From 2012 to 2017, McLaren were transformed from a race-winning team at the front of the field, to a shocking ninth place in the Constructor's Standings at the end of 2017. When you consider the team's vastly successful history, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Mika Hakkinen, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Niki Lauda winning World Titles with them, there must have been some pretty major reasons why. Indeed, there were a few reasons for McLaren's sudden downfall: their drivers, their engine and the atmosphere in the team, all of which have now been fixed. Before we talk about now though, we need to understand the details of McLaren's downfall.
Firstly, at the end of 2012, they lost their superstar driver Lewis Hamilton, who jumped ship to Mercedes, where he became an almost unbeatable giant, winning another six world championships, as we all know. He was replaced by Sergio Perez, the Mexican driver a lesser-known prospect at the time in F1, and they retained Jenson Button as well for the 2013 season.
In 2013, McLaren failed to score a single podium finish. Bearing in mind that the team finished second in the Constructor's standings just two years prior, this was a shock. The Team Principal at the time, Martin Whitmarsh, was fired and replaced by the returning Ron Dennis, who had previously been fired at the end of 2009 from the role. Sergio Perez also lost his McLaren seat, replaced by the Danish rookie, Kevin Magnussen. In 2014, despite a double podium finish in the opening round in Melbourne, it was to be another unsuccessful year, with those two being the only podiums they scored that year.
- McLaren struggled in 2013, often following each other around near the back of the field
For the 2015 season, drastic changes were afoot, to try and rescue the rapidly sinking ship of McLaren that had finished fifth in the Constructor's Championship two years running. Having been getting increasingly frustrated with their Mercedes engines, McLaren made the switch to Honda, renewing their historically rewarding partnership. Also, Fernando Alonso, wanting a new challenge and leaving Ferrari after some quite unlucky and some quite lacklustre years, joined the team, leaving Kevin Magnussen as the test driver. However, the coming season proved to be one of the most dire in the team's history, as they finished ninth in the Constructor's standings, with a measly 27 points. Their Honda engine hadn't been performing as expected and the Alonso-Button partnership hadn't been yielding a large haul of points.
Nevertheless, the team bravely tried again in 2016 and it worked, with the team being able to challenge for points much more often, and ending the season in sixth place. However, the McLaren would need to keep improving throughout the next season if they wanted to close the gap to the top teams, as they still finished with around half the points of Williams, the team ahead of them. Ron Dennis, the Team Principal, announced he was stepping down at the end of the year, so Eric Boullier was called in to replace him. So, armed with a Honda engine and two great drivers in Fernando Alonso, and the promising rookie, Stoffel Vandoorne, they determinedly charged into 2017... and fell in a ditch.
McLaren once again finished ninth in the Constructor's Championship in 2017. Their Honda engine was just not working well enough with the car and so the team terminated the deal, leaving Honda to pursue other options in Toro Rosso and later Red Bull. McLaren would race with Renault engines from 2018 to 2020, and their two drivers would remain at the team for another year. While 2018 would prove to be a very frustrating year for McLaren, with engine reliability and bad luck causing problems for the team, it would also bring hope, as McLaren managed to improve back up to sixth position of the ten teams.
- Fernando Alonso getting punted over the top of Charles Leclerc's Sauber at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2018
However, Fernando Alonso had enough of his disappointing and frustrating four seasons at McLaren. He announced he would not be racing in F1 at the end of the year, and Stoffel Vandoorne was also demoted to the role of test driver. Picking the right replacements for these two drivers would be crucial for McLaren if they wanted to build on their sixth place finish. After attempting to sign the highly-rated Daniel Ricciardo, but being beaten by Renault, McLaren picked up Carlos Sainz Jr, who had been released from Renault to make the way for the Aussie, as well as up-and-coming rookie Lando Norris. This was the youngest driver pairing on the grid and the youngest in the team's history, therefore they were clearly taking a risk here. It paid off.
2019 proved to be a hugely successful year for the team's rebuilding process, as they finished a comfortable fourth, only behind the Big Three of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. The amazing bromance between the two drivers helped create a very positive atmosphere in the whole team, after Alonso's toxicity had previously been affecting morale. McLaren even managed to score their first podium since 2014 with Carlos Sainz, at the penultimate round of the Championship in Brazil, when a crazy race saw Sainz finish fourth at the flag, after having started plum last from engine penalties, and he was promoted to third after the race because of a penalty for Lewis Hamilton. Because it was only confirmed after the podium celebrations had taken place, Sainz and the rest of the team went up onto the podium after everyone else had packed away and had their own joyous celebration.
In 2020, McLaren were the first team to withdraw from the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, after members of the team had contracted the coronavirus, and the race was later cancelled and the season suspended indefinitely. Eventually, after months without any racing, F1 returned in July for the Austrian Grand Prix, which saw many teams suffer from reliability problems, including frontrunning teams, and McLaren's Lando Norris was able to pick up a very impressive podium, after Hamilton received a five second penalty, and Norris was able to close the gap down in the last lap, even getting the Fastest Lap. After Sainz finished 5th, the team were heading into the Styrian Grand Prix, in Second in the Constructor's standings. Of course, this didn't last, with the team dropping down the order slightly, but after Ferrari had a very poor year, finishing sixth overall, McLaren managed to just beat Racing Point to third place in the Constructor's after the season finale of Abu Dhabi, as they finished fifth and sixth in the race. This was a very impressive result as the team look to improve even further in the coming years.
- Lando Norris earned himself a highly impressive podium at the delayed season-opening Austrian Grand Prix
In addition, the team had many more highly impressive results throughout the season, including a second and fourth place finish for Sainz and Norris respectively, at the Italian Grand Prix, where Sainz was only beaten to first by Pierre Gasly by four tenths, after a red flag helped the Frenchman out significantly. Also, the McLaren duo proved their ability in changeable conditions when, in the early laps of the Portuguese Grand Prix, Sainz managed to get to first and Norris to third, before the rain stopped and they were overtaken again by the Mercedes and Verstappen. A number of fourth-place finishes from the two drivers helped cement the team's very strong final finishing position.
- Carlos Sainz drove to second place at Monza, so nearly getting his first F1 win
For 2021, Carlos Sainz is moving to Ferrari to replace the outgoing Sebastian Vettel, and Sainz's replacement is none other than the highly-rated Daniel Ricciardo that McLaren had tried to sign two years earlier. Ricciardo doesn't just bring speed either. His charismatic personality should lead to a very good relationship with the equally-minded Lando Norris and help retain the team's positive atmosphere. Also, the team will be using Mercedes engines from 2021, which were the standout engine on the grid last season, which should bring even more success for the British team. This shows how McLaren have fixed the three key problems that caused their downfall, and why they are likely to soon return to being a race-winning team at the front of the field: their drivers, their engine and the atmosphere in the team.
In 2021, McLaren look likely to take P3 again, maybe even closing the gap to Red Bull. However, from 2022, when the new regulations are put in place, the positive, productive working environment in McLaren should aid the team's development and possibly see them going from top of the midfield to fighting at the front.