The past few years have been lean ones for McLaren. The Formula One team hasn’t won a driver’s championship since 2008 when Lewis Hamilton picked up the first of his four titles. And it’s 20 years since it topped the constructors’ standings, when it partnered with Mercedes in 1998.
Much has changed in that time, not least the way the sport evolved under the stewardship of Bernie Ecclestone, his negotiation of bigger television rights and his expansion of F1’s global footprint, before selling the sport on to Liberty Media. And the days are long gone when it was enough for...