What happened to McLaren in the mid-1990s?

[Malbec]

Perhaps they realise that current technology is only a stopgap and hybrids and fuel cells is the long term future.

But converting the engine range to smaller capacity turbocharged engines in the same way as VW, BMW and Mercedes are doing now costs relatively little compared to developing an entirely new technology like fuel cell. Also, the vast majority of cars sold today are bread and butter petrol and Diesel engined vehicles so it doesn't make sense to keep them relatively uncompetitive in a market where taxation based on engine capacity and CO2 emissions is rapidly becoming the norm.

But this is wandering a long way away from McLaren's dip in performance. But they have bounced back into contention, which Lotus, Brabham etc didn't and Williams don't seem to be able to do

Credit has to go to Ron Dennis himself who seems to understand very well what corporations want from a sponsorship tie-up with an F1 team. IMO only McLaren, Ferrari and to some extent Sauber have shown really professional attitudes towards their corporate sponsors which is why all three teams have had longstanding partnerships (BMW's purchase and sale of Sauber notwithstanding). The fact that companies like Santander carried on sponsoring them even after choosing to follow Alonso to Ferrari speaks volumes, and its well known that the McLaren drivers have a more rigorous sponsor promotion schedule than any other team.

Ron has proven to be ruthless when he needs to be. He supposedly asked Honda execs in 1986 whether they knew of anyone who had won championships while paralysed (referring to SFW's recent accident where he had spinal injuries) and replying "me neither" when they answered in the negative. He's also been very very lucky in that he's had good partners too. Philip Morris came to McLaren as part of the deal that got Ron Dennis in charge and stayed with him for more than a decade, and his partnerships with West, Honda and Mercedes since have all been very positive and benign in stark contrast to, say, BMW who IMO were poisonous to both Williams and Sauber despite their money and engine expertise.

Ultimately I think it says a lot that McLaren not only came back from the brink in the mid-'90s but has gone on to expand into many other industry sectors including sportscar manufacturing. Not many teams have managed anything similar in recent years. The fact that that was possible has to be down to a significant extent to Ron's management.