McLaren Press Release

In the 40 years since that day McLaren has:

competed in 602 Formula 1 Grands Prix.
won a total of 148 of the races they have competed in.
won 11 Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championships and been crowned Formula 1 Constructors’ World Champions a total of eight times.
Won the Indianapolis 500 three times, the Can Am Championship on five occasions as well the 24 Heures du Mans.
finished one-two on the podium on 40 occasions.
started 122 races from pole position.
on 70 of these occasions gone on to win the race from pole position.
started 255 Grand Prix from the front row.
on 51 occasions occupied both spots on the front row of the grid.
set the fastest lap of the race 126 times.
been on the podium a total of 387 times, this would be the equivalent of 1161 litres of champagne that could have been sprayed by the drivers.
raced on six continents and in 28 countries, of which the team has won races in 25.
been the only team to date to have won all but one race in a whole season when they finished 15 out of a possible 16 races on the top step of the podium in 1988 with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
had 42 different drivers race for the team with 16 different nationalities.
employed 10 World Champions over the 40 years. Of these six have won a total of 11 Drivers’ World Championship between them whilst driving for McLaren.
maintained the longest partnership in the sport, with HUGO BOSS supplying the team uniforms for the past 25 years.
only had a total of three Title Partners throughout its 40 year history.
built and moved into the award winning McLaren Technology Centre which was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen in May 2004.

In 1995 Mercedes-Benz joined McLaren and since then:

the McLaren Mercedes Partnership has claimed 44 victories, 43 pole positions, 58 fastest laps, 134 podiums, 224 point finishes, 14 one-two finishes, in a total of 192 starts.

Since McLaren’s Formula 1 debut in Monaco, the team has been dominant on the streets of Monte Carlo.

In 1966 the Monaco Grand Prix consisted of 100 laps at 3.130km each, the qualifying lap was 1m29.9 seconds with the top speed reaching 126.080km/h. In 2005 there were 78 laps of 3.340km in length. The pole position set by Kimi Raikkonen was 1m13.644 and the top average speed 158.540km/h.
The livery of the original car was white with a green stripe. The reason for this was due to the film Grand Prix. The car featured heavily in the John Frankenheimer movie as McLaren had offered to assist the filmmakers in order to fund their first season in Formula 1. The three hour long film won three Academy Awards.
There were a total of four employees that assisted Bruce at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1966. In contrast Team McLaren Mercedes will be sending 137 people to Monte Carlo this year; this figure includes drivers, engineers, mechanics, support crew, marketing personnel and hospitality.
Of the original workforce in 1966, two are still currently working within McLaren Racing. Tyler Alexander travels with the team as a systems engineer and Ray Rowe works as a gearbox mechanic.
Following their debut it only took 24 races before McLaren won their first ever Grand Prix at the 1968 Belgium Grand Prix with Bruce at the wheel.
McLaren first won on the streets of the principality with Alain Prost securing the first victory in Monaco in 1984.
Since this win, McLaren have gone on to win the Monaco Grand Prix a total of 13 times. This is more than any other team in the history of the sport. In addition since the 1998 Monaco Grand Prix, McLaren Mercedes has taken victory in the Principality on four occasions.
Two years later in 1986 McLaren scored the first of 40 one-two finishes for the team in Monaco with Alain Prost crossing the line in front of team-mate Keke Rosberg.
Past McLaren World Champion Ayrton Senna also holds the record for most wins at this track with a total of six, five of which he scored whilst driving a McLaren.
McLaren have started the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position on 10 occasions.
Last year Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya raced at Monaco with the most precious helmets ever worn by a Formula 1 driver. Both helmets were adorned with a total of 600 Steinmetz diamonds.
With Kimi Raikkonen winning the Monaco Grand Prix in 2005 and Juan Pablo Montoya winning in 2003 for Williams, Team McLaren Mercedes will be the only team on the grid competing with two past winners this year.

As we are celebrating our first race 40 years ago, it is a good time to look back on some of the firsts McLaren have introduced to Formula 1 in the last 40 years:

In 1981 McLaren raced the first carbon fibre composite chassis, the MP4/1.
The 1993 challenger, MP4/8, was the first car to feature bargeboards.
Another feature of today’s cars, the mid-wing, was originally seen on the MP4/10 in 1995.
An important cooling feature on the car, the chimney, was first introduced on the MP4-15 in 2000.
McLaren were the first constructor to win in Formula 1, Can Am, Indy 500 and Le Mans.
In 1998 Team McLaren Mercedes introduced the first two-seater Formula 1 car the MP4-98T, which has taken 151 passengers for the ride of their life, including His Majesty King Juan Carlos, Jim Corr, Murray Walker, Vanessa Mae and the Russian cosmonaut Vasili Tsieliyev.
Over the years McLaren has pioneered in the arena of trackside hospitality, being the first team to introduce double-decker motorhomes and more recently the innovative Team Communications Centre in 2002.
McLaren, in conjunction with Corporate Partner HUGO BOSS, were the first to introduce bespoke clothing for the team to wear whilst travelling to and from Formula 1 grand prix and tests.
McLaren were the first team to produce their own in-house monthly magazine. Racing Line will publish its 100th edition this June.

