How McLaren got back to winning ways in F1 and what comes next

McLaren ended a nine-year Formula 1 win drought with a stunning 1-2 finish at last month’s Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix. As the latest step on a remarkable path of recovery from the bottom of the grid, team principal Andreas Seidl has mapped out even greater feats for the future.

Alex Kalinauckas Oct 8, 2021, 9:03 AM

Upd: Oct 8, 2021, 9:05 AM

“I’ve always kind of felt like McLaren is Star Wars. But we became a bit Darth Vader and I think we needed to be a bit more Luke Skywalker”

The above quote is how McLaren CEO Zak Brown started 2021 – the words encapsulated the previous era his squad was still struggling to leave behind, while looking forward to the new hope of a brighter future. Now, as the current season heads into its concluding episodes, McLaren has very much stepped out of the dark side and is enjoying its time back in the light.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.