Surrey (United Kingdom), Sep 2 (IANS): McLaren Group, which runs one of the oldest teams in Formula 1, celebrated its 50th anniversary at the company headquarters here Monday.

Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited was formally incorporated Sep 2 1963, when the 26-year-old New Zealander mustered together a small crew of committed individuals to design, build and race cars bearing his own name, operating from a small, cramped workshop in New Malden here.

Bruce took the team into F1 at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix - and, since that day, has gone on to win 12 drivers' and 8 constructors' championships.

Elsewhere, the team dominated the iconic North American CanAm sports car series, taking 43 wins between 1967 and 1972, won the Indy 500 three times between ’72 and ’76, and took the Le Mans 24 Hours on its first attempt, in 1995.

Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and Lewis Hamilton are some of the big names to have driven for the team.

Ron Dennis, McLaren Group chairman, said: “McLaren started as the dream of one man, and it’s since grown to encompass the hopes and dreams of more than 2000 men and women, who work as tirelessly as Bruce McLaren himself once did to ensure that everything we do reflects well when compared with everything we’ve ever achieved.

“So, our 50th anniversary provides an opportunity for every single McLaren employee to realise that he or she is an utterly crucial part of an organisation with a history and a culture that really mean something."