There are quite a few sources for this one – though one of them is the Tooned animation series, so perhaps not the most reliable of sources (though the bit about Emerson Fittipaldi being a werewolf? Spot on). But seriously, the MTC does go very deep, and all sorts of strange noises emanate from below…

Could a testing track fit in those depths amongst the wind tunnel, a box of old Autocourses and the cloning tanks where we grow spare Landos? Quite possibly, given the size of the MTC grounds.

The rumour of McLaren having a test track persists from an earlier plan to move the factory to the Lydden Hill Circuit in Kent. McLaren originally identified the need for an on-site test track in the late 1990s and we did go on to purchase Lydden Hill, however, the move never came to pass, and we built the MTC instead. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t persist with the plans to build an on-site test track. Why would a simple change of location mean a change of plan?

In 2003, the European Space Agency launched Mars Express, a two-part mission featuring the Mars Express Orbiter, which would stay in orbit, and the Beagle 2 lander, which would parachute gently to the Mars surface.

The designers of Beagle 2 needed an ultra-lightweight shell with excellent impact resistance to protect their valuable scientific payload. Ultra-lightweight impact resistance is in our wheelhouse, and so McLaren Composites (one of several forerunners for McLaren Applied Technologies) was contracted for the build. Had social media existed, most of the McLaren staff involved would have changed their handles to ‘rocket scientist’ overnight.

We lost contact with Beagle 2 from Christmas Day, 2003, until 2015, but it was found sitting on the surface of Isidis Planitia, within 5km of its target. There are many potential reasons for why we lost contact, but we did land on Mars. The only thing left to do is visit and plot in a debrief on how the first McLaren chassis on Mars performed.

The MTC is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. It’s still absolutely cutting edge, which makes you think about how far ahead of its time it was back in 2003 – though it’s often compared to something far more ancient.

When viewed from the air, you may have noticed that the factory resembles the Chinese yin-yang symbol. The similarity is made more striking by the lightwell through the centre of the executive office block at the southern end of the building.

It’s been said that this design was chosen to emphasise the series of balance equations needed by a successful Formula 1 car: downforce vs drag, power vs weight and so forth, but the simple truth is that architect Norman Foster was fond of referencing yin-yang and the need to find balance in his work, and he liked the idea of suggesting harmony between the intense, technology-driven factory and the peaceful surroundings.

Senna and Berger got on better than most team-mates, which manifested itself in a long-running series of practical jokes. Among our favourites are Senna putting a very smelly cheese in the air conditioning vent of Berger’s room, Berger replacing Senna’s passport photo with a picture of… well, not Ayrton’s face, and then there’s Gerhard throwing Senna’s briefcase out of a helicopter.

It was September 1991 during the Italian Grand Prix. The drivers were staying around 60km from the circuit and travelling to and from Monza by helicopter. Carbon fibre suitcases were all the rage, Ayrton had just bought one and boasted of its indestructibility.

Gerhard decided to test this theory, and out of the helicopter it went. Whether or not it was ever recovered is up to you to decide - we’re not saying that Senna’s suitcase remains lost somewhere in Monza for a treasure hunter to find, but we’re also not, not saying that.

This isn’t actually our favourite Berger-Senna story. That would be the bag of frogs Gerhard released into Senna’s room at the Australian Grand Prix. A furious Senna later confronted Berger yelling that he’d spent most of the night chasing frogs out of his room. “Did you find the snake?” replied the Austrian.

There are some right-angles in the building, but the Boulevard, the Spine and the various other internal walkways are all curved, rather than coming to an abrupt corner. Even office spaces tend to have glass panelling where the walls join.

Surely this is the result of an architect’s desire for never-ending flow? Not quite… The building lacks corners because, after a childhood experience in the formidable maze at Hampton Court Palace, Ron Dennis decided he really didn’t like corners, or, more specifically, didn’t like not knowing what was around them, and didn't want any.

We built the MTC as a sustainable site, with our roof acting as a water collector and our lake a vast heat exchanger that cools the building. Any run-off from the car parks and loading yards is filtered through a series of reed beds that ensure anything going into the River Bourne is exceptionally clean. The improvement in water quality encouraged more fish and, over time, park managers were optimistic that, within a couple of years, this might encourage otters back into our manor.

