Editorial credit: Michael Cola / Shutterstock.com
Dozens of teams have passed through Formula 1, and some have achieved great success and have lasted for many years, while others have had a short and discreet passage through the category. Undoubtedly, the two most important teams in the history of F1 have been Ferrari and McLaren.
Ferrari and McLaren are the longest-running and most successful teams in the history of Formula 1. They have participated uninterruptedly since 1950 and 1966 respectively, winning numerous titles and going head-to-head on many occasions. Without them, F1 would not be what it is today.
Ferrari and McLaren are an indivisible part of Formula 1 history. Not only have they built some of the best cars in the history of the category, but some of the great legends of the sport have been consolidated with them.
Without further ado, let\’s take a look at the history and rivalry of these two great constructors.
Ferrari vs. McLaren: A Historic Rivalry
The Beginnings
Enzo Ferrari founded the Scuderia Ferrari in 1929 and participated in Formula 1 from the first season in 1950. In a short time, it became one of the strongest teams of the grid and of the 1950s, obtaining its first victory in 1951 by José Froilán González, and winning its first drivers\’ titles with Alberto Ascari in 1952 and 1953, Juan Manuel Fangio in 1956 and Mike Hawthorn in 1958.
In the 60s they also had some successes against great teams of the time such as Cooper, BRM, and Lotus. Ferrari won the constructors\’ title in 1961 and 1964 and the drivers\’ title with Phil Hill and John Surtees in those years.
On the other hand, McLaren was founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren, who had been Cooper\’s F1 driver since 1958. The team did not debut in F1 until 1966 when Ferrari already had 8 world titles. Unlike Ferrari, McLaren has always been characterized by buying engines from other suppliers, such as Ford, Honda, or Mercedes.
However, McLaren did not take long to achieve success. From 1968 onwards they achieved their first victories and podiums, and little by little the team established itself as one of the best teams on the grid, despite the untimely death of the founder in 1970.
The 70s: The First Confrontations Arise
By the 1970s, both McLaren and Ferrari were already two of the most competitive teams, and the championship fight between them was not long in coming.
In 1974 they faced each other for the first time, with McLaren\’s Emmerson Fittipaldi and Ferrari\’s Clay Regazzoni as protagonists. Fittipaldi won the battle against Ferrari, thus winning the first drivers\’ and constructors\’ titles in McLaren\’s history. The war between the two titans had only just begun, and in 1975 it was Ferrari\’s Austrian Niki Lauda who beat the Brazilian.
In 1976, things would change again. After Fittipaldi\’s departure, McLaren signed British driver James Hunt, a well-known rival of Lauda\’s in the lower categories, and both drivers fought for the championship until the last race, after the accident that almost killed Lauda. Hunt won the drivers\’ title, but Ferrari took the constructors\’ title.
At the end of the decade, McLaren declined, while Ferrari would win again in 1977 with Lauda and in 1989 with Jody Scheckter.
The 80s & 90s: Ferrari\’s Banishment and McLaren\’s Golden Era
The 1980s were Ferrari\’s darkest years in F1. The Prancing Horse did not become fully competitive again until the late 1990s, winning only the 1982 and 1983 constructors\’ titles, as well as achieving victories and podiums, but no drivers\’ titles.
For McLaren, the 1980s were its golden era in the category, with TAG and later Honda engines. Niki Lauda, now a McLaren driver, won the title in 1984, and in 1985 and 1986 it was the Frenchman Alain Prost who dominated the grid, adding to the team\’s record.
Between 1988 and 1991, McLaren won all the drivers\’ and constructors\’ titles, and the team went down in the history books not only for having the best car but also for the great rivalry between its two drivers: Alain Prost (winner in 1989) and Ayrton Senna (winner in 1988, 1990 and 1991).
With all these titles, McLaren had already become one of the greatest teams in F1 history, on a par with Ferrari, which progressed in the 1990s while Williams was the new dominant team.
At the end of the decade, McLaren and Ferrari again contested the titles, with Mika Häkkinen (McLaren) and Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) as drivers. Häkkinen was the world champion in 1998 and 1999. McLaren won its last constructors\’ title in 1998, while in 1999 it was won by Ferrari.
