Proud Kiwi Liam Lawson fumed from the sidelines every time McLaren won a race in 2024. Not because he has anything against Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, but because the team’s identity has turned out to be the exact opposite of what he would have liked.
The founder and original owner of the Woking-based outfit, Bruce McLaren, was a New Zealander. He established the team, made it a big name in F1, and also drove in the series himself. Unfortunately, he operated out of the United Kingdom, and the McLaren name—as a company—became British.
So, when Norris or Piastri celebrate on the top step, ‘God save the King’ plays on the speakers. “That’s bullsh*t,” Lawson said about this.
“Makes no sense, you know. It’s a New Zealand team. The name is still McLaren…It is what it is, like honestly, especially if you are from New Zealand…Bruce McLaren is an absolute legend,” the RB driver said on the Red Flags Podcast. When the hosts asked him if it felt like a ‘slap in the face’, he agreed.
McLaren has won five times in 2024, which means Lawson had to hear the ‘incorrect’ anthem play in front of millions around the world on each of those occasions. But is the 22-year-old’s claim justified?
Is Lawson’s anger justified?
Bruce was from New Zealand, yes, but the company McLaren was always British and made its debut in F1 in 1966. After Bruce died during testing in 1970, British motorsport mogul Ron Dennis bought it as a part of his ‘Project Four Racing’ a decade later.
Since then, McLaren has been completely British-owned, with Dennis taking the team to new levels of success with legendary drivers like Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna. McLaren also started making sports and luxury cars in the UK, making it a British stable through and through.
Our first F1 victory.
On this day in 1968, Bruce McLaren won the Belgian Grand Prix to take the team’s first win in @F1! pic.twitter.com/lyup5SCctP
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) June 9, 2024
In his bold interview, Lawson cited Red Bull as an example. He explained that while the team is headquartered in Milton Keynes, the United Kingdom, they still play the Austrian national anthem to celebrate victories since the parent company, Red Bull GmbH, is based in Austria.
Sadly, nothing will change at McLaren since there is no part of the team that has direct ties to New Zealand anymore.
