Categories: Look backRace and classic pictures

Launching McLaren's last title-winner

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On this day in 2008, McLaren launched the MP4-23, the car which would take Lewis Hamilton to his first world championship in only his second season in F1. Hamilton and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen were joined in Stuttgart eight years ago by Bernie Ecclestone as well as Ron Dennis and chiefs from Mercedes. Hamilton's title remains the last championship won by McLaren.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.