background image

The road to McLAREN's F1 debut

A year in the making, followed by 60 years of memories: How Bruce McLaren started his own team

“I rather think we expected bells to ring and trumpets to blow,” said Bruce McLaren of his eponymous team’s Formula 1 debut. “But 22nd May came and went just like any other day.

“It was Monaco, our first Grand Prix with our first F1 car, and it was a day we had been aiming at for nearly a year. We had been building up our hopes and a car for this race in the expectation that the opening round of the 3.0-litre formula would be different from all the others – but it wasn't. It was just like any other race, in fact more so!”

The passing of time would suggest that Bruce was being unnecessarily modest.

The 1966 Monaco Grand Prix was a truly pivotal race for us, heralding the arrival of the McLaren name in Formula 1. It also saw the introduction of the ‘three-litre formula’ engine regulations that would prevail, incredibly, for almost 20 years and also marked the first location shoot of John Frankenheimer’s ambitious Hollywood movie, imaginatively titled ‘Grand Prix’.

Just 28 at the time, Bruce was already a veteran in F1 terms. He'd spent a remarkable eight seasons as a driver with the works Cooper team, initially as understudy to his friend and mentor Jack Brabham. The Australian won the 1959 and 1960 World Championships before moving on to construct his own cars, leaving McLaren as Cooper's lead driver.

Jack & Bruce

Bruce (R) and his mentor, Jack Brabham (C) were teammates at Cooper

During his long stint with the Surrey-based outfit, Bruce won three Grands Prix and earned 17 other podium finishes, establishing himself as one of the top contenders of the era. However, Cooper's gradual slide from the sharp end of the grid meant that, arguably, he had never fulfilled his early promise.

“I think the idea developed during the '65 season,” recalls friend and team mate Chris Amon. “Bruce was having a pretty frustrating time at Cooper, and I think he saw that going nowhere.”

The timing was not by chance. In 1966, F1 switched from 1.5L engines to 3.0. The new breed represented a fresh start for everyone, and there was sure to be a shake-up of the old order. 

Bruce had strong ties with the Ford Motor Company, thanks to a contract to race and test the GT40 sportscar, and, well aware of the resources of the Detroit manufacturer, he came up with a plan. He was able to acquire four 4.2-litre Indy V8 engines, and commissioned Californian company Traco Engineering to downsize them to the F1 legal limit.

Bruce McLaren and Howden Ganley

Howden Ganley (R) was one of Bruce's first mechanics at McLaren

The general idea was to show Ford that it should be in Grand Prix racing, and if possible, generate some official support. Meanwhile, financial backing from F1 newcomers Firestone, and BP helped to give the McLaren project a kickstart.

Bruce had already begun to gather a good crew around him. Administration and team management was taken care of by lawyer Teddy Mayer, brother of Timmy. Timmy Mayer was a former teammate of Bruce’s, who had been tragically killed in 1964 whilst racing in the Tasman Series. Teddy and Bruce’s friendship had strengthened following the loss.

There was a strong group of mechanics, including Mayer’s friend Tyler Alexander, and a group of hard-working and talented Kiwis. Journalist Eoin Young was Bruce's secretary, general organiser and PR man.

Chris Amon, yet another New Zealander, was a logical choice as the second driver, having learned the F1 ropes with the Parnell team.

Tyler & Teddy

Teddy Mayer (B) and Tyler Alexander (A) signed up to Bruce's project from the start

”Bruce was great to work with,” says Chris. “You never knew what he was going to come up with next day. He had flashes of inspiration, and having decided on something he never allowed anything to get in the way of getting it done. He generated tremendous enthusiasm within the whole operation.

“With some of his ideas, Teddy and Tyler had to moderate his enthusiasm and try and do them within the resources of the company! And on a personal basis, Bruce was a wonderful guy – the sort of person who never had a bad word to say about anybody. Bruce was the sort of person who collected a good team around him. It was a very young crew, and there were some very good people around.”

In an era when many racing cars were still designed largely via intuition rather than science, Bruce wisely decided to bring in a trained engineer to draw his new F1 car. The man he chose was budding aerospace engineer Robin Herd, who had been working on the Concorde project. He had a desire to work in motor racing, and plenty of enthusiasm to back up his ambition.

