Live Stream: McLaren MCL36 Launch. Regular winners again?

The Woking-based team is the second most successful in the sport's history with 493 podiums, among them 183 Grand Prix victories since Bruce McLaren raced his self-built cars at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix.

The team has since been F1 constructors' champions since then in 1974, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1998.

Drivers' who won titles in a McLaren are among the who-is-who of F1 greats: 1974 (Emerson Fittipaldi), 1976 (James Hunt), 1984 (Niki Lauda), 1985 (Alain Prost), 1986 (Alain Prost), 1988 (Ayrton Senna), 1989 (Alain Prost), 1990 (Ayrton Senna), 1991 (Ayrton Senna), 1998 (Mika Hakkinen), 1999 (Mika Hakkinen) and 2008 (Lewis Hamilton).

During the glory years of the Ron Dennis era, there was a decline a decade into the new century as the McLaren supremo lost grip on the team before being ousted.

In his place came Zak Brown who has turned the McLaren around after a slow start. But now with a head of steam the team under the American marketing guru and pure racing man is gathering momentum, with a strong season last year signalling a big turnaround.

While the ethos of the team has changed significantly, it has gone full circle in a manner that would please founder Bruce McLaren whose orange cars graced the circuits of not only F1, but also a big presence in sportscar racing, USAC (IndyCar of the time) and Can-Am.

Under Dennis, the focus was primarily on F1 but now, under Brown, McLaren has broadened its involvement in global motorsports racing with programmes in Indycar, GT and endurance sports car racing as well as Formula E in the near future.

The McLaren MCL36, still the most important element of their racing projects carries not only the hopes and dreams of the team but their legion of fans that have suffered upon hard times over the past decade.

After the glory years of Hamilton's title win and, before that, last century in which they were a top force in F1 for decades, the past dozen or so years have been miserable for the once mightiest of teams.

Last year's Ricciardo-Norris one-two at Monza is sure to have lured McLarenistas who lost hope but now can rally their support for this next era with the team in good hands under Brown and his lieutenant Andreas Seidl, who have the motorsport giant turned and heading in the right direction.

Heading to the new season, with a more level playing field expected, McLaren have every reason to be buoyant with Norris, one of the great young talents to emerge in recent years, signed up until the end of 2025 a sure sign of the team's faith in their driver.

The Englishman will be alongside 32-year-old Daniel Ricciardo, albeit enduring a disappointing first season with the team, the Australian is a proven winner with the right kit and when on top of his game.

How the next chapter of the McLaren legend evolves (tears or joy) hinges on how good the MCL36 will be. Time will tell!