McLaren claim their stance in an F1 title again, 14 years after their last opportunity.
McLaren last won a Drivers’ Championship title in 2008 – Lewis Hamilton’s first title. This was 15 years, 9 months and 16 days ago. McLaren last won a Constructors’ Championship title in 1998. That year Mika Hakkinen won his first Drivers’ title with McLaren, his teammate David Coulthard P3 in the standings. This was 25 years, 9 months and 14 days ago.
Legendary names, among the likes of Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton have brought glory to McLaren. McLaren have 20 titles to their name. 12 Drivers’ Championships and 8 Constructors’ Championships. In this 2024 Formula 1 season, McLaren have a chance at winning both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship titles and adding to their already illustrious numbers.
Since their last title – 2008 WDC with Lewis Hamilton – McLaren have not been as competitive as they would have liked. The last time they were truly competitive is 2010. 2012 was a decent year for them too, however, they had massive stepbacks in the second half of the season, losing both title fights by quite a margin.
Now in 2024, they are back out front.
As for 2010, they remained in the title fight throughout the entire season. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were McLaren’s pairing. Both were already F1 World Champions, with Button the reigning champion in 2010 after winning the 2009 title with Brawn GP, and Hamilton winning the title the year prior.
The 2010 F1 season is mostly remembered as the start of Red Bull’s earlier dominance. That year, Sebastian Vettel won his first Drivers’ Championship title, becoming F1’s youngest-ever World Champion, to date.
Capitalising on Vettel’s misfortunes
However, Vettel did not win the opening race of the season, which was held in Bahrain. He took pole and drove a comfortable race, but his car suddenly lost power with just a few laps to go. With that, the Ferrari drivers, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa overtook the young German, as did Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren. The top 4 finished in that order.
With that, McLaren had their first podium of the season secured. Jenson Button finished the race in P7, making it a double-points finish for the team.
The following race was another positive one for McLaren. Vettel once again started on pole, however, his bad luck followed him to Australia. The Red Bull driver retired from the race following a massive accident brought upon by brake issues. Button had a perfectly timed pit stop as the rain began slotting in behind Vettel, thus inheriting the win after the German’s retirement. Hamilton crossed the line in P6, earning McLaren another double points finish.
McLaren would once again capitalise on Vettel’s problems two races later, in China. It was a dry/wet race, unpredictable and exciting. Vettel started from pole and lost two positions at the start. Alonso took the lead following a jump start (and received a penalty) whilst Mark Webber overtook his teammate before turn 1. After a lap 1 incident, the safety car was called in, and many piled into the pits. Among those were both Red Bulls, with the double stack delaying Vettel. In the pits, he lost positions to Massa, Schumacher and Hamilton, who all pitted at the same time as him.
More pitstop mayhem followed Vettel a few laps later, with not much going his way that Sunday. Button, on the other hand, a driver known for beastly drives in tricky conditions drove his McLaren to P1. Hamilton who had a good recovery drive was P2 behind his teammate, giving McLaren their first 1-2 finish of the year.
McLaren had a somewhat difficult race in Monaco where Button retired. The team that was back then known as the ‘Silver Arrows’ bounced back in the following races when they achieved two 1-2 finishes in a row, in Istanbul and Montreal.
The 2010 Turkish Grand Prix is a popular one, as it showed a key moment in Vettel and Webber’s tension-filled relationship. The two, on the way to a Red Bull 1-2, collided, as Vettel cut across the Australian. Vettel spun and retired from the race. Hamilton inherited the lead from Webber, and Button P2 from Vettel, the race finishing with a McLaren 1-2 in that order.
Strongest driver pairing
It was in Canada that Hamilton had a commanding race from pole, taking his second win of the season, and emerging as a serious title contender.
McLaren got a double podium in a race that would have most likely ended as a Red Bull 1-2 had Webber not retired out of the Valencia Grand Prix after a big shunt. With that positive result, McLaren were leading both the Drivers’ (Hamilton P1, Button P2) and Constructors’ Championship.
McLaren’s next two races were cause for celebration, despite not winning either.
At Silverstone, more Red Bull drama transpired between the two teammates. Vettel broke his nose in Free Practice, and Red Bull decided to put Webber’s new specification nose on the German’s car. On race day, going into Copse, Webber made a move on his teammate who lost control and made contact with Hamilton as a result. Vettel fought his way back to P7, whilst the McLaren driver was able to secure a podium finish and retain his championship lead. Button’s P4, allowed McLaren to retain their lead as well.
