The McLaren 60th Anniversary Reunion 2023
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ธ.ค. 2023
- On Wednesday November 8th 2023 over 300 former and current McLaren employees gathered at The Old Thorns Hotel and Resort at Liphook in the UK to enjoy an evening of celebration and memories. Former McLaren CEO Ron Dennis CBE attended as guest of honour alongside a wealth of stars and notable names including double World Drivers World Drivers' Champion Mika Hakkinen, Silverstone Grand Prix winner John Watson and McLaren M23 and M26 driver, Bruno Giacomelli.
Having worked tirelessly together for over 12 months in creating the event, the reunion was co-hosted on the night by former long term McLaren engineer Matthew Jeffreys and the team's former sponsorship co-ordinator, Richard West who undertook the role of Master of Ceremonies. The result was a unique event which is shown in its entirety in this 3 hour video.
Amongst the many famous names present were former McLaren test driver and five times Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro, along with McLaren shareholder Kathy Ojjeh, wife of the late Mansour Ojjeh and former team co-ordinator Jo Ramirez who were present to tell their unique stories along with members of the McLaren, Amon, Courage and Hunt families. McLaren's former designers Gordon Coppuck, John Barnard, Steve Nichols and Adrian Newey were present as was long time McLaren design engineer, Neil Oatley.
Guests were treated to both live and pre recorded video links with Emerson Fittipaldi, Alain Prost, Martin Brundle, Mark Blundell, David Coulthard and former long time engineer Steve Hallam and with interviews from notable names associated with the team from its very foundation.
Further live interviews with the pairing of Red Bull's ultra successful Technical Director Adrian Newey and Aston Martin Technologies CEO Martin Whitmarsh entertained guests and Viviane and Bianca Senna also thrilled those present, having flown in from Miami and Portugal to attend the evening earlier in the day. The achievements of the Ayrton Senna Institute will amaze you!
From the earliest days of Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited to the team that under Ron Dennis's leadership during his 36 year reign won 158 Grands Prix, 17 World Championship titles and the amazing achievement of winning the Le Mans 24 hour race at the first attempt, here is a unique insight into the people that made one of the world's most successful motorsport teams.
Long life Ron Dennis. Glory Mclaren. ✊✊.
A long life indeed! 77 recently and still full of energy, life and focus.
If it wasn't for Ron Dennis, McLaren would not be where they are today.
You are so right! Thank you for your comment 👍
I forgot to mention that , he also created and set the standards of operating a truly professional racing team@@theconsummatespeaker
Without Ron they likely wouldn’t have existed after about 1979 and would have likely gone the same way as names like Brabham, BRM, Tyrrell and others into the history books.
@@davidmacdonald1695is it not fair to say though that left the team in a joke state and wanted to focus on other things and not putting the McLaren f1 team first and foremost really put the team into a slump that McLaren are now only getting out of I fell Ron gets all the credit for the start of McLaren but never actually takes any of the blame for how it went it’s like people forget just how mad it was
My wife worked for McLaren at Colnbrook
Thank you so much for putting this event on, I cried my bloody eyes out when Joe was talking, and Ron thank you for attending the event, I know it must be hard not being with McLaren anymore, but the word McLaren to me means Ron Dennis, well done on your knighthood ❤
Many thanks for your comments - much appreciated. As a Jo Ramirez fan, you might enjoy my interview with him at www.jecpodcast.co.uk episode 72 and also Martin Brundle very early episodes 5 and 6. I've worked with both so these are really personal insights to the guys ;) As for RD - a very special and unique guy who I owe much to in my career ❤
The greatest team in F1's history as far as I am concerned. At least in the past 40 years.
And Ron built the team. Yes Bruce founded it, but Ron built it.
Spot on and in fact the words of Bernie Ecclestone when he and I discussed RD's departure...
Many thanks to The-Race for plugging this great celebration of McLaren. Very well organised and great stories. Jo’s story about Ayrton at Adelaide was very moving.
Ferrari fan from Italy here... but man, what an event! Such an awesome gathering of very special people. McLaren is a legendary story of its own. Thank you for making this video publicly available! love
It is a great pleasure and I am pleased you enjoyed it. We're all Ferrari fans really :) :) :)
@@theconsummatespeaker thank you for your kind reply! cheers
I'm sure my McLaren friends and team mates will tell me off for that comments, but having working alongside Michael Schumacher at Ferrari when they were sponsored by Asprey, I have some feelings for the Tifosi too ;)
@@theconsummatespeaker I guess it's part of the fascination of motorsport, whose lovers very often are still capable of actually share the passion and respect each other!
