KIWI FRUITS
A different kind of thunder from down under. It’s more than 50 years since Mclaren made their debut in Formula 1 as constructors. And it’s nearly 60 since their founder, Bruce, set off from New Zealand to compete in F1. Just one year later, at the 1959 US GP, he would become the series’ youngest winner, aged 22.
A dramatic and thrilling new movie of his life is due for release later this summer, and while the small gang of media granted a sneak preview screening are currently embargoed from writing about it, suffice to say it served as a welcome reminder of what Mclaren have come to mean in Formula 1, and why the team hold quite such a respected position.
It prompted reflections that this team have won in every competitive arena they have ever entered. They represent, alongside Ferrari, one of the sport’s ‘twin pillars’, providing both substance and foundation, as well as a tangible link with F1’s rich history.
There’s no pleasure in watching Fernando Alonso battling a sluggardly MCL32 around the bumps and barriers of Albert Park, dragging his reluctant machine into an improbable tenth place for much of the race. But a performance like his would doubtless have prompted a nod of acknowledgement from the founder. Mclaren battled for all his adult life with a degenerative bone condition, Perthes disease, but never let pain or physical impairment restrict his ambition, and it gives nothing away to record that, post-screening, one team member not normally given to excusing their current frailties observed: “You can’t help but feel a little bit proud when you see what Bruce went through and what he started.”
Better days surely lie ahead.
MCLAREN BATTLED FOR ALL HIS ADULT LIFE WITH A DEGENERATIVE BONE CONDITION, PERTHES DISEASE, BUT NEVER LET PAIN OR PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT RESTRICT HIS AMBITION