Tyler Alexander: A Life and Times at McLaren

by Tyler Alexander       Foreword by Bernie Ecclestone

“Tyler was a man for all seasons; whether it was Formula One, Indy car racing, or Can-Am, he was at the forefront.” —Jackie Stewart

Bruce McLaren. Denny Hulme. Peter Revson. Johnny Rutherford. Mario Andretti. Niki Lauda. Ayrton Senna. Lewis Hamilton. Tyler Alexander has worked with some of the greatest drivers in racing history, as well as such influential figures as Roger Penske, Bernie Ecclestone, Carl Haas, Paul Newman, and Adrian Newey.

In A Life and Times with McLaren, Tyler Alexander tells the story of his remarkable four-decade career. In 1964 he helped found the McLaren racing team along with Bruce McLaren and Teddy Mayer. As a mechanic, engineer, and team manager, Alexander played a key role in the development of McLaren’s cars and the team’s early successes in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500, and the Can-Am series.

After scoring Indianapolis 500 victories with driver Johnny Rutherford in 1974 and 1976, Alexander left McLaren in the early 1980s to join the new Mayer Motor Racing team. A decade later he returned to McLaren—in time to participate in the team’s run of success in the late 1990s with drivers Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen. In 2008, his final year with the team saw McLaren score its most recent Formula One championship with brilliant newcomer Lewis Hamilton. 

A Life and Times with McLaren tells what it was like to work with some of the greatest names in motorsport, and reveals the technical ingenuity, hard work, and luck required to sustain a successful team. The book is fully illustrated with hundreds of photographs, and includes testimonials and contributions from old friends like Mario Andretti, Roger Penske, and Jackie Stewart. 

Bruce McLaren and the racing team he created have been the subject of many books, but none told in such detail from the inside. Required reading for McLaren fans, the book also covers Alexander’s years with other teams, such as Mayer Motor Racing, Carl Haas’s FORCE F1 team, and Newman/Haas Racing. 

Universally respected within the racing community for his experience, work ethic, and honesty, Tyler Alexander deserves to be better known to a wider audience of fans. In A Life and Times with McLaren, Tyler tells his own story in his own unique style.

Hardcover | 456 pages | 47 black-and-white and 110 color photos