<< Prev Page 2 of 3 Next >> For 1974 veteran Hulme teamed up with 1972 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi. Outwardly the M23 changed little, except for the new Marlboro-Texaco livery. The start of a long relationship between McLaren and Marlboro. Both drivers proved their worth by both taking a victory in the first two races. Both drivers won two more races and Fittipaldi's consistency throughout the season earned him enough points to score his second world championship. The team's performance earned the team its first constructors title. Earlier in the year, a M16C scored the team's second Indy 500 win.
Hulme retired at the end of the successful season, after a very successful racing career, in which he won multiple Can-Am championships for McLaren and a F1 championship for Brabham. His replacement was Jochen Mass, who had driven a semi-factory backed M23 in the previous season. Fittipaldi scored two victories with the M23, but his performance was no match for Niki Lauda in the brand new Ferrari 312T. At the end of the season he was runner-up in the championship behind the Austrian and McLaren secured a third position in the constructor's championship.
After James Hunt's stunning performance in his Hesketh in 1975, the McLaren team hired him to replace Fittipaldi for the 1976 season. The Brasilian left the team to race for his brother's team. The high airbox that had become a common sight on the grid in the previous seasons was banned from the fourth race of season. McLaren created a new airbox with intakes on each side of the rollbar, which still fed plenty of air to the DFV engine, but complied with the new regulations. At the beginning of the season there were high expectations of the battle between reigning champion Lauda and the upcoming star Hunt.
Halfway through the season Niki Lauda seemed ready to clinch his second consecutive title. Eight races into the season he had twice as many points as his closest rivals, after winning 4 races and scoring another three podium finishes. Hunt was trailing by 26 points after taking 2 victories and one second place. The season turned around dramatically when Lauda had a near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring. Although he survived, he was badly burned and the season looked over for him. Amazingly he was back in action, only three races after his horrific accident, his wounds barely healed. << Prev Page 2 of 3 Next >>
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For 1974 veteran Hulme teamed up with 1972 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi. Outwardly the M23 changed little, except for the new Marlboro-Texaco livery. The start of a long relationship between McLaren and Marlboro. Both drivers proved their worth by both taking a victory in the first two races. Both drivers won two more races and Fittipaldi's consistency throughout the season earned him enough points to score his second world championship. The team's performance earned the team its first constructors title. Earlier in the year, a M16C scored the team's second Indy 500 win.