Excellent video. How nice to hear all the speakers. Ron is amazing and im all sure we all bleed Mclaren
Thank you - the event took a lot to organise and having RD as Guest of Honour was something special alongside so many of us.
Made me feel very proud to be a Kiwi. We certainly box well above our weight in Motor Sport!!
The history of motorsport would not be the same without the Kiwi inputs over the decades ;) Thank you
Shows what a great honorable person Ron Dennis is.
A wonderful celebration of Mclaren 😇😊
RD is a very special and unique human being and leader. Thank you for commenting 👍
And long overdue it is finally Sir Ron Dennis. Richly richly deserved
As a McLaren fan (and owner) born in 1973, this brought back some amazing memories and really captured the essence of what makes McLaren so special. Jo Ramirez always has the capacity to make me cry, his Adelaide story gets me every time. Please encourage Ron to publish his book!
Hi John, many thanks for the words. As a Jo fan, please listen to episode 72 www.jecpodcast.co.uk - my personal chat with JR after so many years...
Many apologies, I have only just realised I had a reply! Many thanks for pointing me in the direction of the podcast, I'll take a listen! @@theconsummatespeaker
Well done Matt Jeffries and Richard West. Have been a lifelong fan of McLaren and Ayrton in particular and this was a wonderful celebration of a seminal F1 legend. I’m so pleased Ron attended and what a wonderful, heartfelt showcase of RonSpeak his speech was. What an inspirational chap and the knighthood is long overdue and so richly deserved. Congratulations to all at McLaren and thank you for all the wonderful memories. Jo Ramirez always manages to bring a tear to my eyes. Very well done indeed Matt and Richard 🏆👍👍
Very many thanks for your comments and kind words - it was a very special event and whilst it took 12 months to put together for Matthew and me, it was worth every second.
Thank you for this wonderful event organised perfectly from Mr West and Mr Jeffreys. So many historic names and employees who give their best to see McLaren dominating through the years. Big love to every single one there. Thank you for this video. As a McLaren fan im grateful.
Very many thanks for your comments - keep watching for further content ;)
Ron Dennis i followed all my life 60 years ! he is more than may the force be with you ! he is the FORCE!
For sure, RD is THE team leader - never to be copied or repeated!
Love him or hate him, Ron Dennis made McLaren. Most famous drivers drove and championships were won under his tenure.
My greatest boss - the man is simply the best at his craft.
Was a great night. I enjoyed it so much. Spending time with my great former work colleagues on such a great evening. It will live long in the memory.
It sure was special, never to be repeated ;)
Gordon Murray's made McLaren what they are today, was he absent?
Thank you very much for setting this up and for posting it here as well! I feel that there are a lot of McLaren fans worldwide who fell in love with this team and its rich history and who really enjoyed watching this!
Thank you!
Many thanks for the text - it’s a pleasure 👍
Good old Ron, finally got his knighthood. well done that man....
Well done indeed - a very worthy recipient for sure.
Richard West's channel is a sudden blast of motor racing historical excellence!! Bravo! 🏎️ 👏
I greatly appreciate your words - I'll be posting more content in 24' 👍
Top top job Westie as usual. Great interviews all delivered professionally with some humour thrown in for good measure. 😊
You're too kind - how's things in the sunshine my friend?
Brilliant MC Richard well done, very humble but very controlled with empathy for all of your guests. ❤😂 I had a great time just watching it and my first F1 experience goes back to the pit lane at Kyalami in 1979 during the race… where I got to pop in and out of all the teams garages that day. I have been a life long fan since… 😂
Many thanks for your kind comments - after all of my F1 and motorsport years, this event gave me immense pleasure to host. 79' Kyalami! You are a long term fan!!! :)
Thank you McLaren for such a wonderful events. Just bring tears to my eyes seeing those beautiful people. Greeting from Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬
Although not a McLaren event, it was the duo of the McLaren Old Boys and Girls Association, Richard West (me) and former McLaren engineer Matthew Jeffreys that put this together - glad to hear you enjoyed the video.
Excellent, simply excellent. Thanks. I would like to see Hamilton there. To say 2 words as our last champion
Thank you for you comment. One day I hope to get to Lewis for a chat ;)
Thanks to Bring back V10s I’ve found this great Jewel. 😍
Thanks to them for introducing you to our year of work that resulted in this excellent look at McLaren's glory years. Matthew and I enjoyed putting it together and I loved hosting it as a nowadays, professional host and presenter.
As a videographer for the Bruce McLaren Trust in New Zealand from 1997 it was a joy to see so many essential parts of one of the greatest teams in Formula One, and one with such a rich history. We will all have our own highlights from this video, for me the Doug Nye anecdotes of being with Bruce were magic, I see why his F1 autobiographies are so superb. Jo Ramirez's emotion, pure! Ron pulled it together at the end like the orchestra leader he was and still is.
