Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing driver, automotive designer, engineer and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1958 to 1970.

He founded McLaren in 1963, who have since won nine World Constructors' Championship titles and remain the only team to have completed the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

After a winless 1961 season for Cooper, Brabham won the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix, finishing third in the championship to Graham Hill and Jim Clark.

Cooper struggled for performance from 1963 to 1965 as Lotus, BRM and Ferrari dominated the championship, prompting McLaren to enter Formula One with his own team.

Outside of Formula One, McLaren competed in nine editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1959 to 1969, winning in 1966 alongside Chris Amon in the Ford GT40 Mk II.

His legacy has been cemented with the McLaren Group, whose achievements have included winning nine World Constructors' Championships, two Indianapolis 500s,[c] and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995.

Howie, born in the Australian state of South Australia, had relocated to New Zealand and married a publican’s daughter whilst residing there.

After returning to South Australia, he fell in love with, and subsequently began a relationship with Frances Moyle, a married woman with three children.

Because of his obvious potential, the New Zealand International Grand Prix organisation selected him for its 'Driver to Europe' scheme designed to give a promising Kiwi driver year-round experience with the best in the world.

McLaren joined the Cooper factory F1 team alongside Jack Brabham in 1959 and won the 1959 United States Grand Prix at age 22 years 104 days,[8] becoming the youngest ever GP winner (not including the Indianapolis 500) up to that time.

McLaren left Cooper at the end of 1965, and announced his own GP racing team, with co-driver and fellow Kiwi Chris Amon.

The Ken Miles-Denny Hulme entry crossed the line first but had travelled less distance due to the Le Mans style start.

McLaren noticed that his team's cars were less innovative than the Chaparrals of rival driver/designer Jim Hall, but their superior reliability was rewarded by race and championship victories.

That culture continued after his death and, when Ron Dennis bought the team, was reinforced by the lessons learned in his early career as a race mechanic.

Bruce McLaren died aged 32 when his Can-Am car crashed on the Lavant Straight just before Woodcote corner at Goodwood Circuit in England on 2 June 1970.

Referring to the death of teammate Timmy Mayer, McLaren had written: The news that he had died instantly was a terrible shock to all of us, but who is to say that he had not seen more, done more and learned more in his few years than many people do in a lifetime?

[13] (key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) * McLaren was ineligible to score points in the 1958 German Grand Prix because he was driving a Formula Two car.