The passing this week of Tyler Alexander, at age 75, is significant on many levels.
First, he had been an influential figure in worldwide racing for half a century.
Second, he was one of the founders of the McLaren racing organization.
And third, he was an American in Formula One, a sport where American participation is rare.
In 1963, Alexander was recruited by New Zealand race-car designer, engineers, and driver Bruce McLaren to help establish the McLaren team. In the early years Alexander worked alongside Bruce McLaren and fellow American Teddy Mayer in F1, first as chief mechanic and then chief engineer. Beginning in the late 1960s, Alexander ran the team’s successful program in the US, first in the CanAm sportscar championship and then in Indycar racing, before returning to F1 in 1979.
The McLaren company continued to operate following Bruce McLaren’s 1970 death in a testing crash, first with Mayer at the helm and Alexander as a director, before Englishman Ron Dennis took over in 1981. In 1983 Alexander sold his interest and left the company, returning to the US to join Mayer in running an Indycar team. That Indycar team recruited as young engineer by the name of Adrian Newey, who is now Red Bull’s chief technical officer and the most successful design engineer in F1 with world titles at Williams, McLaren and Red Bull.
In 1989, Ron Dennis re-hired Alexander to be McLaren’s special projects engineer, and during the next two decades the McLaren organization won six drivers’ and five constructors’ world titles with Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and Lewis Hamilton.
Alexander retired in 2008. In a statement posted on the McLaren website, Ron Dennis said: “Tyler was one of the finest of the old school: hardy, humble and wise, leaving a reputation and a legacy that will remain indelible in the history of international motorsport.”
The glory in Formula One racing, as in any form of racing, generally goes to the driver. But Tyler Alexander will be long remembered for his many accomplishments outside of the cockpit. 
