HISTORY OF McLAREN |
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TIME LINE - THE 1990s1990Model: MP4/5B Prost's defection to Ferrari also saw Steve Nichols leave McLaren, but Neil Oatley's design from the previous season had been successful and he was entrusted with what became a B version of the same car. It incorporated different front suspension, revisions to the six speed transverse gearbox, aerodynamic profile changes and a multi-arch diffuser which was ultimately discarded. Senna's new teammate, Gerhard Berger, didn't fit into this new design, however, in spite of initial changes to the car, and it was no surprise that Gerhard was somewhat downhearted until further changes almost resolved the problem at mid-season. Senna, meanwhile, was leading from the front. Indeed, he led every race of the season apart from Hungary where he harried Thierry Boutsen to the flag, and Suzuka, where he punted Prost off at the first corner to claim the championship. Against a continued backdrop of acrimony with the governing body from the previous year, McLaren claimed the first race at Phoenix, in spite of the late completion of their cars. Berger set pole position but Senna would be on pole for the next four and then Berger. In all, Senna started from pole ten times during the year. But Prost at Ferrari proved a formidable opponent with team-mate Mansell, and Williams's pairing of Boutsen and Patrese also had their fair share of success. Honda again supplied McLaren with a variety of engines which often suffered power loss during the year, while McLaren themselves suffered a drop in performance mid season. Typically, they reacted well and returned to claim both titles, only the second time that the Constructors' series had been won three times in a row. Drivers' Championship: 1st, Senna, 78pts; 4th, Berger, 43 pts 1991Model: MP4/6 For the fourth time in as many years and the third time with Honda McLaren had a different engine specification to use. Otherwise, things were pretty much the same, apart from Henri Durand helping chief designer Neil Oatley on the aerodynamics side of the latest car. The new engine and its thirst not surprisingly, demanded several changes to the car's layout. Front suspension was changed twice during the year, while both the gearbox and the chassis itself were changed, the former being operated automatically and the latter being more rigid. Aerodynamics were also changed. Honda's decision to go to V12 configuration did result in a greater thirst in comparison to the V10s of the opposition, but it was also tricky for the team's own TAG engine management system to keep abreast of development both in fuel and engine terms. This resulted in Senna running out of fuel twice during the season, at Silverstone and then two weeks later at Hockenheim. But the season had started brilliantly with a quartet of victories, including an emotional if troubled win at home at Interlagos. One retirement and two thirds to Williams were followed by those two retirements, but Senna came back superbly with a flag to flag win in Budapest and then leading home a great one two in Spa, in spite of gearbox problems as in Brazil. The subsequent two second places should have been enough to clinch the championship, but for previous problems, but a generous second to teammate Berger in Suzuka was sufficient to clinch the title with the seventh win of the year in Australia, the icing on the cake. It was Senna's third title, McLaren's fourth in succession. Drivers' Championship: 1st, Senna, 96 pts; 4th, Berger, 43 pts 1992Model: MP4/6B then MP4/7A This was to be fifth and last season with Honda, and the third and final season that Gerhard Berger would drive for the team. Nevertheless, with Ayrton Senna still with the team and Honda, there were still expectations of huge promise. The team started with the previous year's MP4/6 until it was suddenly realised that perhaps the new car was going to be introduced as soon as possible, and it was used from Brazil onwards. Once again, the new car was the work of the team lead by Neil Oatley with several new features, fly by wire throttle being one of them, and a new method of making the monocoques. The gearbox was still transverse, but once again, revised. However, there were several shortcomings. The car was unpredictable in fast corners, while the latest Honda was scarcely more powerful than its precedessor and certainly just as thirsty, which of course, meant a weight penalty. In the days of ever more sophisticated V10s, this was a considerable handicap. Both drivers were in the points in the first race, Berger in the second and both retired their new cars in the third. Senna won in Monaco, Berger in Canada and then after two disappointments, Senna finished second in Germany and then won in Hungary and in Italy. Berger won in Australia, his swansong with McLaren. But in spite of three wins, Senna and his teammate were fourth and fifth respectively in the championship, and McLaren finished 65 points behind winners Williams in the Constructors' series. Drivers' Championship: 4th, Senna, 50 pts; 5th, Berger, 49 pts 1993Model: MP4/8 Having tested him a year or so before, Ron Dennis signed reigning IndyCar champion Michael Andretti for the 1993 season, even though Dennis hadn't revealed the source of the team's power unit, perhaps because it wasn't finalised until November of the previous year. It turned out to be a McLaren financed development of Ford's HB engine. However, it was a version behind that of Benetton until Silverstone, which was a disadvantage. What they lacked in straight horsepower, however, they hoped to pick up with mechanical sophistication, and that involved TAG's electronics, the light and economical engine, loads of electronic trickery