Were he still with us, our founder Bruce McLaren would be celebrating his 75th birthday today (August 30).

Bruce was far too forward-thinking and modest a man to worry about the past, or himself, yet the thought of a contented, septuagenarian Bruce cracking open a tinny upon hitting the three-quarters-of-a-century mark can’t help but bring a smile to our face.

It might seem strange for an organisation as progressive as a Formula 1 team to be so in thrall to the past. But history surrounds us and, rightfully, it never leaves us: for there are echoes of Bruce throughout everything we do.

Along the McLaren Technology Centre’s expansive main boulevard, you’ll find a fully functioning M8 CanAm chassis – indeed, you can hear its engine crackle into fire-spitting life below, but it nestles happily alongside championship-winning machinery from Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and Lewis Hamilton.

The past informs the future, and the future informs the past.

Equally, our trophy cabinet may now run to an impressive 174m – and features silverware collected from decades of competition – but one small trophy sits modestly at the very centre of the whole collection.

It’s the Coupe de SM Leopold III – the Belgian Grand Prix winner’s trophy that was first awarded in 1933 (to Tazio Nuvolari, no less) and was retired in 1990 after being won for a third successive time by Ayrton Senna.

The cup was famously held aloft by Bruce, too; he triumphed on the old Spa-Francorchamps track on June 9 1968 to record McLaren’s first-ever grand prix win – the first of many.

There’s a neat circularity to the Formula 1 circus regrouping at Spa this weekend for the second half of this gripping grand prix season. Call it coincidence, call it fate, but there’ll always be a piece of Bruce with us, and we’ll be remembering him in Spa this weekend.

Bruce, Emmo, Wattie, Alain and Ayrton all took the Coupe de Leopold III for McLaren, but here’s a list of the winners in full:

1933	Tazio Nuvolari	Maserati
1934	Rene Dreyfus	Bugatti
1935	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes-Benz
1937	Rudolf Hasse	Auto Union
1939	Hermann Lang	Mercedes-Benz
1947	Jean-Pierre Wimille	Alfa Romeo
1949	Louis Rosier	Talbot Lago
1950	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo
1951	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo
1952	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
1953	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
1954	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati
1955	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes-Benz
1956	Peter Collins	Ferrari
1958	Tony Brooks	Vanwall
1960	Jack Brabham	Cooper
1961	Phil Hill	Ferrari
1962	Jim Clark	Lotus
1963	Jim Clark	Lotus
1964	Jim Clark	Lotus
1965	Jim Clark	Lotus
1966	John Surtees	Ferrari
1967	Dan Gurney	Eagle
1968	Bruce McLaren	McLaren
1970	Pedro Rodriguez	BRM
1972	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus
1973	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrel
1974	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren
1975	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
1976	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
1977	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus
1978	Mario Andretti	Lotus
1979	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari
1980	Didier Pironi	Ligier
1981	Carlos Reutemann	Williams
1982	John Watson	McLaren
1983	Alain Prost	Renault
1984	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari
1985	Ayrton Senna	Lotus
1986	Nigel Mansell	Williams
1987	Alain Prost	McLaren
1988	Ayrton Senna	McLaren
1989	Ayrton Senna	McLaren
1990	Ayrton Senna	McLaren