21st Century: Ferrari\’s Golden Era And The Decline Of Both Teams
With the turn of the century, Ferrari began its greatest domination in Formula 1, winning all the drivers\’ and constructors\’ titles between 2000 and 2004, with Michael Schumacher going down in the history books as the greatest driver of all.
The Prancing Horse absolutely dominated the grid year after year, with the German scoring podium finishes in every race in 2002 and taking a record of 13 wins in 2004.
The last battle between McLaren and Ferrari for the titles was in 2007 and 2008. In those years McLaren had the best car, but in 2007 they threw away the title due to internal tensions between their drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, and the scandal known as \”Spygate\”. Ferrari\’s Kimi Räikkönen won the title by just one point ahead of Alonso and Hamilton.
In 2008, after Alonso\’s departure from McLaren, it was Hamilton who dominated the grid, winning the drivers\’ title, but Ferrari won the constructors\’ title for the last time.
Since then, neither Ferrari nor McLaren have won any titles. The Prancing Horse has remained competitive, winning numerous victories and titles, but behind the new dominators, Red Bull and Mercedes, while McLaren has been more erratic, moving around the grid year after year.
Will these historic teams meet again for the title?
Ferrari vs. McLaren: Stats
As previously mentioned, Ferrari and McLaren are statistically the best teams in the history of Formula 1, as they have been competing for the most years and have achieved the most success.
Ferrari has entered 1,043 races out of 1,068 in history, achieving 241 victories, 784 podiums, 237 pole positions, 257 fastest laps, 15 drivers\’ championships, and 16 constructors\’ championships.
With these figures, the Prancing Horse has won 23.1% of the races in which they have entered and has achieved 75.17% of podiums, 22.7% of pole positions, and 24.64% of fastest laps.
On the other hand, McLaren has participated in 917 races, achieving 183 victories, 494 podiums, 156 pole positions, 161 fastest laps, 12 drivers\’ championships, and 8 constructors\’ championships. The British team has obtained 19.96% of victories, 53.9% of podiums, 17% of pole positions, and 17.56% of fastest laps in the races in which they have participated.
![\"\"](\"https://racedaythrills.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-12.png\")
![\"\"](\"https://racedaythrills.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-11.png\")
Ferrari vs. McLaren: Their Most Successful Drivers
Despite the fact that neither team has won titles for years, driving for Ferrari or McLaren is a dream for any driver, as they are teams with a great history and will win again sooner or later.
Thanks to his dominating stint in the early 2000s, Michael Schumacher is undoubtedly Ferrari\’s most successful and most emblematic driver, followed by Niki Lauda and Alberto Ascari with 2 titles.
On the other hand, McLaren\’s most successful and legendary drivers are Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. The Frenchman and the Brazilian not only had a fierce rivalry on the track, but on paper their statistics are very similar. Mika Häkkinen and his two titles in 1998 and 1999 is McLaren\’s other multi-time world champion.
It is curious the case of Niki Lauda, who drove and won titles for both teams: 2 with Ferrari (1975 and 1977) and 1 with McLaren (1984).
| Most Successful Drivers with Ferrari | |||||
| Driver | Years in the team | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Titles |
| Michael Schumacher | 1996-2006 | 179 | 72 | 115 | 5 |
| Niki Lauda | 1974-77 | 57 | 15 | 32 | 2 |
| Alberto Ascari | 1950-53, 1954 | 27 | 13 | 17 | 2 |
| Kimi Räikkönen | 2007-09, 2014-18 | 151 | 10 | 52 | 1 |
| John Surtees | 1963-66 | 28 | 4 | 13 | 1 |
| Most Successful Drivers with McLaren | |||||
| Driver | Years in the team | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Titles |
| Ayrton Senna | 1988-93 | 96 | 35 | 55 | 3 |
| Alain Prost | 1980, 1984-89 | 107 | 30 | 63 | 3 |
| Mika Häkkinen | 1993-2001 | 131 | 20 | 51 | 2 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 2007-12 | 110 | 21 | 49 | 1 |
| Niki Lauda | 1982-85 | 58 | 8 | 15 | 1 |
Ferrari vs. McLaren: Their Most Dominant Season
Although Ferrari is the most successful team in history, McLaren beats them in having the most dominant season of all. In 1988, the British team absolutely dominated the grid, winning 15 out of 16 races, which means a winning percentage of 93.75%.
