Bruce McLaren

Bruce McLaren was a New Zealand racing driver, engineer, and founder of the McLaren team, one of the most successful constructors in Formula 1 history, who became the sport's youngest-ever Grand Prix winner at the time.

At 22 years and 104 days old, Bruce McLaren became the youngest Formula 1 Grand Prix winner in history at the 1959 United States Grand Prix — a record that stood for 43 years — before founding a constructor whose cars still carry his name more than half a century after his death in 1970. Raised around his father's motorcycle racing hobby and the family's Auckland service station, McLaren began competing in hillclimbs at 14 and won a scholarship, the 'Driver to Europe' award, that brought him to race for the Cooper Formula 1 team in 1958. McLaren won his first Grand Prix at the 1959 United States Grand Prix in Sebring at just 22 years and 104 days old, becoming the youngest-ever winner in Formula 1 history at the time, a record that stood for 43 years until Fernando Alonso broke it in 2003. He went on to win four Grands Prix for Cooper, and in 1963 founded his own team, Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd, initially focused on sports car racing before entering Formula 1 as a constructor in 1966. McLaren achieved a landmark moment in 1968, winning the Belgian Grand Prix in a car of his own design and construction, becoming the first driver in Formula 1 history to do so. He also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright in 1966 alongside compatriot Chris Amon, driving a Ford GT40. McLaren was killed on June 2, 1970, at age 32, when the rear bodywork of his McLaren M8D Can-Am car came loose at high speed during a test at Goodwood Circuit in England. The team he founded went on to become one of the most successful in motorsport history, winning multiple Formula 1 World Constructors' Championships and Indianapolis 500 races, with his name still carried by the organisation more than half a century after his death.

Skilled, versatile driver and engineer known for combining race-winning speed with technical innovation as a constructor

One of motorsport's most influential figures, whose team remains among the most successful in Formula 1 history more than half a century after his death

• Founded McLaren, one of Formula 1's most successful teams
• Youngest-ever F1 Grand Prix winner at the time (1959, aged 22)
• 4x Formula 1 Grand Prix winner
• 24 Hours of Le Mans overall winner (1966)
• First driver to win an F1 race in a car of his own construction (1968)