The 2010 German Grand Prix is one of F1’s most controversial races. Alonso won the race, but it left a bitter taste in many mouths. In 2010, team orders had been banned since 2002 after Barichello let Michael Schumacher past him in Austria. Felipe Massa started in P3 but took the lead at the start of the race. Later in the race though, after Ferrari told the Brazilian that Alonso behind him was faster, Massa let him through. Ferrari were fined $100,00 for breaking the rules.
Hamilton and Button started that race in P6 and P5 respectively, and crossed the finish line in P4 and P5 respectively. The haul of points was enough to keep Hamilton and McLaren in the lead of both title fights.
Loss of grip
The entire season had been tight. However, it is often expected that power dynamics will shift after summer break. Halfway through the second half of the season, it is usually somewhat obvious to know who will win what title.
The 2010 season was however very competitive, and both title fights could go either way. For the Drivers’ Championship, Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Hamilton and Button were still very much in the fight with 8 rounds to go. As for the Constructors’ Championship, it could still go to either Red Bull or McLaren at that point.
Hungary was the last race before the summer break. Hamilton retired out of the race with a gearbox issue, and Webber won the race, snatching back the WDC lead for the Brit. The McLaren driver however took back the lead in the fight in Belgium where he won the race when F1 returned to action.
Hamilton would then go on to retire two races in a row; Monza and Singapore. In Monza, he retired due to a collision on Lap 1. Heading into turn 3 on the first lap, he and Massa touched, the Brit taking damage to his tracking rod. As for Singapore, contact with Webber gave Hamilton a puncture.
After Singapore, Webber got a good lead in the title fight for the Drivers’ Championship, while Hamilton dropped to P3.
In Japan, Hamilton, with a new gearbox had hoped to rejuvenate his title hopes. He had qualified P3 but received a 5-place-grid penalty for changing his gearbox. Things did not get better for the Brit though. Driving with an ear infection, his new gearbox was refusing to engage third gear. Post-race he also reported on hearing strange voices from his gearbox, and that he feared a third retirement in a row as a result.
Monsoon mayhem and drenched hopes
The Korean Grand Prix, held in South Korea, was a tough one for the whole grid. The race at the Korea International Circuit was significantly impacted by heavy rain. The rain was so intense that the start of the race was delayed, and when it finally began, it did so under the safety car for several laps, but still, conditions were poor.
The heavy rain caused extremely poor visibility and treacherous track conditions, leading to several incidents, including crashes and spins. The race was eventually completed, but it was one of the most challenging races of the season due to the monsoon-like weather.
Most of the title contenders had a difficult race too. Only Alonso and Hamilton had positive results that weekend, with P1 and P2 respectively. Button finished outside of the points, in P12. His attempt to get back into the points was lost when he dropped down to P15 because he went into the run-off area after Adrian Sutil overtook him for P12 and pushed him wide.
Both Red Bull drivers retired. Vettel who looked to be the most likely winner that day had engine problems, as he slowed to a stop with only a few laps to go. As for Webber, he had lost control, slid back onto the track and collected Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes with him, both drivers retiring as a result.
Despite Vettel, Webber and Button all having disastrous results, Button was the most affected. The Briton was still mathematically in the WDC title, however, his chances were very slim after that finish outside of the points.
The top 5 at the Brazilian Grand Prix were Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton and Button. And with that, Button, the reigning World Champion was no longer in contention for the title. He was mathematically eliminated. After a poor qualifying result, P11, he did have a great recovery to the top 5. It must have hurt to imagine where he could have finished with that pace had he qualified higher.
That same qualifying session is the one famous for being home to Nico Hulkenburg‘s first and only pole position in Formula 1.
Four-horse race to the chequered flag
Going into the final race of the season, the Drivers’ Championship standings order was as follows; Alonso (246), Webber (238), Vettel (231) and Hamilton (222).
Here’s what each driver needed to win the championship:
Fernando Alonso – Ferrari (246 points)
– Winning the Race: Alonso would win the title regardless of where his rivals finished.
– P2 finish: Alonso would still win if Webber didn’t win the race.
– P3 finish: Alonso would need Webber to finish 2nd or lower.
– P4 finish: Alonso would need Webber to finish 2nd or lower.
– P5 or lower finishing: Alonso would need Webber to finish at least two positions behind him and Vettel to not win.
Mark Webber – Red Bull (238 points)
Certainly, here’s what you provided:
– Winning the Race: Webber would win the title if Alonso finished 3rd or lower.
– P2 finish: Webber would need Alonso to finish 6th or lower and Vettel not to win.
– P3 finish: Webber would need Alonso to finish 7th or lower, and Vettel not to win.
– P4 finish: Webber would need Alonso to finish 9th or lower, and Vettel not to win.
– P5 finish: Webber would need Alonso to finish 10th or lower, and Vettel to finish 3rd or lower.
