From 1974 to 2025: The story of McLaren's 10 F1 constructors' titles

McLaren clinched the 2025 constructors’ championship in Singapore, marking the team’s 10th title – and its second in as many years.

It’s the latest chapter in a story that stretches back over half a century, from the breakthrough of 1974 to the turbocharged dominance of the 1980s, the Senna years, the revival with Mercedes in 1998, and the long drought that followed.

Here’s how each of those championships was won.

1974 – The dawn of a dynasty

McLaren’s first constructors’ championship title in 1974 was the culmination of years of steady growth under team founder Bruce McLaren‘s legacy and the stewardship of Teddy Mayer after Bruce’s death in 1970.

With the sleek and reliable M23, the team finally had the machinery to match its ambitions. Emerson Fittipaldi, already a world champion with Lotus, joined that year and immediately brought both speed and authority to the British squad.

The season itself was extremely competitive, with Ferrari, Tyrrell, and Lotus all in the mix.

However, McLaren’s consistency proved decisive. Fittipaldi won three races and scored regular podiums, while Denny Hulme and later Mike Hailwood added crucial points.

By the end of the year, Fittipaldi secured the driver’s championship by just three points over Clay Regazzoni, and McLaren edged Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.

That way, McLaren became the first team other than Lotus, Ferrari, or Tyrrell to win the title in the 1970s, signalling the arrival of a new powerhouse in Formula 1.

1984 – Turbo power dominance

McLaren’s second constructors’ title came a full decade after its first, and it arrived in utterly dominant fashion.

With the arrival of Porsche-built TAG turbo engines, funded by Mansour Ojjeh’s Techniques d’Avant Garde and integrated into John Barnard’s designed MP4/2 chassis, McLaren had the perfect blend of power and reliability at a time when turbo technology was still temperamental for many rivals.

The driver line-up was just as formidable: Alain Prost had joined from Renault after narrowly missing out on the title in 1983, and he was paired with Niki Lauda, making his full-time return to the series after his initial retirement.

What followed was one of the most crushing displays of superiority in Formula 1 history: McLaren won 12 of the 16 races that season.

The battle between Prost and Lauda defined the year. Prost won seven races to Lauda’s five, but Lauda’s uncanny consistency – including finishing every race he completed in the points – allowed him to clinch the title by just half a point, the smallest margin in history.

For McLaren, though, the constructors’ crown was far more comfortable, finishing with nearly three times as many points as Ferrari in the standings.

1985 – Back-to-back brilliance

After the near-total domination of 1984, McLaren entered the 1985 season as the clear benchmark – and it wasted no time proving that its superiority was no fluke.

The MP4/2 was updated into the MP4/2B, still powered by the TAG-Porsche turbo V6, and once again John Barnard’s design philosophies shone in a car that was both fast and efficient on fuel – a key factor in an era defined by strict consumption limits.

The driver pairing of Prost and Lauda remained, but the balance shifted. Whereas Lauda had narrowly edged Prost to the title in 1984, the Frenchman seized control this time as the Austrian’s career neared its end.

Prost’s combination of raw speed and mechanical sympathy meant he was the class of the field, taking five wins and finally securing his long-awaited first title.

Lauda, meanwhile, endured a season plagued by reliability woes, managing only one win at Zandvoort in what would be his final Formula 1 victory before retiring at year’s end.

McLaren still swept the constructors’ championship comfortably, fending off Ferrari, Williams, and a resurgent Lotus. It was the first time the team had defended the title.

1988 – One win away from perfection

The 1988 season went into Formula 1’s record books as a year of near-total domination by McLaren.

With Barnard’s MP4/4 chassis and the ultra-reliable Honda RA168E turbo engine, McLaren produced arguably one of the greatest F1 cars of all time.

That years’ driver line-up made the car’s potential even more devastating.

Alain Prost was at the peak of his consistency, while Ayrton Senna, newly signed from Lotus, brought speed and aggression. Together, they created the fiercest intra-team rivalry F1 had ever seen.

The only real competition Prost and Senna faced was each other, and McLaren won 15 of the 16 races that year.

Senna triumphed eight times to Prost’s seven, and though Prost actually outscored him under, the official championship points tally – which only counted a driver’s best 11 finishes – crowned Senna as world champion for the first time.

The team’s only blemish came at Monza, where Senna tangled with Jean-Louis Schlesser’s Williams while lapping him, handing Ferrari an emotional one-two just weeks after Enzo Ferrari’s death.

Even with that solitary defeat, McLaren scored 199 points to Ferrari’s 65.

1989 – Senna-Prost rivalry boils over

While 1988 was the year of serene dominance, 1989 was when McLaren’s supremacy became tangled in the storm of its own driver rivalry.

The MP4/5, powered by Honda’s new naturally aspirated V10 to meet F1’s post-turbo regulations, was once again the class of the field.

Barnard had departed for Ferrari, but Gordon Murray’s team refined the design, producing a car more than capable of defending McLaren’s crowns.

Senna and Prost, however, could no longer keep their conflict contained. The simmering tension of 1988 boiled over into open hostility, with flashpoints including Portugal, where Prost accused Senna of dangerous driving, and Imola, where Senna allegedly reneged on a pre-race agreement not to overtake into the first corner.

It all exploded at Suzuka: Prost, leaving McLaren for Ferrari, turned in as Senna lunged at the chicane, and the two collided.

Prost was out, Senna rejoined and went on to win – only to be controversially disqualified for cutting the chicane. That decision handed Prost the title.

McLaren still won 10 of the 16 races and secured the crown, although the season ended in acrimony as the bigger rivalry between Senna and Prost took its first nasty turns.

1990 – Senna’s redemption

For McLaren, 1990 was all about consolidating its dominance and proving that even as Prost departed for Ferrari, the team remained the benchmark.

The MP4/5B, still powered by Honda’s V10, was an evolution rather than a revolution, but it gave Senna the tools he needed to reclaim the crown that had slipped away amid controversy the year before.

The Brazilian driver took six victories across the season and put the McLaren on pole in 10 of the 16 races.

Gerhard Berger, in his first year as Senna’s team-mate after arriving from Ferrari, was less consistent but played a valuable support role to help McLaren in the championship.

In the Ferrari, Prost set up another showdown with Senna for the championship at Suzuka, where it all came to a head once again.

Senna, angry that pole position had been moved to the dirtier side of the track, made no attempt to avoid Prost at the first corner, triggering a collision that eliminated both on the spot.

The crash sealed Senna’s second drivers’ title and, with it, McLaren’s third consecutive constructors’ crown.

1991 – The last of the Honda glory years

McLaren entered 1991 aiming for an unprecedented fourth straight constructors’ championship, and once again, it had Senna as the spearhead.

The new MP4/6 was bulkier than its predecessor but carried Honda’s latest evolution: the powerful V12 engine designed to counter Ferrari and the emerging threat of Williams-Renault.

While the car wasn’t always the class of the field, Senna’s speed ensured McLaren stayed in control when it counted.

Senna won the first four races of the season, a run that gave him the cushion to withstand mounting pressure later in the year.

Williams, with Adrian Newey’s FW14 and Nigel Mansell at the wheel, emerged as the faster package in the second half of the year, but poor reliability and driver errors hindered the team.

Berger, though inconsistent, played a supporting role with a handful of podiums and a vital victory in Japan.

Senna clinched his third drivers’ title, and McLaren held off Williams by 14 points to secure the constructors’ crown – its seventh overall.

1998 – New beginning with Mercedes power

By the late 1990s, McLaren had endured a long championship drought following its dominance during its Honda years.

Williams and Benetton had shared the spoils in the post-Senna years, while McLaren, despite flashes of speed with Mercedes power, struggled to turn promise into titles.

That changed in 1998, when a mix of regulation changes, driver talent, and design brilliance brought the Woking team back to the top.

The introduction of narrower cars and grooved tyres created a fresh challenge for every team.

McLaren lured Adrian Newey from Williams in 1997, and his MP4/13 immediately proved the best interpretation of the new rules.

Mika Häkkinen stepped into the spotlight, winning eight races, including the opener in Australia and the decisive finale in Japan, to secure his first drivers’ championship.

David Coulthard provided solid back-up with a victory and regular podiums, ensuring McLaren beat Ferrari to the constructors’ crown.

It would also prove to be McLaren’s last championship triumph for more than a quarter of a century, as a long drought followed.

2024 – A comeback 26 years in the making

After more than 25 years in the wilderness, McLaren finally ended its constructors’ championship drought in 2024 – a triumph that few would have predicted even two years earlier.

The team had endured years of false dawns and real struggles, cycling through engine partners and management shake-ups.

But under the leadership of Zak Brown and Andrea Stella, a new culture of stability and technical finally began to pay off, culminating in a return to winning ways in 2024.

With Lando Norris emerging as a bona fide team leader and Oscar Piastri quickly establishing himself as one of the brightest talents in Formula 1, the ingredients were finally in place for a revival.

The MCL38 was the car that unlocked McLaren’s potential.

Building on the strong mid-season upgrades of 2023 allowed the team to compete consistently at the front across all types of circuits, and the McLaren was the leading car by the end of the year.

The title was sealed in emphatic fashion at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Norris winning to cap the team’s first constructors’ crown since 1998.

2025 – The return of dominance

While 2024 ended McLaren’s long wait for glory with the constructors’ title, 2025 saw the Woking team become the new benchmark with one the F1’s most dominant seasons.

The MCL39 built seamlessly on its predecessor’s strengths, delivering a car that was the class of the field at most circuits.

Winning the title with seven races to go showed the kind of dominance McLaren has enjoyed during 2025.

The driver’s championship is also likely go to McLaren, with either Piastri or Norris taking his first crown.