See the evolution of McLaren F1 cars in one GIF.If you dig racecars and history, you'll enjoy the .gif file on display below. It comes to us from the folks at automotive parts website PartCatalog.com^[1], and it shows how McLaren's^[2] Formula 1 cars have changed from the very first one to this season's black and orange Honda-powered machine. And they have certainly changed. That very first car had scarcely an aerodynamic aid to the radically winged racer of today.It's also interesting to see how driver positioning has changed over the years. Through the '70s and '80s, the driver was pushed farther and farther to the front. Then in the '90s and '00s, the driver started to be pushed back to the middle, and longer noses became common.

This .gif file isn't just interesting for seeing how the cars have changed, though. It also features some of the most famous F1 cars of all time. Fans of vintage F1 racing and of the film Rush^[3] may recognize the McLaren M23 James Hunt^[4] piloted to a championship victory over rival Nicki Lauda^[5] in 1976. There's also the 1985 McLaren MP4/2B that was the last McLaren Nicki Lauda would drive, and the car that would take Alain Prost^[6] to a championship. Prost's rival Ayrton Senna^[7] also has a car in this .gif, and that's the 1988 Honda-powered car he drove to his first ever championship. There are many other cars in this .gif we don't have time to cover though, but you can learn more about them and the cars we mentioned by checking out McLaren's great history page^[8]. Each car there has a brief profile covering the stats, and lengthier articles with more background. It's a great way to spend a morning.

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