It was Australian racing legend Jack Brabham who first spotted a young Kiwi driver named Bruce McLaren, bringing him to Europe and kickstarting an association with the land Down Under that continues to this day.

Oscar is the latest link in a chain of drivers from Australia or New Zealand to drive for McLaren. As our rookie gets set to race for us in his home nation for the first time, we’ve gone through the history books and explored our deep-rooted connections to the countries on either side of the Tasman Sea.  

Bruce McLaren

Where it all began…  Our founder was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1937 and grew up racing in his home country. It was in the 1958 Formula Libre New Zealand Grand Prix that Australian Jack Brabham - who would go on to become Bruce’s mentor - first noticed the then 20-year-old’s talents.

From there, Bruce became the first member of the New Zealand International Grand Prix organisation’s “Driver to Europe” scheme, joining F1 outfit Cooper alongside Brabham. Bruce’s maiden victory just over a year later in the 1959 United States Grand Prix made him the youngest grand prix winner at 22 years and 104 days, a record that wasn’t broken until 2003 by Fernando Alonso.

In only his second season, Bruce finished as runner-up to Brabham for Cooper and continued to drive for the team until 1966, when the Bruce McLaren Racing Team officially entered the Formula 1 World Championship. Alongside Brabham, Bruce remains one of just two drivers to win an F1 race in a car they designed and engineered – the first of those wins in the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix.

In his time with Cooper, Bruce twice won the Australian Grand Prix, one of several non-championship events at the time.

Along with Brabham, Bruce’s influence whilst designing, engineering and racing cars in Australia played a vital role in the growth of motorsport there. Through their work, they attracted the world’s best drivers to compete in Australia’s Tasman Series during European winters.

F1 World Champions Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill were amongst the big names to race in Australia at the time. Although the Australian Grand Prix didn’t become a part of the official F1 World Championship calendar until 1985, it would have likely taken even longer were it not for Bruce and Brabham.

As a team, McLaren’s first win at the Australian Grand Prix came in 1970, only five months after the death of our founder, Bruce, with Aussie racer Frank Matich driving the McLaren M10B to victory.  

Denny Hulme

New Zealander Denny Hulme drove for McLaren in various series, including Can-Am, Formula 1 and the Indianapolis 500. Such was his and Bruce’s dominance in Can-Am that it became known as the “Bruce and Denny Show.” However, it was their early success as McLaren first F1 driver pairing that laid the foundations for our team’s future successes.

The two were inextricably linked, and Denny played a defining role in the continuation of the team after Bruce’s death, fighting on despite the heartbreak of the tragedy. Denny was said to have been shattered by the loss of his friend and mentor, but battled through the pain as he felt he owed it to Bruce and the team. His influence ensured we continued in Bruce’s image, as we still do today.

Like Bruce, Denny grew up racing in his home country and was a recipient of the “Driver to Europe” scheme, before moving to Europe and joining Brabham’s racing team, initially as a mechanic and later as a driver.

As well as his dominance in Can-Am, Denny drove for McLaren during seven F1 World Championships from 1968 to 1974. His sole F1 title came whilst racing for Brabham’s team, but he made McLaren his home, adding six further wins to his tally and leaving a defining legacy.

His final win for McLaren came in Buenos Aires in 1974, as he switched to the Australian Endurance Championship, tragically dying at the wheel of a BMW touring car whilst racing in the 1991 Bathurst 1000 in Australia.

Chris Amon

Chris Amon may never have driven an official F1 Grand Prix for McLaren, as he was supposed to, but the New Zealander has his place in McLaren history.

Initially, it was planned that Chris would drive alongside Bruce in McLaren’s debut F1 season, but a lack of time to fully develop his car meant that McLaren could only field one entry, taken by Bruce.

Instead, Chris drove for McLaren Racing in Can-AM and Sports Cars. In that same season, he also linked up with Bruce as part of the Shelby-American Inc. that won the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Continuing the legacy

Following Denny’s departure, there would be a 46-year wait for another McLaren driver from Down Under. During this lengthy period, the Australian Grand Prix was granted a well-deserved spot on the official Formula 1 World Championship calendar, and we became the most successful team in its history, with 11 grand prix wins.

Alain Prost kicked this off in the race’s second year on the F1 calendar, winning at Adelaide to clinch the 1986 F1 World Championship. Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger, David Coulthard, Mika Häkkinen, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button all added their name to that list in years to come, with the race playing host to Senna and Coulthard’s final F1 victories.

Daniel Ricciardo

More recently, Australia hosted Lando’s F1 debut for the team in 2019, before we returned for racing talent. It turns out drivers from that part of the world are like buses, you wait years for one to come along, and two arrive at once.

The first of those was Daniel Ricciardo, from Perth in Western Australia. Ricciardo grew up karting in Australia before relocating to Europe to chase his F1 dream. Although he only joined McLaren in 2021, his links to the team date back to 2014, when he won what was then titled the BRDC Bruce McLaren Trophy.

Ricciardo made his grand prix debut in FP1 for Toro Rosso in the 2011 Australian Grand Prix and also notched his first points at the track the following season. He finished sixth for McLaren at his sole home race for the team. He was also one of the drivers consulted on the recent track changes ahead of the race in 2022.

Emma Gilmour

McLaren’s first Kiwi driver since Denny Hulme and our first female driver. Born in Dunedin, on the opposite end of New Zealand to Bruce, Emma took up racing in her early 20s. She built up a vast experience in rallying, rallycross and cross-country rallying, where she became the first woman to win a round of the New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) and finished as runner-up three years in a row.

Emma joined the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team in 2021 ahead of our debut in the all-electric series, helping us to score a maiden podium in Uruguay Natural Energy X Prix at the end of our first season.

Oscar Piastri

Joining the team for 2023, Oscar continues our heritage Down Under. Born in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton, Oscar’s initial fascination with cars came in national Remote Control racing championships, before a switch to karting and his subsequent move to Europe as a teenager.

Despite growing up in the city, he didn’t compete at Albert Park on his trophy-laden climb of the junior single-seater ladder, meaning that his Australian Grand Prix debut as a Formula 1 driver will also be his first race at the circuit.  

Oscar has previously been to the race as a Reserve Driver, for Alpine, meaning that he at least knows what to expect from the home support, which should be in party mode at this weekend’s race. We fully expect Oscar to be mobbed by his ever-growing fanbase as he makes his way down the famous Melbourne Walk on his way to the paddock, and following the release of his first McLaren range, he’ll likely have plenty of hoodies and tees to sign too.

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