including, of course, very advanced active suspension and traction control. In spite of a fine second to Prost at Kyalami, two superb races in the wet one at home and the legendary Donington victory and his sixth victory at Monaco, there was some doubt as to Senna's commitment and it became increasingly clear that he would turn his back on the team that had brought him three World Championships at the end of the season. Senna suffered few mechanical problems, although there was a third consecutive fuel related retirement at Silverstone. The year ended with two victories at Suzuka and then Adelaide, which was Senna's last and which promoted McLaren as the most successful Grand Prix team of all time. But they scored exactly half the points scored by winners Williams, although Senna was only 23 points behind World Champion Prost. But McLaren was pretty much a one driver team this year. A late regulation change meant that Andretti didn't have the laps available for him to learn circuits. His best race might have been at Imola before he went off, but after finishing third at Monza, he returned to the USA, to be replaced by Mika Hakkinen who promptly out qualified Senna in Portugal. That, in itself, signified the end of one era, the beginning of a new one. Drivers' Championship: 2nd, Senna, 73 pts; 11th=, Andretti, 7pts; 15=, Hakkinen, 4pts 1994Model: MP4/9 The only question mark over McLaren's long term future was its engine, and in 1993, the team ran with a Peugeot. It wasn't an entirely disastrous year but inevitably, Peugeot's arrival, the loss of Senna, new regulations, new drivers was going to take time to get used to. The new MP4/9 chassis was based on the Ford chassis from the previous year with slightly different aerodynamics and the facility to use a hand operated clutch for the first time. A fully automatic upchange facility in the gearbox was outlawed. The team also ran power steering for the first time, although the drivers preferred conventional steering on the faster circuits. The main problem was handling on slow corners, although a revised underbody and new rear wing made things better after the Hungarian Grand Prix. There were rule changes with the banning of traction control and other driver aids, and more after the tragic death of Ayrton Senna at San Marino in May. Peugeot's new engine made several steps forward during the year, but it had been difficult to define the cooling for the engine prior to running it, and then when it did run, it was in fairly cool conditions. However, when races were run in hot conditions, there were problems. Hakkinen was very highly motivated, scoring his first rostrum position in that devastating San Marino Grand Prix, with more consecutive thirds in Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Jerez, the downside being his accident in Hockenheim for which he was banned for a race, his place being taken by Philippe Alliot. But the fact remains that for the first time in its existence, McLaren International, now known as McLaren Racing, did not win a race. Before the end of the season, a long-term relationship had been signed with Mercedes-Benz. Drivers' Championship: 4th, Hakkinen, 26 pts; 7th, Brundle, 16pts 1995Model: MP4/10, MP4/10B and MP4/10C This was a year of ups and downs as McLaren coped with new drivers, a new engine partner, new regulations and new ideas. First of all, they were using their fourth different engine in as many years. And perhaps reviving a precedent, Ron Dennis insisted on engine design changes to accommodate new regulations, just as John Barnard had done with Porsche. But the Ilmor designed Mercedes engine was smaller than the previous year's Peugeot, so it wasn't too much of a problem for Neil Oatley's design team. The new car featured McLaren's first high nose and a wing atop the engine cover. Meanwhile the team's title sponsors insisted on high profile driver names and after he'd been turned down by Williams, Nigel Mansell was signed. But the MP4/10 not only suffered a major imbalance in testing, both drivers also found it lacked room. So a new, wider monocoque was designed and built for Mansell in 33 days who stood down for the first two races, replaced by Mark Blundell. But front end grip was still a problem and Mansell quit before Monaco, his place taken on a more permanent basis by the popular Blundell who usually qualified a couple of places behind teammate Hakkinen. The Finn finally got onto row two in Belgium following Ilmor's introduction of a revised engine and McLaren's new gearbox. There was no doubt that huge efforts were made by both teams. Hakkinen missed Aida due to appendicitis, his place taken by Magnussen while a week later, Hakkinen's third on the grid and second in the race was welcomed, but any optimism was cruelly dashed by his huge accident in Adelaide. Drivers' Championship: 7th, Hakkinen, 17 pts; 10th, Blundell, 13 pts 1996Model: MP4/11 This, perhaps, was a year of consolidation. Hakkinen had thankfully made a remarkable recovery and would improve on his previous year's performance. He was joined by David Coulthard, who came from front runners Williams but found life a little more difficult at McLaren. Ilmor fine tuned the Mercedes engines just as McLaren did the same with the MP4 chassis. Helping out were former McLaren employees Steve Nichols and Alain Prost. Although both engine and chassis were refinements of previous models, neither carried over much from either unit. There was massive detailed effort on the chassis, particularly on suspension, but once again imbalance proved a problem. The front wing mounting needed revision during a year when the drivers preferred the car in low downforce trim. It didn't like bumpy circuits. A short wheelbase version became the standard at mid season. From an engine point of view, there were huge revisions here too, working on mid range torque, while it was lighter than before with a five per cent increase in power. Engine response improve progressively during the season, and this year, McLaren chosen to drive its power through a longitudinal gearbox again. While there were no massive gains in terms of competitivity, the drivers did slowly make inroads into the Williams/Benetton domination. Coulthard finished second to Olivier Panis at Monaco, while Hakkinen had four third places. But at the end of the year, a 23 year old partnership drew to a close. Dennis, rather than accept a cut in budget from the current title sponsor, preferred to find a new major sponsor, and he did so. Drivers' Championship: 5th, Hakkinen, 31 pts; 7th, Coulthard, 18pts 1997Model: MP4/12