Great comments - thank you very much.
Just finished watching the entire video. Although I'm only 29 and from Poland, I've been following F1 since 2006 and McLaren was my favourite team, and I was always interested in history of F1. That's why I'm here. Beautiful event. Thank you for putting it out there. Great to see Ron Dennis after many years of absence, smiling and relaxed. And all the people important in McLaren's story. And brilliant MC Mr West. McLaren in the black & silver West livery - that's my first memories of F1.
Very many thanks for your kind words and I’m so pleased you enjoyed the video. 👍
Looking forward to watching this, learned about it from BBV10s episode on 1993 British Grand Prix
Hi Richard - I hope you enjoy it - it is a look into the world that those of use lucky enough to have been with the team have enjoyed over the years - my period 84 to 88 was as golden as I am grey now! :)
Prost legend forever🇫🇷👍
Four times World Drivers' Champion and one of the most fun and professional guys I was honoured to have worked with :)
Absolutely terrific event and great coverage. Thank you so much for presenting this .
A real pleasure - thanks for watching
I'm here from Bring Back V10s too! ❤
Welcome, I'll shortly be posting a range of interviews, comments on F1 etc, so thanks for joining me :)
Lovely Video. Thanks for posting!!. Looked a great evening!!. So pleased to hear Ron at the end. I would imagine he was “challenging” to work for. I’m sure for many he was a pain in the Arse, but from the outside you couldn’t help but have a Soft Spot for him!!.
Never a pain but always a tough task master who never accepted second best. Hugely generous and loyalty was his number one driver and expectation. Those that worked for him including myself, we hugely proud of our time under his stewardship.
Bring back v10s sent me here, but I already saw this last year.😀 Cheers!
Welcome back and thanks for the comment ;)
Came he after a tip off from Glenn Freeman at The Race on the Bring Back V10s podcast. Glad he recommended it, fantastic watch
Thank you and I'm glad you enjoyed it - what a night - unique for sure and thank you for watching.
@@theconsummatespeaker Thank you for putting it together, it is a genuine gem for geeks such as myself. I work in marketing too and have just sent a Linkedin request. Would be great to discuss more :)
I really appreciate your comment - thank you. It took 12 months to put together, but it was worth it :)
@@grumpy_car_nut Please send me your Linked in again - I have missed it - apologies.
what a SUPERCOOL, ELEVATING event ❣
...and I definitely second the very justified appraisal by His Capacity Doug Nye
It was a pleasure and a privilege as a 'McLaren old boy' to co organise and present it (1984/1988) more to come in 24' :)
Ayrton Senna LEGEND FOREVER ❤
💗 absolutely
I'm so envious - in the sense that all these people were able to share a common mission statement working for one company for so long. I too have known such a feeling but it was all too brief, alas, it came to an end after roughly 4 years. It's in that context I am so envious that all these people shared their wonderful friendships and teamwork for so many decades.
You are so right - all of us who worked for Ron and the Team and the early guys and girls too, all cherish our times ;)
That picture of Mika and Ron at the montage at the end 🥲
It was fantastic to see them together again. It was a very special night and I'm glad so many people are enjoying it from the video ;)
As 'm long , long F1 fan, I can't explain what McLaren means to me. Many of the characters who should be here are no longer with us, but they are definitely there. Mclaren is not only a symbol of the top racing team. This is a team of people who give great pleasure to watch what is our common passion. Racing and competition. Thank you for many happy times to watch that team.
Glad to hear you're a true McLaren fan - Matthew and I are also pleased you enjoyed the video.
Absolutely brilliant to see so many great people together again.
Perhaps a similar get-together could be arranged for 2024 - 40 years since the great championship battle of Lauda/Prost?
Many thanks - I'm not sure I'm ready for another 12 months of preparation work yet 🤣
I have been so lucky - been at factory three times, have been at British GP 28 times - sang with Dc, walked ten miles to get in to see a McLaren 1-2 in 2000, can’t get enough of McLaren
Thank you for this beautiful production showing the friendship, passion and its human side of all the effort and creativity put into this giant leap of mankind what McLaren F1 is in the world of racing.
It has been a pleasure and thank you for your kind words.
Thank you very much for sharing this event with us. Just a little bit « sad » that parts of Sir Dennis inspiring speech was somehow cut around the end. But thanks !
Glad you enjoyed it - we only edited a couple of bits as the comments were of a very personal and team nature to those old McLaren boys and girls present. I trust you'll understand that.
Here from BBv10's!