“I had a great job but I wanted something more challenging,” Herd recalls. “I got a message to phone Bruce. We met that evening, and that was that. McLaren was doing F1, and I was designing racing cars!

Bruce & Robin

Bruce (L) hired Robin Herd (R), a budding aerospace engineer, as part of his team's crew

“I was only 24, and to be told we’ve got to have this car on the grid at Monaco next year when I hadn’t actually designed anything other than engineering exercises, showed an extraordinary degree of faith – or stupidity – on his part, and a similar arrogance or stupidity on mine. But I wanted to do it so much I wasn’t going to let anything stand in my way.”

Helped by fellow recruit Gordon Coppuck, Herd pressed on with the design of the first McLaren single-seater, which was known as the M2A. In a nod to his aerospace background, it featured a highly unusual chassis made out of Mallite, an aluminium/balsa sandwich that was used in aircraft cabins.

With the first Ford engine not yet ready, the prototype car was fitted with a 4.5-litre Oldsmobile engine and it ran for the first time at Zandvoort in November 1965, where they even conducted a very early (and successful) experiment with a novel rear wing.

In hindsight, a downsized version of the Oldsmobile V8 engine would have made a much better basis for an F1 engine, but Bruce was by now committed to Ford, in large part because of the commercial possibilities.

Image 5

Bruce (L) with Henry Ford II (C) and Chris Amon (R), who were all involved in the McLaren project, pictured on the podium at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans

Meanwhile bad news was emerging from Traco, and it became apparent that the downsized Ford would not be up to the job. In Indy form, it produced 470bhp, but as a 3.0-litre, it couldn't get close to the expected 335bhp. It also created a few packaging constraints.

“We were optimistic, but we kept hearing about setback after setback,” says Herd. “Eventually, one engine arrived in England. We knew it was going to be fairly heavy, but the weight we were quoted bore no resemblance to what it actually weighed. It was like a 10-tonne truck! Nevertheless, we stuck it in the back of the car and went to Goodwood for half a day’s testing before Monaco.” 

This first test was to prove disappointing: “At least it ran. And it made a lovely noise. That’s probably where most of the power went. Bruce, who’d been there with the Oldsmobile car, came in and said, ‘This thing’s got no power, it’s a joke. We actually did consider pulling out of Monaco, but in the end, we thought, 'Let's go for it'.” 

“I'll tell you something. Being an F1 constructor isn't easy - not that I'd kidded myself it was going to be!”

Bruce McLAREN

McLaren Racing Team Founder

The plan had always been to take two cars to the first World Championship race of the season in Monaco, with Amon supporting McLaren. As late as the week before the race, Autosport magazine reported that “Bruce's car has been tested at Goodwood, while Chris's machine will be finished this week.” However, after the disappointing test, it was decided to focus on one car, leaving Amon frustrated.

“We worked out that the engine and gearbox together weighed about the same as the whole Brabham car,” recalls mechanic Howden Ganley. “It was a very good chassis, probably the stiffest monocoque of the time, but had nothing to propel it. We were going to run two cars, but it was enough of a scramble getting one together.” 

“It was all very exciting at the beginning,” Amon admits. “But it was equally very frustrating. We all thought the engine had tremendous potential, but of course, it was a total disaster.”

Bruce McLaren in the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix

We made our Formula 1 debut in the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix

The biggest challenge was simply time, or rather the lack of it.

“I'll tell you something,” Bruce would later write in his own Autosport column. “Being an F1 constructor isn't easy (not that I'd kidded myself it was going to be be). I remember saying profoundly a while back that motor racing tends to be a question of how much engineering you can do on how little money. Now I'd like to add a third rider – and in how little time!”

With the sole M2B fully fettled and ready for action after the Goodwood test, the team prepared for the long drive down to Monaco.

McLaren’s Formula 1 adventure was about to begin...

Sign up now

McLaren Plus is our free-to-join fan loyalty programme, bringing McLaren fans closer to the team with the most inclusive, rewarding and open-to-all fan programmes in motorsport.