Usually, if McLaren were to finish a Formula 1 season with 76 points and sixth in the standings, it would be a shocking season.

Unless of course, you scored just 29 the season before that and placed ninth in the standings, then it was a good season.

Good by those standards, but not McLaren standards. We are talking about a team who have won 182 Grand Prix, 12 driver titles and eight constructor crowns.

Legends of the past, Emmerson Fiitipaldi, Niki Lauda, James Hunt, Alain Prost, Mika Hakkinen, Nigel Mansell have all raced for the Woking team, as of course did Bruce himself, and the man who many see as the greatest of all-time, Ayrton Senna. 

What Senna would make of the disaster that is Honda would make for interesting reading, seeing as he won his three titles driving a McLaren-Honda.

Past glory can only get you so far. McLaren's record is one of the most impressive in motorsport, but if they are not careful, the road to the top could be about to get a lot longer.

Team Stats 

Founded - 1963

Frist GP: Monaco 1966

First Win - Belgium 1968

Races started - 801

Wins - 182

Poles - 155

Fastest laps - 153

Points - 5,116.5

Drivers' titles - 12 (1974, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998,1999, 2008)   

Constructors' titles - 8 (1974, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998)

Executive Director - Zak Brown

COO - Jonathan Neale 

Racing Director - Eric Boullier 

Chief Technical Officer - Tim Goss 

Fernando Alonso

Had he scored 11 more points in his career, two more in 2007, five in 2010 and four in 2012, Fernando Alonso would be a five-time World Champion. 

As it is, he is just a double title winner, and carries the tag of unluckiest driver in F1 today. 

Luck often hasn't been on Fernando Alonso's side, and he has often been in the wrong place, at the wrong time. (Image Credit: Sutton Images)
Luck often hasn't been on Fernando Alonso's side, and he has often been in the wrong place, at the wrong time. (Image Credit: Sutton Images)

At 35, time is running out for Alonso to claim the third title he craves so much, driviing dogs of cars and a Red Bull/Mercedes domination period doesn't help that quet much, but Alonso still hasn't given up hope. 

His stats are amongst the best in the history of the sport, and shows that when he is given a half-decent car, he will deliver. Just imagine what he could do in a decent car. 

Born - 29th July 1981, Oviedo, Spain

Age - 35

Race Number - 14

Debut - Australia 2001

First Win - Hungary 2003

Races started - 272

Wins - 32

Poles - 22 

Fastest laps - 22 

Points - 1,832

Titles - 2 (2005,2006)

Stoffel Vandoorne 

Not quite a rookie, Stoffel Vandoorne knows that he has arguably the toughest job in F1, being team-mate to Alonso.

The 24-year-old Belgian racer has already started a race, in Bahrain last year, replacing th injured Alonso and scoring a point, he also competed in Japanese Super Formula  in 2016, to integrate him with the Honda engineers he'll be working with this season. 

Stoffel Vandoorne will be wanting to make a mark against Alonso quickly to establish himself. (Image Credit: @McLarenF1 Twitter)
Stoffel Vandoorne will be wanting to make a mark against Alonso quickly to establish himself. (Image Credit: @McLarenF1 Twitter)

A utterly dominant GP2, (now FIA Formula 2) campaign in 2015, saw him leap-frog his way to the top of the McLaren young driver programme and the team know all his strengths and weaknesses. 

This year, there can be no excuses. 

Born - 26th March 1992 - Kortrijk, Belgium

Age - 24

Race Number - 2

Debut - Bahrain 2016

First win - N/A

Races started - 1

Wins - 0

Poles - 0

Fastest laps - 0

Points - 1

Titles - 0