The McLaren team is on the verge of winning their first-ever Constructors championship title since the 1998 F1 season when they won both the drivers and constructors titles. At that time the world was very different and the Red Bull F1 team was non-existent just like Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
It’s real! Norris and Piastri were not even born when the great Mika Hakkinen won the drivers and constructors title for McLaren against Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. The world is also a very different place as Formula 1 fans were still relying on televisions and newspapers to get information about the sport. Let's go back to the 1998 Formula 1 season and take a look at how McLaren won their drivers and constructors title against a dangerous rival, Schumacher and Ferrari.
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McLaren team
Mika Hakkinen was chosen as McLarens main driver to take on Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. The ‘Flying Finn’ was the childhood friend and biggest rival of Schumacher since he started racing. David Coulthard was chosen as his teammate. Mercedes supplied power units to McLaren just like today.
Michael vs Mikka
The season was completely dominated by Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. Only David Coulthard and Damon Hill were able to win one race each in the season other than the two drivers. McLaren and Ferrari wanted to dominate each other so both teams gave everything to their drivers to fight.
Flying Finn’s consistency
Mika Hakkinen won 6 races out of 16 while Michael Schumacher also won 6 races. But the biggest difference between Ferrari and McLaren was Hakkinen’s consistency in Podiums. It was the same as Jorge Martin’s 2024 MotoGP journey. Being consistent gave him his first-ever world championship.
McLaren’s last constructors
Hakkinen won McLaren’s last constructors title in the 1998 Formula 1 season. It was also McLaren’s Eighth constructors championship. But after that, Hakkinen won his second driver's title, McLaren couldn't win the constructors due to many mechanical failures throughout the 1999 season. Even great drivers like Lewis Hamilton, and Fernando Alonso couldn't give McLaren the constructors championship.
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What has changed now?
The Biggest change this season for McLaren was they were back to consistency like the good old days. After 26 years we could easily say this is McLaren’s best season ever in Formula 1, despite losing the driver's title to Max Verstappen. McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were consistent on Podiums and also helped each other out during races for the sake of the team which was the biggest reason for McLaren to lead the constructor title.
It is very proud to see two young drivers coming out of nowhere and dominating Red Bull and Ferrari putting McLaren in the driver's seat for the title. The McLaren team would be very grateful for these two young drivers. They now see a bright light at the end of the season in Abu Dhabi where they are very confident in lifting the Constructors title for the ninth time in their Formula 1 history.
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