There aren’t many Formula 1 teams out there that lay claim to having been around for half a century. Ferrari is one of them, and the other is McLaren that is now celebrating celebrates 50 years of racing at the highest level.

Many of you may remember the touching video tribute to its founder, Bruce McLaren, released early this year. McLaren Automotive, the company’s carmaking arm, probably offered the best gift so far – the production version of the McLaren P1 supercar, released this year at the Geneva motor show, not to mention the anniversary editions McLaren 12C and 12C Spider.

And the surprises continue, it seems, as McLaren has released “Tooned 50”, an animation series that will honor key figures and moments from the F1 team’s 50 years of history. In fact, this is the second season of McLaren’s “Tooned” series launched in 2012, which focused on Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button’s adventures. Only this time Hamilton has been replaced with Sergio Perez.

Available to watch on McLaren’s YouTube channel, the first two episodes concentrate on the genesis of McLaren, particularly on Bruce McLaren, the New Zealander that started the team in 1963.

Being a cartoon, the series presents the McLaren legends in a funny way, with future guest appearances including James Hunt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen and the team’s current drivers, Button and Perez. No word on Hamilton though…

You can watch both episodes below, plus a making of video that details the new season.

By Dan Mihalascu

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