Jenson Button produced some of his most memorable McLaren moments in 2011’s MP4-26, including his iconic four-hour, four-minute and 39-second long Canadian Grand Prix victory. Although not a title-winner, the MP4-26 was as dominant as they come on its day, with some intriguing technology innovations, such as the famed L-shaped sidepods and roll hoop air intake. Jenson was reunited car for a trip up the hill on his 15th Goodwood appearance in 2014.

The M23 was so good that it won not one but two world titles: firstly at the hands of Emerson Fittipaldi in 1974, and then driven by James Hunt in 1976. These days, Formula 1 cars rarely race for more than one season, but back in the 1970s, it wasn’t unusual for cars to spend several years in service.

The M23 has a special place in our hearts as it was our first F1 title winner, winning 16 races, and in 2014, Fittipaldi was reunited with his Championship-winner at Goodwood. The Brazilian will return behind its wheel in 2023 to celebrate our 60th Anniversary.

Fitted with a 6.0 litre V12 engine, the McLaren F1 was designed to be a road car, but such was its success and popularity, customers decided they wanted to compete in it. A race-ready version of the world’s fastest normally aspirated road car was created, and it went on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans on its debut in 1995.

The F1 GTR has been taken up the hill several times in Goodwood history: McLaren’s first female driver, Emma Gilmour, who hails from the same place as our founder, Bruce McLaren, got a chance behind the wheel in 2022. However, it’s hard to top 2015, when we saw not one, not two, but 12 McLaren F1 GTRs take to the track simultaneously.

Brilliant, bright and beautiful, the M8D, or ‘the batmobile’ as it was better known – due to it featuring a pair of tail fins created to support its low-mounted wing – was, above anything else, incredibly loud. This trait was evident as as Carlos Sainz took its powerful 7.6-litre Chevrolet V8 engine for a magnificent ride up the Hillclimb in 2019.

Its appearance at the Festival of Speed is always poignant, as, for all of its deafening brilliance, the M8D is best known as the car in which our founder, Bruce McLaren, tragically lost his life during a test at Goodwood in 1970. Inspired by the untimely death of the team's founder, Denny Hulme drove the car to one of the team's most dominant Can-Am titles, making it unthinkable that the team wouldn’t continue in his honour.

Driven to consecutive F1 World Championships, the MP4/5 took an incredible 16 wins, 36 podiums, 27 pole positions, and 263 points, driven by Alain Prost, Gerhard Berger and Ayrton Senna. It was a slightly evolved version of the MP4/4, with different sidepods, radiator ducting and a distinctive multi-arched diffuser.

Lando got his hands on it at Goodwood in 2021, and it was a sight to behold as he took Prost and Senna’s title-winner up the Hillclimb.

“Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came.” The Cheers theme tune could have been talking about Mika Häkkinen at Goodwood. The Finnish racer is a Festival of Speed legend, taking multiple cars up the Hillclimb. It’s tough to pick just one, but we reckon his 2023 appearance will be hard to beat. We will be reuniting Mika with his 1999 Drivers’ Championship-winning MP4/14. Mika won five races at the wheel of the MP4/14, which was widely recognised as the fastest car of the season, using a more advanced aerodynamic package 1998 MP4/13.