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| | Wednesday, October 27 | |||||
| LONDON -- Six McLaren drivers, including Finland's Mika Hakkinen, have won the Formula One world championship for McLaren. The following is a look at their records:
1998: Mika Hakkinen (Finland) Hakkinen suffered a huge crash in Adelaide in 1995 but battled back to the top and triumphed at Suzuka last season to become Finland's second F1 world champion. 1991, 1990, 1988: Ayrton Senna (Brazil) The late Brazilian's third title win made history for McLaren as the only F1 team to have won four consecutive drivers' and constructors' titles. The greatest driver of his generation, Senna won 35 races for McLaren in a career studded with brilliance and controversy. He won his first title with a brilliant drive in the rain at Suzuka in 1988 to triumph by three points, despite winning fewer races than teammate and runner-up Alain Prost. But he lost out the following year to Prost after a collision on the first corner in Japan. The Frenchman withdrew, Senna continued and won only to be disqualified. In 1990 Senna gained his revenge at Suzuka and rammed the stunned Prost's Ferrari off at the first corner. Senna died at Imola in the San Marino Grand Prix on May 1, 1994 after his Williams hit a concrete wall. 1989, 1986, 1985: Alain Prost (France) Nicknamed "The Professor" because of his calculated and thoughtful manner, Prost was the most successful driver in Grand Prix racing with a record 51 GP wins and four titles in all. His 1986 win came after Briton Nigel Mansell suffered a dramatic puncture in the final race in Australia. Prost won with 72 points to the unlucky Mansell's 70. The 1989 triumph ran into added controversy after Senna was disqualified in Japan by the French head of the world body FIA for accepting illegal assistance after he and Prost collided. Prost, who did not finish, won the title by four points. The Frenchman now runs his own team. 1984: Niki Lauda (Austria) The Austrian had retired two years previously, but he returned for his third and final title, beating teammate Prost by just a half-point in the closest winning margin. The Frenchman had won the penultimate race at the Nuerburgring and the title went to the wire in Portugal. Prost started the race on the front row, Lauda in ninth place. The Austrian spun trying to overtake, but helped by several cars retiring, worked his way doggedly up to finish second behind Prost and snatch the title. 1976 - James Hunt (Britain) Lauda, making a remarkable return after his near-fatal crash, led the championship by three points with only the Japanese race remaining. Faced with heavy rain and atrocious visibility, Lauda withdrew after two laps saying it was "total bloody stupidity out there." Hunt led, but needed a late tire change. Mario Andretti took over the lead and the Briton finished third to take the title by one point. 1974: Emerson Fittipaldi (Brazil) The first Brazilian to win the F1 world title, triumphing with Lotus in 1972. Fittipaldi was then runner-up to Jackie Stewart in 1973 before moving to McLaren where he regained the title with three wins. | ALSO SEE Ferrari's Formula One champions
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