the glory years of the late 1980s, champions Button and Fernando Alonso spent years lumbered with chronically underpowered and unreliable equipment as both brands were humiliated and humbled. McLaren slumped to ninth in the standings on two occasions. In its worst season it scored 27 points to Mercedes’ title-winning 703.

A split from Honda, and alignment with Renault, ahead of 2018 left McLaren confident of rejuvenating its prospects but it was another false dawn. Instead that partnership highlighted weaknesses within McLaren’s organization, with the fingers once pointed at Honda instead pointed at itself, and prompted a lengthy internal reshuffling.

For 2019 in came new team boss Andreas Seidl, a new technical director in James Key, and a new driver line-up of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, and McLaren rose from sixth to fourth, via a return to the podium, a position they improved upon in 2020. Sainz switched to Ferrari for 2021 but McLaren swooped to recruit Daniel Ricciardo while he too seized the option, enamoured by McLaren returning to Mercedes power. Two years prior, when Ricciardo was seeking a career change, he was not convinced by McLaren’s prospects and instead joined Renault.

On Sunday all the hard work, and the persistence amid the lowest moments, paid off as all the cards aligned in McLaren’s favor.

The MCL35M had been rapid throughout the weekend, facilitated by its Mercedes power unit at the high-speed Monza, and the result of Sprint left Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris second and third respectively on the grid.