The nail biting race (arguably the most glamourous in the season) was won by Alonso extending his own and renault’s advantage in the standings.

Here is the result

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points

1 1 Fernando Alonso Renault 78 Winner 1 10

2 4 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 78 +14.5 secs 4 8

3 14 David Coulthard RBR-Ferrari 78 +52.2 secs 7 6

4 11 Rubens Barrichello Honda 78 +53.3 secs 5 5

5 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 78 +53.8 secs 22 4

6 2 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 78 +62.0 secs 9 3

7 16 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW 77 +1 Lap 15 2

8 7 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 77 +1 Lap 10 1

9 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 77 +1 Lap 21

10 20 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Cosworth 77 +1 Lap 12

11 12 Jenson Button Honda 77 +1 Lap 13

12 19 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 77 +1 Lap 16

13 21 Scott Speed STR-Cosworth 77 +1 Lap 18

14 17 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-BMW 77 +1 Lap 14

15 18 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 76 +2 Laps 17

16 23 Franck Montagny Super Aguri-Honda 75 +3 Laps 20

17 8 Jarno Trulli Toyota 72 +6 Laps 6

Ret 15 Christian Klien RBR-Ferrari 56 +22 Laps 11

Ret 10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 51 Accident 8

Ret 3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 50 +28 Laps 3

Ret 9 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 48 Exhaust 2

Ret 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 46 +32 Laps 19

Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher 1:15.143

In a controversial decision, race stewards at monaco stripped Micheal of his Pole position time, so now the seven time formula one champ has to start the monaco grand prix from the back.

Here is team Ferrari’s Reaction

“We totally disagree with it,” said Jean Todt.

“Such a decision creates a very serious precedent, ruling out the possibility of driver error.

“Michael was on his final timed lap and was trying to put his first place beyond doubt, as could be seen from the fact that his first split time was the best.

“With no real evidence, the stewards have assumed he is guilty.”

I have always been a Schumacher fan, so if you are expecting me to say Schumacher did that on purpose, you are mistaken. And the nerve of Flavio , accusing Schumacher of such a heinous offence, he should check his facts before making allegations, a man who has seven world championships under his belt doent need to cheat in order to succeed. I believe Alonso is not even half the class of Schumacher, so he should remain shut.

Here is the story, Schumacher was in pole, he was going on another flying lap, his car stalled at a turn, he tries to reverse, now his engine dies, Alonso also on a flying lap is behind him, get obstructed, and then Flavio starts accusing Schumacher of being a cheater.

Briatore’s Allegations

“I don’t know why he needed to do it – that’s the way Ferrari manage.

“I think he is taking everyone for a ride.

“Someone who was seven times a world champion wants us to believe that he didn’t do it on purpose – it’s fairyland.

“And given that we are not Snow White and the Seven Dwarves I think that what he did was unsporting and against everything.

“It’s really astonishing what he did. Incredible.”

Schumacher’s side of the story

“It was a touch too much going into that final corner. I didn’t know I was fastest, so I was really pushing on that lap.

“I came into the bend hard, locked up the front and went wide. I checked with the guys what position I was and they said P1.

“At the start I hadn’t stalled the car but it was impossible to reverse because of the traffic behind me.

“There were cars coming behind me, I knew it, but I couldn’t see them well enough to judge when to pull out. Then the engine stalled.

“Whatever you do in certain moments, your enemies believe one thing and the people who support you believe another,” he added.

“Some people may not believe it, but unfortunately that’s the world we live in.

“I don’t care what other teams do. I know Flavio well enough,” said Schumacher

Alonso’s Remarks

“I am not going to give my true opinion on the matter here – it is not the right place or time”

1 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:15.118 1:13.709 1:13.898

2 1 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:14.232 1:13.622 1:13.962

3 9 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1:14.305 1:13.728 1:14.082

4 3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.887 1:13.532 1:14.140

5 2 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:14.614 1:13.647 1:14.396

6 4 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.483 1:14.295 1:14.664

7 11 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:14.766 1:14.312 1:15.804

8 8 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:14.883 1:14.211 1:15.857

9 14 David Coulthard RBR-Ferrari 1:15.090 1:13.687 1:16.426

10 10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1:14.888 1:13.909 1:16.636

11 7 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:14.412 1:14.398

12 15 Christian Klien RBR-Ferrari 1:14.489 1:14.747

13 20 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Cosworth 1:15.314 1:14.969

14 12 Jenson Button Honda 1:15.085 1:14.982

15 17 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-BMW 1:15.316 1:15.052

16 16 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW 1:15.324 1:15.137

17 19 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 1:15.598

18 18 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 1:15.993

19 21 Scott Speed STR-Cosworth 1:16.236

20 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.276

21 23 Franck Montagny Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.502

22 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari No time