Glory for Britain; McLaren Wins F1 Italian Grand Prix

With a historic victory at the Italian Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo is McLaren’s most recent driver to bring home an F1 victory. Taking their first victory back in 1968, McLaren has a long list of winning drivers, including legends like Niki Lauda and Ayrton Senna. Ricciardo’s win at Monza marks his eighth personal F1 victory and McLaren’s first F1 victory since 2012.

Continuing the Tradition

As he crossed the finish line that Sunday in September, Daniel Ricciardo became a part of McLaren’s longstanding tradition of winning Formula 1 Grand Prix events. This accomplishment put Ricciardo in a unique club of just 20 drivers that have won a Formula 1 Grand Prix for McLaren.

This shortlist of McLaren drivers contains the name of some Formula 1 legends, some of which were the best the sport had ever seen. While Ricciardo isn’t yet one of these legends, he is making good progress toward being one with his dramatic Italian Grand Prix win, his first for team McLaren.

McLaren, A Winning Tradition

As mentioned before, McLaren has had a long list of winning drivers on their team with quite a few legends of motorsport included. McLaren has long been a team that’s built on pride and takes winning as seriously as a heart attack, employing the best drivers, even if it meant alluring them from other teams.

Legends such as Bruce McLaren, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, and the Ayrton Senna brought many wins to the McLaren team over the years, cementing McLaren as one of the most successful Formula 1 racing teams ever. Let’s take a look at the history of some of these legends.

Bruce McLaren

Founder of McLaren Automotive and Racing team, Bruce McLaren is a legend for more than his racing prowess. Bruce had raced for many years for the Cooper racing team, he decided to take the plunge and build his own Formula 1 vehicles beginning in 1966. As Bruce struggled to get McLaren off the ground, by 1968 he finally was victorious with a win at the fourth race of the season. That pivotal win in 1968 was the beginning of a long and successful journey into the Formula 1 world for the McLaren Racing Team, with present-day McLaren still sitting at the top of the F1 power rankings.

Niki Lauda

The Michael Jordan of Formula 1, albeit not due to his achievements, but due to his abrupt retirement and subsequent return to racing. Lauda was Formula 1’s star in 1975, winning the world title that year he seemed to be on top of the world. However, during the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, Lauda was involved in a fiery crash, resulting in him inhaling toxic fumes and suffering severe burns. This crash didn’t stop him, Lauda was behind the wheel six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Lauda finished fourth in that race, admitting that he was “absolutely petrified” the entire race.

Just three short years after Lauda’s dangerous crash, he decided to retire from motorsport abruptly to focus on his airline and aviation dreams. Just as Michael Jordan did, Lauda decided to return to Formula 1 three short years later, winning his first official race for team McLaren. Lauda has gone done in motorsport history as one of the best to ever do it.

Ayrton Senna

Perhaps one of the most influential and famous Formula 1 racing drivers of all time, Ayrton Senna was McLaren’s most notable driver until Lewis Hamilton came along. Senna was known for his late braking and hard acceleration, as well as his uncanny ability to perform in wet weather conditions. Despite his intense rivalry with McLaren’s golden boy, Alain Prost, Senna’s name stood the test of time as one of McLaren’s most popular drivers.

In his short time with McLaren, Senna amassed an impressive 35 victories and 3 world title wins. These three world titles would be the only world titles Senna ever one, making them even more special to the McLaren team. Senna set records while driving for team McLaren that have only recently been broken by the likes of Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

Meeting a tragic end at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Senna crashed his vehicle on lap 7 shortly after a caution flag restart of the race. Senna was rushed to the local hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. Senna’s death was seen as a national tragedy in Brazil and was mourned by motorsport fans all over the world. Senna’s name lives on, however, in the form of the McLaren Senna hypercar.

Lewis Hamilton

Formula 1’s youngest champion, McLaren’s most winningest driver, Lewis Hamilton is an absolute living legend. Having surpassed McLaren legend, Ayrton Senna, in the record books, Hamilton holds the record for most wins (99), pole positions (101), and podium finishes (175).

Seemingly born behind the wheel, Britain’s Lewis Hamilton is a living legend, on his way to sports immortality. Winning from a young age, Hamilton carried that on to Formula 1, beginning his career with McLaren Racing in 2007. Under McLaren, he was able to win one of his seven World Drivers’ Championships, a record he shares with Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton, unfortunately, left McLaren Racing in 2012, joining Mercedes-Benz for the 2013 season, racing for them still to this day.

Ricciardo’s Glory

As Ricciardo crossed the finish line at Monza, not only did he break McLaren’s eleven-year dry spell, he also was responsible for a variety of statistical milestones. Ricciardo’s win was McLaren’s 183rd Formula 1 win, their first win since 2012, their 11th win at Monza, their 17th win in Italy, their 79th win with a Mercedes engine, and their first one-two finish since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. With such statistical achievement, it’s no surprise there was a massive celebration back in the McLaren garage.

Marking his eighth career Formula 1 victory, Ricciardo is McLaren’s 20th driver to win a Formula 1 race, adding him to a long list of McLaren and racing legends. McLaren has seen a long list of winning drivers on their team, with some having won before they came to McLaren, like Alain Prost, Gerhard Berger, David Coulthard, and Fernando Alonso with Daniel Ricciardo now joining that list.

On his way to victory during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Ricciardo furiously battled the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Off to a great start, Ricciardo took second place immediately from Verstappen, putting him directly behind Hamilton for the entire race. As lap 26 approached, Hamilton decided to pit and upon exit he collided with Verstappen, resulting in both drivers being out of the race, albeit unscathed.

Seizing this opportunity, Ricciardo continued on, claiming the race’s fastest lap while on his way to a win. Along with Ricciardo’s incredible win, comes a one-two punch with his teammate Lando Norris securing second place, his best-ever finish. This one-two punch was the cherry on top of an impressive weekend in Italy for Daniel Ricciardo and Team McLaren.

Chasing Legends

As the season continues on, Ricciardo and McLaren look to continue to place high in races, with their sights set on the Formula 1 World Title. Racing in the shadows of legends like Lauda and Senna, Ricciardo has some large shoes to fill and all the driving talent to do so.

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