What a collection!

MOTOR racing enthusiasts enjoyed a glimpseof a unique collection of historic cars from one of the most successfulconstructors in the history of Formula One.

Ten cars, all from renowned Formula Oneteam McLaren, ranging from their 1970 M15 Indycar driven by Earl Williams tothe 2008 title-winning McLaren-Mercedes MP4/23 of Lewis Hamilton were placed ondisplay in a specially-erected tent throughout the weekend at the Gulf AirBahrain Grand Prix at the Sakhir circuit’s F1 Village vending area.

McLaren is particularly close to the heartsof race fans in Bahrain as the company is part-owned by Bahrain’s sovereignwealth fund, Mumtalakat.

The exhibition not only told the story ofthe British team’s 46 years of F1 success, but also gave an insight into itscampaigns in the Indianapolis 500 race.

The collection consisted of the 1970McLaren M15 in Indycar and the 1972 McLaren M21 in Formula Two along with itsFormula One cars such as the 1982 McLaren MP4/1B, the 1984 McLaren MP4/2, the1988 McLaren-Honda MP4/4, the 1989 McLaren-Honda MP4/5, the 1993 McLaren-FordMP4/8, 1998 McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13, the 2003 McLaren-Mercedes MP4/17D and the2008 McLaren-Mercedes MP4/23.

The 1970 McLaren M15 was the car driven bythe team as they took the Indycar Series by storm. Driven that year by EarlWilliams, McLaren cars won the Indy 500 three times during its stint in theUS-based championship.

The M21 of 1972 marked the return of theMcLaren name to Formula Two after an absence of four years. The M21 was drivenby then rising star Jody Scheckter, who made the headlines and virtuallyguaranteed himself a ride in Formula One with a virtuoso performance at theCrystal Palace round of the European F2 Championship.

In 1981, McLaren revolutionised Formula Oneby introducing full carbon fibre construction to the sport. The new materialwas lighter and stiffer than aluminium, and with the 1982 MP4/1B of Niki Laudaand John Watson, further developments came.

Following the ground-breaking carbon fibreconstruction and combined with the powerful new TAG V6 turbo engine, McLaren’sMP4/2 was a dominant force in 1984. Lauda and Alain Prost won 12 of the 16races and finished one-two – separated by just half a point – in the Drivers’Championship.

The MP4/4 in 1988 was a typical McLarenno-compromise design, and that approach extended to new engine partner Honda.Even though 1988 was to be the last year when turbocharged engines werepermitted, Honda created a new engine to suit the MP4/4’s low-lying bodyshell.With the driver sitting almost horizontally, the MP4/4 was very aerodynamicallyefficient and almost unbeatable. Senna and Prost won 15 out of 16 races andfinished one-two in the Drivers’ Championship.

It was all change for the 1989 season,however, despite the MP4/4’s dominance the previous year. This was done becauseof new rules that enforced a move to 3.5-litre naturally-aspirated engines. TheMP4/5 was a clear development of its predecessor and it was even faster: Sennawon the San Marino Grand Prix early in the season with an average speed of125.479mph, three per cent quicker than the previous year. Prost and Senna won10 of the 16 races between them, enabling Prost to take the drivers’ title andMcLaren to win the Constructors’ Championship for the second successive year.

In 1993, following the withdrawal of Hondafrom Formula One, McLaren returned to Ford power with its MP4/8. The teamensured that the car was as agile as possible, and Senna, in his final seasonracing for McLaren, delivered a string of electrifying performances. His victoryin the wet at the European Grand Prix is rightly considered to be one of thefinest drives of all time.

In 1998, faced by new rules that once againintended to slow the cars down, McLaren’s new technical director Adrian Neweyfocused intensely on aerodynamic research to recover the lost performance. Thismeant that the MP4/13 was quick from the very first race. Mika Hakkinen andDavid Coulthard finished one-two in Australia, a lap ahead of the rest of thefield. Hakkinen won eight races to claim the World Championship, a remarkableachievement after severely injuring his neck in a qualifying accident in 1995.

The MP4-17D of 2003 was a highly-evolvedversion of the MP4/17 from the year before. With the aggressively designedMP4/18 suffering a number of vibration and temperature-related issues inpre-season winter testing, the team elected to race the MP4/17D whilecontinuing development behind the scenes on the MP4/18. The MP4/17D proved tobe such an effective car that its planned successor never raced, and KimiRaikkonen took the battle for the World Championship to the final round,finishing just two points behind Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher.