13 April 2026 17:30 (UTC)
Semi-final 1: For the next two weeks, we’re asking fans to choose their favourite Grand Prix from McLaren history. Here, we reveal the first 10 candidates
Over nearly 1,000 Grand Prix, we have enjoyed many of Formula 1’s most iconic and celebrated moments, contributing our share of highlights to the sport’s show reel, which is what makes it so difficult to choose a favourite.
For every World Championship triumph, there are key races, setbacks, breakthroughs, comebacks and a title decider, while even in our more fallow years, there have been dramatic races, broken records and unexpected wins.
When it comes to picking our best race, we trust your judgement over our own, and so, to mark our landmark 1,000th Grand Prix, over the next two weeks, we’re asking McLaren Racing Club members to vote for their favourite F1 race from our history.
We’ve flicked back through the full list and narrowed it down to 20, which we’ve split into two semi-finals for you to choose from. You’ll be able to vote for one race in each semi-final, and the 10 winners from each half of the draw will then go head-to-head in a final.
Have a look at our selection for the first semi-final and cast your votes at the bottom of this page. The other half of the draw will be announced on the official McLaren Racing website and app and available to vote on from Thursday, 16 April.
Bruce won McLaren’s first Formula 1 Grand Prix aged 30, making him the second person to win in a car bearing their name. Despite dropping down to 11th during the race, Bruce recovered to claim victory – although he didn’t realise it, initially believing he had crossed the line second.
After our founder Bruce McLaren was tragically killed while testing at Goodwood in June 1970, the team decided to carry on racing in his memory. Only two years later, Bruce’s former teammate and close friend, Denny Hulme, returned McLaren to the top step, winning in South Africa.
By the end of 1973, McLaren had become a consistent frontrunner in F1 and made a statement by signing 1972 F1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, aiming to progress from regular race winners to World Champions. The following season, Emerson clinched McLaren’s first F1 Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles. In the season-ending US Grand Prix, despite having only slept for three hours, Emerson finished fourth to beat Ferrari’s Clay Regazzoni to the title.
In torrential rain at the Fuji Speedway in Japan, James Hunt beat Ferrari’s Niki Lauda to the Drivers’ title after an epic season-long battle that has since been immortalised in the movie Rush. Finishing third, with Niki retiring from the race, Hunt was crowned Champion by just one point.
The furthest back from which a Grand Prix has ever been won. In the 1983 US Grand Prix West, John Watson stunned the field by winning from 22nd on the grid after a difficult Qualifying session, setting an F1 record that stands to this day.
The only Austrian to ever win their home Grand Prix. It took Niki until 1984 to finish first on home soil, and he did so without fourth gear, nursing home his ailing McLaren after a near-race-ending gearbox issue. Niki had never won the race prior to joining McLaren in 1982, retiring six times, failing to start once and scoring just four times, but in 1984, on route to his third and final World Championship, he delivered a dramatic victory in Spielberg.
Alain Prost became F1’s first back-to-back World Champion since Jack Brabham in 1960 when he won his second title in 1986. The Frenchman beat Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet to the crown in a tense three-way season finale showdown with victory in Adelaide.
Ayrton Senna won his first World Championship with a remarkable recovery drive in Suzuka. He and his McLaren teammate Alain Prost dominated the 1998 season, and had won all but one race heading into the title decider. Starting from Pole, Ayrton’s hopes faded when he stalled at the start and dropped to 14th, but he managed to fight back through the field and took the lead from Alain on Lap 27 to dramatically seal the title.
Victory on home soil eluded Ayrton for most of his career, but he righted this wrong in 1991 when he clinched an emotional Brazilian Grand Prix win, despite a gearbox failure. Restricted to only using sixth gear, Ayrton clung on to first place against all odds by 2.991 seconds. Such was his physical and emotional exhaustion that Ayrton struggled to lift the winner’s trophy on the podium.
Thanks largely to what is widely regarded as the greatest first lap in F1 history, Ayrton recovered from a poor start in the rain at Donington Park to win by a staggering 83 seconds. After falling from fourth to fifth when the lights went out, Ayrton overtook Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Damon Hill and Alain Prost in rapid succession to take the lead at the end of Lap 1.
McLaren Racing Club members can vote here:
