McLaren Mercedes - Formula One Team Information

Mercedes-Benz boasts a proud history in motor sport, with more than 100 years of competitive action. Mercedes-Benz, the world's oldest motor manufacturer, has been involved in motor racing from the very beginning. 1994 not only marked the beginning of the partnership between Mercedes-Benz and McLaren, it was also the year in which the Stuttgart manufacturer was able to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its victory in the first ever motor race. The race from Paris to Rouen took place on 22 July 1894. The first four cars home were powered by a 954 cc V2 engine designed by Gottlieb Daimler.

The Daimler victory set the ball rolling and in subsequent decades countless races were won. For the Nice-Salon-Nice race of 1901, Daimler's cars were entered under the name Mercedes, after the daughter of the Daimler importer and racing driver, Emil Jellinek. The event was won by the Mercedes of German Wilhelm Werner.

Highlights of the Mercedes Motor Racing History

1903 Camille Jenatzy drives a Mercedes to victory in the Gordon Bennett race held in Ireland.
1908 Christian Lautenschlager wins the French Grand Prix in Dieppe, his Mercedes crossing the finish line ahead of the two Benz Grand Prix cars driven by the Frenchmen Héméry and Hanriot.
1914 The top three places in the French Grand Prix are filled by 4.5-litre Mercedes racing cars. The winner is Christian Lautenschlager. Ralph de Palma takes victory in a Mercedes in the Vanderbilt race in the USA.
1915 Ralph de Palma wins the Indianapolis 500.
1926 Rudolf Caracciola takes Mercedes to a first win in the German Grand Prix on the Avus circuit in Berlin.
1927 Caracciola drives a Mercedes S to victory in the Eifel race, the first to be held on the Nürburgring.
1935 Mercedes sweeps to victory in seven Grand Prix races. Caracciola is crowned European Champion.
1936 Caracciola takes first place in the Grand Prix races in Monaco and Tunis.
1937 Mercedes drivers win six Grand Prix race: Hermann Lang (2), Manfred von Brauchitsch (1) and Rudolf Caracciola (3). Caracciola wins the European title.
1938 Mercedes takes four Grand Prix titles. Caracciola once again takes the European title.
1939 Mercedes wins five Grand Prix races. Hermann Lang is the new European Champion.
1952 After the end of the Second World War, Mercedes-Benz resumes its motor sport activities, announcing its return in sports car racing. Hermann Lang and Fritz Rieß drive a 300 SL to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Karl Kling wins the Carrera Panamericana Mexico.
1954 Mercedes-Benz returns to Formula One with a triumphant 1-2 victory by Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling in the French Grand Prix. The race marks the debut of the W 196 Formula One car powered by a 2.5-litre eight-cylinder in-line engine. Fangio follows up the win with three more first places to clinch the World Champion's title.
1955 Mercedes-Benz wins six Grand Prix races with the W 196. Stirling Moss takes his first British Grand Prix victory at Aintree; Fangio records fiverace victories and wins his second World Champion's title with Mercedes.

At the end of 1955 Mercedes-Benz ceases its involvement in motor sport.
1988 On its return to motor sport with the Swiss Sauber team, Mercedes-Benz enters the World Sports Prototype Championship, lining up on the grid with its partner AMG in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM).
1989 Mercedes-Benz wins the World Sports Prototype Constructors' Championship and Jean-Louis Schlesser takes the Drivers' title. The C9 finishes first and second in the Le Mans 24-hour race.
1990 For the second year in succession, Mercedes-Benz wins the Constructors' and Drivers' titles in the World Sports Prototype Championship with the Jean-Louis Schlesser/Mauro Baldi driver partnership. Mercedes juniors Michael Schumacher, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger experience a racing baptism of fire in Group C sports cars.
1991 The Schumacher/Wendlinger junior driver team takes victory with the C 291 at Autopolis, Japan; Mercedes-Benz announces its withdrawal from the World Sports Prototype Championship and its decision to concentrate instead on the DTM. The Sauber team switches its attentions to Formula One.
1992 Klaus Ludwig and the AMG team win the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) with the Mercedes 190 E.
1993 Sauber receives the support of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One - "concept by Mercedes-Benz" - and finishes in sixth position in the Constructors' rankings, after taking fifth position (J. J. Lehto) in the very first race. Late that year, Mercedes-Benz announces its motor sport concept for 1994. Following the acquisition of a holding in Ilmor Engineering, the new package now covers the partnership with Sauber in Formula One - with Mercedes-Benz as engine supplier - and with Penske in the IndyCar race series. Mercedes celebrates its 50th win in the DTM and finishes the season as runner-up in the championship.
1994 Al Unser Jr. wins the Indianapolis 500 in a Penske car powered by a Mercedes-Benz pushrod engine. Klaus Ludwig and the AMG team take the DTM title with the Mercedes-Benz C-class. Mercedes drivers win eleven of the series' 24 races. On 28 October 1994 Mercedes-Benz and McLaren announce the signing of the contract covering their long-term partnership in Formula One. The agreement takes effect from 1995.
1995 McLaren Mercedes finishes fourth in the Constructors' Championship in its first year as a Formula One team. Mika Hakkinen takes second place in Italy and Japan. Bernd Schneider drives his AMG C-class car to victory in both the DTM and the International Touring Car Championship (ITC). Al Unser Jr. finishes as runner-up in the IndyCar series.
1996 McLaren Mercedes takes fourth position in the Constructors' rankings. Mika Hakkinen is fifth in the drivers' standings with David Coulthard in seventh place. Together they achieve six podium finishes and score points on fifteen occasions. Bernd Schneider is runner-up in the ITC with his AMG C-class, with Mercedes drivers taking six race victories.
1997 Driving the new silver design West McLaren Mercedes, David Coulthard wins the Australian and Italian Grand Prix races to take third place in the Drivers' table. Mika Hakkinen takes the chequered flag first in the European Grand Prix and finishes the season in sixth position. With six wins from eleven races AMG-Mercedes and Bernd Schneider clinch the FIA GT Championship. In the CART series Mercedes-Benz takes the manufacturers' title after notching up nine wins in 17 races.
1998 Mika Hakkinen and the West McLaren Mercedes Formula One team take both Drivers' and Constructors' titles. Hakkinen wins eight times, with David Coulthard taking one Grand Prix victory and third place in the rankings. Klaus Ludwig, Ricardo Zonta and AMG Mercedes pick up the drivers' and team prizes in the FIA GT Championship. AMG Mercedes win a record ten out of ten races. Greg Moore is victorious in two CART races with his Mercedes-Benz- powered car.
1999 Mika Hakkinen retains his Formula One World Championship crown with five Grand Prix victories. West McLaren Mercedes finishes as runner-up in the Constructors' championship. David Coulthard wins two Grand Prix and finishes the season fourth in the Drivers' standings.
2000 West McLaren Mercedes are the runners-up in both the Drivers' Championship, with Mika Hakkinen, and the Constructors' rankings. Mika Hakkinen wins four Grands Prix and David Coulthard finishes in third position overall, after three individual victories. Bernd Schneider takes the title in the new-format DTM with six wins.

In association with Amazon.com...
McLaren-Formula 1	McLaren Formula 1 Racing Team	Mercedes (2-Volume Set) by Hartmut Lehbrink, Rainer Schlegelmilch Hardcover (1998)	Mercedes Benz Production Models Book 1946-95 by Robert Nitske Paperback (1996)
West McLaren Mercedes Teamwork: The Biography of the Formula 1 Team by Gerald Donaldson Hardcover (1998)	Bruce McLaren: The Man and His Racing Team by Eoin Young Hardcover (1995)	Mercedes-Benz Sl (Sports Car Color History) by John Heilig Paperback (1997)	Illustrated Buyer's Guide: Mercedes-Benz (Motorbooks International Illustrated Buyer's Guide Series) by Frank Barrett Paperback (1998)

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