Welcome and thanks for taking a look - a great event with much history and emotion - I hope you enjoy it.
I felt like I was in the audience and part of the family.
Thank you John - then my job as MC worked as I hoped it would 😎
Ron Dennis 🙏
A unique boss who demanded and provided the best of everything...
Did Gordon Murray even get an invite?! Probably said: "I will only go if I am acknowledged as the sole chief designer of the MP4/4
The event was open to all members of the McLaren Old Boys and Girls Association.
RON DENNIS made Maclaren simple as that,
As Bernie Ecclestone once said to me…”Bruce McLaren started the team, Ron made it” - very true words 🙏
Totally! Ron Dennis made McLaren! Just think of what he turned it into and the drivers …….Lauda, Prost and the greatest of them all…….Senna! Just imagine if he could have walked on stage!
Whenever Ayrton's name is mentioned, people still hush. He was very special and that is why we were so pleased the Senna family joined us in November on that special gathering.
DC was and always will be a star driver - he's one who saw the opportunities which is why we still see so much of him on TV thankfully
Let's not forget Emerson Fittipaldi who was world champion with McLaren...
He sure was and it was great to have him on video live that night for our guests.
Bring back V10's sent me
And very welcome you are too Alex - thanks for watching the 60th - the 50th on the channel is good too! :)
Bring Back V10s sent me here.
My thanks to them, and for watching the 60th - it was a fantastic night, never to be repeated.
And very welcome you are too - I hope you enjoyed the 60th as much as I enjoyed my years at McLaren?
David coulthard on it don't forget he won 13 races for them and drove after a plane crash with broken ribs
DC was always a star and great to work with - sadly he was not available the night of the event.
Did they put Steve Nichols and Gordon Murray at the same table for fun!
Steve sat with the Senna's Mika H, Ron Dennis, John Barnard and some others ;)
Great seeing barnard and watty. Was Alastair Caldwell invited? Surprised RD was there considering how he left
Yes, AC was present as he was at the 50th. It was a pleasure and hugely satisfying that RD accepted our invitation and it meant a great deal to all there.
Senna!
For me and many others, the greatest driver and human being of all time - purely personal, but that's my feeling having worked with him at McLaren and Williams. ;)
Notice Senna family absent from the photo shoot....not in the same shot as Newey....who also did not attend the 94 funeral
Viviane and Bianca had travelled overnight from Miami and Portugal to be with us - once they left the stage, they made their apologies and headed for some well earnt rest.
Wow Adrian Newey
THE most successful designer of all time and a great mate from the Williams days we spent together. It was super fun having him and Martin together.
@@theconsummatespeaker So much of it is gift and tother much perspiration. Where would you say the former came from, that has enabled him to have had a distinct insight and edge over the competition.?
1:15:50 my favorite part, at least he kept it real😂
;)
McLaren will always be sullied by the loss of Ron Dennis which was down to their owners/shareholders.
Things move on but Ron's comments in the video clearly state the facts on what can never be taken away x
Bruce drove number 4 car the same number lando has
was gordon murray there?
Hmmn.. Interesting question. Although he masterminded their first iconic road car the F1 and developed racing GT variants thereafter, nowadays there would probably be a bit of a conflict of interest. He has a rival company GMA (Gordon Murray Automotive).
That said, I'd definitely invite Gordon, since he is a quintessential part of their history.
So it's not only max Martin does not like he does not like jos as well
No Gordon Murray?
No, he was not present.
Very strange Gorden took McLaren to the next level and put them on the street car map with the F1 considered the best car ever built
Did Hamilton or any of the papaya crew make an appearance?
Our dear friend and designer Neil Oatley was there - a LONG time McLaren man through thick and thin!
What happened to David Tremaine's voice? Mormons lol.
Poor David was struggling that evening as was Jo Ramirez. You can always rely on JB for a comment or two...:0
Kaikki olis jo ohi in 1222
沒有丹尼斯，麥拿倫不會有今天的。
Please see my earlier comments - very true
The only time McLaren sunk to the depths of mediocrity was the Honda partnership in 2015-2017. What a disaster. Blaming Honda?😂😂
Bruce and Ron are McLaren, shameful how they treated Ron
Please see my comment to @ducati916SPS :)
It was sad to see all these badly dressed old men. I thought the English had style
I don't know what you mean regarding their dress sense. It's commendable they made it in the first instance. Oh, and by the way, neither of us are far behind. Do remember those words..
Looked as exciting as a funeral
Hopefully, you will not have the pleasure of attending a wake anytime soon. Especially if it's close to home.
These big events tend to get a bit pompous…
Mika was funny though 🙂
And sir Ron. Hats off!