McLaren

The 2013 season is McLaren’s 50th year in Formula 1 so it comes as a big surprise that its last constructors’ championship was clinched in 1998.

A drivers’ title with Lewis Hamilton in 2008 has been the British team’s only consolation in over a barren decade interjected with several race wins and near misses along the way.

McLaren looked its strongest in 2012 – it had by far produced the fastest car on the grid – but to ‘finish first, you first have to finish’ is an old adage that it had left behind.

Trodden by reliability issues in the latter half of the season, and pit stop gaffes in the first half of the campaign, McLaren and Hamilton slowly lost their grip on the title hunt, eventually finishing behind traditional rivals Ferrari.

Nevertheless, despite the recent setback, McLaren is the team drivers dream of racing with. It has attracted stars like Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and indeed Hamilton to its fold.

And significantly it has been the home to legends like Niki Lauda, Alain Prost Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and the incomparable Ayrton Senna.

McLaren will always continue to be at the helm of its game, even though the prime trophies may be missing from its exquisite cabinet at Woking in recent history. But it’s a team that should never ever be discounted.