McLaren just won back-to-back Formula 1 Constructors' Championships, and the company is continuing to focus on building supercars. CBS News' Michelle Miller takes a look at what it takes to make a winner.

Upper West Side

McLaren Racing has achieved back-to-back Formula One championships while simultaneously expanding its luxury road car business, particularly in the United States. The company attributes its rapid growth to a focus on engineering excellence, employing Formula One engineers in its road car division, and innovations such as the carbon fiber monocel chassis, which has become an industry standard for safety and efficiency.

Founded by Bruce McLaren in 1963, the brand continues to honor its racing heritage while appealing to a diverse clientele who value performance and the driving experience. With significant investments in the U.S. market and a range of high-performance models, McLaren's road cars have become increasingly popular, especially among American drivers who use their vehicles more frequently than the average supercar owner.

How McLaren is revolutionizing Formula 1 racing

I thought your job was to build the fastest car on the planet. My job is wind, so it helps to feel it. That looks good. It's a scene from F1. Brad Pitt's box office smash that put a spotlight on McLaren Racing. The movie was filmed on location at its headquarters in England, while the team was winning back-to-back Formula One championships. McLaren started selling road cars here in the U.S. about 14 years ago. Michelle Miller got an exclusive look at what it takes to make a winner. Months before the season even ended, Team McLaren took the checkered flag, earning Formula One bragging rights for the second year in a row. Well, what does it take to win a championship? Perfection. For Nicholas Brown, president of McLaren Automotive in the Americas, that perfection extends to the open road. Just 14 years ago, the company launched its sports car line for civilians, at least those who can afford one. The W1 starts at $2.2 million globally. I didn't ask for price. I didn't go there, everybody. And Americans are buying more than anyone else in the world. One reason the company invested $10 million in a vehicle processing center in Baltimore. How do you explain its rapid rise? Focus. McLaren is also the only automotive company that has so many Formula One and motorsports engineers working on the road car program. At its core, it's about building supercars. Every car is born at the McLaren Technology Center, just outside of London. Pop it open. Headquarters for both its racing and automotive divisions. So we're actually taking you somewhere that we never take people through to. Brand ambassador Daniel Dalton showed me around. So we have currently, within our roster of cars, we have a 750 Spyder and Coupe, we have a GTS, and we have an Artura Spyder and Coupe, but they're all in this production line. Here, personality and innovation drive everything, from McLaren's signature papaya orange to its specialty dehedral doors, engine revs, and most notably, the fit around every driver, thanks to a carbon fiber chassis known as the monocel. So this is where everything starts. It's one of the most important things that we have within all our McLaren road cars. Lightweight, aerodynamic, a feat of modern engineering, it changed the game, cutting production time from eight weeks to three hours, but safety is its selling point, revolutionizing the sport, a technology that's now the industry standard. This is actually the world's largest collection of motorsport trophies. So these are all 2025 trophies in here. All of them? Yes. And then we put some in the next cabinet. Stop bragging. This is Bruce. This is Bruce. This is Bruce. This is Bruce. And this is Bruce immortalized standing on the top of the Belgian Grand Prix, the first race win, 1968. A native New Zealander, Bruce McLaren came to Britain with an idea to push boundaries in racing. In 1963, he built a team that did. And it's a triumph for the McLaren cars. He was a driver, he was an innovator, he was an engineer, he was a mechanic, he was the whole team. Both McLarens are going like a bomb. But all of it came from building or rebuilding this little Austin 7 with his dad when he was just 13 years old and cutting his teeth and learning his craft. More than six decades later, his other dream, the road car, is securing McLaren's future. And America is a big part of it. Our customers love to drive. And owners will drive three times as much or put three times as many miles on their vehicles as the average supercar clients. To get a feel for that. So you're going to let me get behind the wheel? Absolutely. That's the only way to experience McLaren. We borrowed an Artura Spyder from a classic car club in midtown Manhattan. You ready? I'm ready. Ready to close the door? Yeah. Okay. One, two, three. New York City rush hour. Not the best conditions for a test drive. But when traffic cleared. It just has such great pickup. I want to go fast. I want this car. There are no cops anywhere around. Now that's what I'm talking about. 14 years. I mean from zero to like 200 in not even two decades. Yes. Our clients here love the heritage. They love Bruce's story. They love the connection with racing. And these are individuals that love to drive and that's the red thread that spans all demographics and walks of life. A high performance luxury sports car supplied with as much sticker shock as runway to dream. For CBS Mornings, I'm Michelle Miller flying down Manhattan's west side.

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