That season saw the start of the historic rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost and the red and white, Honda-powered McLaren MP4/4 went down in the history books. The Brazilian and the Frenchman were very close all season long, taking 8 and 7 victories respectively. The only race that neither of them won was the Italian GP, in which both retired.
In the end, Senna beat Prost by only 3 points, while third-placed Gerhard Berger finished more than 40 points behind the Frenchman. In total, McLaren achieved 15 pole positions, 10 one-twos, 25 podiums (out of 32 possible), and 199 points. The British team won the constructors\’ championship with a 134-point lead over the second-placed Ferrari.
On the other hand, Ferrari\’s most dominant season was 2002, which is the third most dominant season in history, behind McLaren in 1988 and Mercedes in 2016. In 2002, Michael Schumacher won his fifth title, the third in a row with the Prancing Horse. Ferrari had a winning percentage of 88.24%, achieving 15 wins out of 17 races.
Schumacher took 11 wins and finished on the podium in every race, while Barrichello had 4 wins and 6 podiums. The German took 7 pole positions, and the Brazilian 3. At the end of the championship, Ferrari scored more points than all the other teams combined.
| McLaren vs. Ferrari: Their Most Dominant Season | ||
| McLaren MP4/4 (1988 Season) | Stat | Ferrari F2002 (2002 Season) |
| 16 | Races | 17 |
| 15 | Wins | 15 |
| 25 | Podiums | 27 |
| 15 | Pole positions | 10 |
| Ayrton Senna | Championship winner | Michael Schumacher |
| 199 | Points in the constructors\’ championship | 221 |
| 134 | Gap with the 2nd | 129 |
Ferrari vs. McLaren: The 2021 Season
During the 2021 season, both Ferrari and McLaren were very close, overtaking each other on multiple occasions in the constructors\’ championship. Mercedes and Red Bull were the strongest teams, unreachable for the rest of the grid, while the Prancing Horse and the British team competed to be the \”best of the rest\”.
Both teams had the same drivers as in 2022: Ferrari had Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz and McLaren had Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. McLaren had the novelty of using Mercedes engines again, after 3 seasons using Honda and then another 3 with Renault.
McLaren started the season much stronger than Ferrari but deflated as the races went on, while Ferrari started slightly worse, but remained more consistent throughout the year.
At the end of the season, Ferrari finished third in the constructors\’ championship, with 323.5 points, while McLaren was fourth, with 275 points. Ferrari scored 5 podiums, and McLaren scored 4 podiums, plus a victory in the Italian GP by Daniel Ricciardo. This victory was the first win for the British team since the 2012 Brazilian GP.
Drivers from both teams were very close, as Sainz and Leclerc finished fifth and seventh respectively, while Norris and Ricciardo finished sixth and eighth. Here are the stats.
| Carlos Sainz | Lando Norris | Charles Leclerc | Daniel Ricciardo | |
| – | – | – | 1 | Wins |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Podiums |
| – | – | – | – | Pole Positions |
| 164.5 | 160 | 159 | 115 | Championship points |
| Ferrari | McLaren | |
| – | 1 | Wins |
| 5 | 5 | Podiums |
| – | – | Pole Positions |
| 323.5 | 275 | Championship points |
![\"\"](\"https://racedaythrills.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/shutterstock_1497688844.jpg\")
Conclusion
Ferrari and McLaren are the most successful and important teams in the history of Formula 1. Their stories and rivalry are, after all, the history of F1. Their rivalry has produced some of the best moments in the category and has brought it to what it is today.
Despite being two teams with so much history and so successful, they are in a similar situation, as neither of them has won a title for more than 10 years. We don\’t know what may happen in the future, but looking at the past, statistics tell us that sooner or later they will return to the top.
References
