Drivers: Jenson Button | Lewis Hamilton

Website: www.mclaren.com

The turnaround McLaren achieved in 2009 was almost as impressive as its many runaway championship successes.

Major aerodynamic misjudgements meant the team started the year 3s off the pace and ambling around at the back of the field – but a herculean development effort, achieved despite the testing ban, saw McLaren winning again by July and eventually rising to third in the constructors’ championship.

It is confident that this year it has rectified last year’s design mistakes and will resume business as usual in 2010 – which for McLaren means fighting for world titles.

With champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button on board, it knows it lacks nothing on the driver front, and it must also balance the demands of two men who both expect to emerge as the team’s number one – a situation that has ended in tears for McLaren in the past.

Hamilton’s dramatic 2008 championship triumph was a rare moment of delight for McLaren amid the turbulence of recent seasons.

The shocking ‘spy’ scandal of 2007 had cost McLaren $100 million and all its constructors’ points, not to mention exposing its inner flaws for public consumption.

Its relationship with Fernando Alonso – which seemed so promising when the reigning champion led a crushing McLaren 1-2 in only the second round – disintegrated acrimoniously.

And to add a final insult, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen pipped the McLaren drivers to the championship by a single point, even though McLaren had looked unstoppable at mid-season.

Alongside the car difficulties last year, McLaren also had to cope with a fresh scandal after Hamilton and stalwart team manager Dave Ryan were found to have misled the Melbourne stewards, and then saw long-time partner Mercedes set up its own works team, although it will continue to supply McLaren with engines.

It all added up to a challenging start for new team boss Martin Whitmarsh, who had stepped up as the legendary Ron Dennis moved aside to focus on McLaren’s road car arm, but the team hopes its 2010 car will be good enough to consign all the recent trauma to history and ensure McLaren is only in the headlines for positive reasons.


F1 track record

McLaren has an outstanding F1 heritage.

It was founded by Kiwi racer Bruce McLaren, who took the first win for his eponymous squad at Spa in 1968, but was killed in a sportscar crash two years later.

The McLaren operation recovered to win the 1974 and 1976 world championships with Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt, under the management of American Teddy Mayer.

After a few lean years, Dennis took over in 1980 and McLaren’s ultra-successful modern era began.

The totally revamped squad would sweep to seven titles in 1984-86 and 1988-91.

With Honda turbo power and superstar driver pairing Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, McLaren won all but one race in 1988.

It was a glorious but turbulent period for the team, overshadowed by the notorious infighting between its two legends.

McLaren was eventually usurped by Williams-Renault in 1992.

And after Honda and Senna departed it had to endure several years in the wilderness before joining forces with Mercedes and climbing back to competitiveness.

The arrival of aero genius Newey from Williams during 1997 was the last piece in the jigsaw.

His crushingly superior designs propelled Mika Hakkinen to back-to-back championships in 1998-99.

But then McLaren had to take a back seat as Ferrari blitzed F1 in the early 2000s.

Kimi Raikkonen nearly sneaked a championship in 2003, and might have beaten Alonso to the 2005 crown had his McLaren been more reliable.

By the time Hamilton arrived in 2007, McLaren had added consistency to its speed again, allowing its new British hero to take the championship at only his second attempt, and although last year was disappointing, there is every sign that it was just a blip ahead of a return to form in 2010.