Statements like this are a problem. Because anything an F1 team can measure, it can improve. And word soon got around that success in this endeavour could be measured in otters. So, out went power vs weight calculations, in came otters vs time, and having established how the European otter likes to spend its days, McLaren engineers designed and constructed a bespoke otter habitat, sunk it into our river bank and waited.

We had an otter family within two weeks. Go otters!

The 1994 McLaren-Peugeot MP4/9 wasn’t a particularly blessed car but #5 was always a problem. After a lengthy sign-off process, Mika gave it a first shakedown at Estoril in March, two weeks before the start of the season start at Interlagos. Mika is one of the most unflappable drivers you’re likely to meet, and as a youngster wouldn’t complain if you set his luggage on fire – but he got out of #5 and muttered to race engineer Steve Hallam the car was ‘wrong’, and refused to get back in.

#5 went back to Shalford to be stripped, and measured, but the team couldn’t find anything wrong – although the building was evacuated twice when the fire alarm went off for no apparent reason. And the tub also dropped onto Neil Oatley’s foot when the rear hydraulic jack failed, breaking two of his toes. It’s at this point McLaren instituted its no-sandals policy, but also when Neil was the first person to call #5 ‘haunted’.

McLaren built nine chassis in 1994 and it wasn’t until the German Grand Prix in July that #5 was needed for a race. All weekend the crew struggled with #5. It had an unexplained misfire on Friday, but on a busy weekend, after changing the engine, no-one had much time to give it any more thought…

… Until Mika’s race car lost its gearbox during Sunday morning warm-up. Very reluctantly, he got into #5 for the race… only to crash out at Turn 1 on the first lap after the car inexplicably twitched left, causing chaos in its wake and earning Mika a one-race ban for dangerous driving. He’s always insisted he did nothing, and the car simply moved off-line of its own accord.

To this day, MP4/9-A #5 is the only McLaren chassis that has never completed a timed lap. It’s also never been on display, and never been used as a showcar. It sits under sheet at the very back of our heritage facility in Unit 2… and absolutely nobody will touch it, for fear of paranormal activity.

The Can-Am series of the late 1960s and early 1970s was racing with very few rules, just spectacular competition. McLaren’s Can-Am competing M8s had some truly massive Chevrolet V8 engines - upwards of eight litres and pushing 800hp – and these contributed to Can-Am being very, very loud. Anecdotal recollections confirm these cars could certainly make a beer can vibrate in a grandstand – but could they break glass? Sure.

This is caused by the high-pressure sound wave coming out of the exhaust, particularly when unburnt fuel in the exhaust ignites. Our windows are probably safe – but we’re not going to be firing up an M8 on the Boulevard to test that premise. And we won’t be taking the good crystal to historic events either.

The Woking International Circuit was a 4.85km thrill-fest designed to host the 63 laps of the Woking Grand Prix. Much like this year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix the course was designed to showcase the location, flashing past sites such as the Victoria Place Shopping Centre, the train station and (for fans of Paul Weller) Stanley Road.

We launched a video to promote the race, featuring enthusiastic support from senior management and drivers, with race engineers Tom Stallard, Mark Temple and Will Joseph explaining the intricacies of the layout, and the astounding force for good a grand prix can be if you have a few potholes to fill in. Zak was a big supporter, saying the event "lit a spark that started a fire that turned into a dream that we converted into an idea: to host a round of the Formula 1 world championship on our doorstep, in Woking.”

Our nature park surrounding the MTC has become a haven for bird-life and while we’re very pleased to have them, we’d rather they didn’t leave behind quite so much of an… impression… on the glass frontage of the building and Lakeshore Drive. So, in an effort to encourage our feathered friends to stick to the trees and long grasses, the MTC hit on the solution of employing a hawk to hang out on the roof to enforce a perimeter around the building itself.

Smaller avians quickly learned but the Canada Geese that provided the largest… contribution to the problem decided to heed the warning. Just to debunk a couple of other myths, no the falcon isn’t called Ron, and no, we don’t now have the junior drivers run up and down outside the factory banging saucepans.