Once again, McLaren made further progress in 1997 with a stable driver pairing, even if they were now decked out in the new title Partner's livery. However, the biggest coup during the year had been the recruitment of Adrian Newey from Williams who joined Neil Oatley in the design department. The latest MP4 was totally new, with fastidious detailing which consistently impressed rivals. New technological innovations during the year included a fascinating secondary braking system. The team's engine partners were just as conscientious, their new engine at the start of the year featuring a new block with new positioning of systems to aid installation A further version of the engine was introduced at Barcelona. The combination still worried Coulthard, for whom any rear end stability was a problem, but even so, he won the opening race of the year in Australia and again at Monza. Hakkinen was gifted the first win of his career in the final race at Jerez. But that only tells half the story. They could also have won at Montreal, Silverstone, in Austria, the Nurburgring, and maybe Suzuka too which would have put a whole new complexion on their season. As it was, Coulthard was the higher placed of the drivers, and the team finished fourth, but clearly, there was much more potential, and with stability now established, further fine tuning would probably reap the required rewards. Drivers' Championship: 3rd, Coulthard, 36 pts; 6th, Hakkinen, 27 pts 1998Model: MP4/13
Adrian Newey's terms of employment restricted him from working for Team McLaren Mercedes before August of 1997, but that still gave him plenty of time during the year to think about a car that would conform to the strict new regulations, whilst maintaining the emphasis on safety that came into effect in 1998. Many designers were hard pressed to meet new crash test regulations but Newey had been able to work on a car that was safe and competitive. Some 12,000 man hours went into trying to regain downforce lost by the new regulations. Mercedes also worked hard on the engine. The other novelty, to Hakkinen's joy, were Bridgestone tyres which replaced Goodyear. The Japanese company hit the ground running, and eclipsed the American company, although Goodyear did fight back. But the combination of Hakkinen who now knew what it was like to win, Newey's chassis and Bridgestone's tyres meant that Team McLaren Mercedes began the season in dominant style and almost continued in that vein. The pair were a lap ahead of the field in the Australian Grand Prix although controversially they swapped places. The result was the same in Brazil, while Hakkinen was second to Coulthard in Argentina. The Finn went on to win in Spain, Monaco, Austria, Germany, then in Luxembourg and Japan. Schumacher fought back but that final burst made the championship Hakkinen's. Coulthard won in San Marino and was second six times as the team dominated both Championships. Drivers' Championship: 1st, Hakkinen, 100pts; 3rd, Coulthard, 56 pts 1999Model: MP4/14 Team McLaren Mercedes, without doubt, was the team to beat in 1999. The new car was completely new, incorporating several ideas which technical director Adrian Newey would have liked to have included the previous year. It was considerably lighter, but also more complex. Partially thanks to new tyre regulations, it didn't instil confidence as its predecessor had done, but at the limit, performed better. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, had produced a lighter and lower V10. The season got off to a poor start, with neither car finishing. Team McLaren Mercedes had thought of taking the previous year's car to the first three races. But then Hakkinen won in Brazil, while Coulthard might have won at Imola but for backmarkers. The team scored a dominant one two in Spain, while Hakkinen won again in Canada and was then second in France. At this stage, Hakkinen had 40 points to Michael Schumacher's 32 and Eddie Irvine's 26. Hakkinen, however, salvaged only a third place from the next three races, whereas Irvine scored two wins and a second, although Coulthard won in Britain. Hakkinen fought back with a win in Hungary, second after a second brush with teammate Coulthard in Belgium, then the disappointing second premature exit in Italy. Going into the final two races in Malaysia and Japan, he was just two points ahead of Irvine, but he was frustratingly held up in the first race where Irvine won, which gave him a four point deficit going into the final round in Japan. But a superb race saw him win and take the championship. However, Ferrari had fought back and had taken the Constructors' championship. Drivers' Championship: 1st, Hakkinen, 76 pts; 4th, Coulthard, 48pts |
TIME LINE1990s IMAGES Ayrton Senna in the 1990 MP4-5B
 Gerhard Berger
 Ayrton Senna
 Michael Andretti
 Philippe Alliot
 Jan Magnussen
 Mika Hakkinen
 Mika Hakkinen at the 1999 Canadian GP
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