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull (231 points)
– Winning the Race: Vettel would win the title if Alonso finished 6th or lower and Webber finished P3 or lower.
– P2 finish: Vettel would need Alonso to finish 9th or lower and Webber to finish P5 or lower
Lewis Hamilton – McLaren (222 points)
– Winning the Race: Hamilton would need to win and for Alonso to finish out of the points, Webber to finish 6th or lower, and Vettel to finish 3rd or lower.
Therefore, Alonso had the most straightforward path, needing a podium finish to stay ahead, unless Webber won the race. Webber and Vettel were both depending on Alonso faltering. Hamilton, meanwhile, needed a perfect storm with Alonso, Webber, and Vettel all finishing low for him to win the title.
“You just wait sunshine, you just wait”
The season finale was at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In 55 laps, the title fight would be over, and a victor would be crowned.
Vettel took his tenth pole of the season, with Hamilton joining him on the front row. On the second row were Alonso and Button, with Webber just behind them.
On race day, Alonso had a slow start, Button taking his place. Webber had an early pitstop which dropped him to P16 as he had been struggling for grip on the Supersoft tyres. Of the remaining title contenders, Alonso was the next to pit, dropping to P13 just in front of Webber who had made headway. Up front, Vettel and Hamilton were lapping faster than their champion rivals, despite being on older tyres.
The title fight winner would be determined by Renault. Yes, you read that right, Renault!
Alonso and Webber caught up the back of Vitaly Petrov’s Renault who would prove to be difficult to pass. Hamilton was the next to pit, and came out fifth, behind Robert Kubica and Kamui Kobayashi. Vettel pitted a lap later, coming out comfortably in front of Hamilton, but behind Button, the new race leader. Button would however soon be out of the way as he still needed to stop.
Hamilton got past Koboyashi but struggled to get past the Renault of Kubica, just as his teammate had been struggling with the other Renault. Kubica eventually pitted and came out in front of Petrov who still had Alonso and Webber as the end of the race loomed closer.
Lewis Hamilton edged ever so closer to Vettel, but never close enough to challenge the Red Bull driver for the win. Vettel went on to cross the line first. Hamilton and Button, the McLarens, were on the final steps of the podium, with Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes slotting into P4.
However, Vettel had to wait a little more to know if he had just become a Formula 1 World Champion. He needed someone other than Alonso to cross the line in P5.
As Vettel crossed the line, his race engineer echoed into his ears:
“I need to wait until everyone crosses the line.
It’s looking good. You just wait sunshine, you just wait.
Kubica…Kubica P5. DU BIST WELTMEISTER!” – Guillaume Rocquelin.
And with that, Sebastian was a Formula 1 World Champion for the first time in his career. That day, he became F1’s youngest-ever champion. Vettel would go on to win three more, making it four consecutive titles.
Why Red Bull won both titles
Even when not winning races, they were the most consistent team on the grid. While Vettel and Webber were a good pairing, their tension, further fueled by the team played at their disadvantage most times. As for Ferrari, Alonso often outperformed Massa. However, Hamilton and Button consistently performed well for McLaren and stayed close.
While Red Bull led the Constructors’ Championship more than McLaren did, McLaren led the Drivers’ Championship more than any other team did. Not only that, but McLaren had both drivers in the top two spots more frequently than any other team throughout the season.
What gave Red Bull their advantage in the title fight was that they had the fastest car on the grid. As a result, they dominated qualifying more and therefore had better race results.
Vettel emerged victorious in the title fight with 256 points. 4 points ahead of Alonso, 14 ahead of Webber and 16 ahead of Hamilton. Even more incredibly, Vettel had never at one point led the championship that season. Alonso, Webber and McLaren drivers Hamilton and Button though had their fair share of the lead each.
Red Bull were the Constructors’ Championship title winners with 498 points. McLaren lost out by 44 points.
McLaren would go on to start the 2012 season competitively, but would ultimately lose out in the second half of the season. But now in the 2024 season, 14 years after their last real title fight, McLaren find themselves with the chance of sweeping both titles. In the fight with them are Red Bull, and perhaps Ferrari and Mercedes.
“Oh yeah. He (Norris) can (beat Verstappen). Of course he can. If McLaren continue on that form and Red Bull still suffer then yes he can. The problem that Norris might have is that he’s fighting too many other cars to get those points. He’s fighting the Mercedes. He’s fighting his teammate. And they will all take points off each other, and that will protect Max.
“It’s fantastic because it was unexpected. After the first few races and really the tide has changed dramatically. We were expecting Ferrari to go for the fight but instead it’s Mercedes and McLaren and maybe it’s up to the engine as well because it’s two Mercedes engined cars that have made a step forward.” – Jacques Villeneuve speaking to Prime Casino.
