McLaren MP4/2

The McLaren MP4/2 was designed by John Barnard of McLaren for the 1984 season. The car was one of the first to use an all carbon fibre chassis, following on from Lotus. The car was powered by a TAG/Porsche V6 Turbo engine, which was first used in the final few races of 1983, at the insistence of Niki Lauda, who felt that the new engine required race testing before a championship challenge could be mounted. His instincts were right on.

Lauda was joined for 1984 by Alain Prost who had narrowly lost the 1983 championship to Nelson Piquet. Prost was made the scapegoat for Renault's faliure and was fired, before Ron Dennis snapped up the young Frenchman in place of John Watson. Prost and Lauda proved to be a formidable combination. Both were excellent development drivers, and both gave technical feedback on the car and the engine which pushed the car's development far further than the other teams.

The MP4/2 was one of the first F1 cars to use carbon brakes, giving it another major advantage over it's rivals. That, combined to superior fuel consumption and the driving skill of Lauda and Prost saw the MP4/2 score 12 wins in 1984, at the time the highest number of wins in a season by a single team. Lauda beat Prost the championship for the sake of a measly half point in the final race, even though Prost had 7 wins to Lauda's 5. Often the MP4/2's were the only cars to finish on the same lap, such was their domination. McLaren comfortably won the constructors' championship from Ferrari.

For 1985, the MP4/2 was updated with cleaner aerodynamics and redesigned wings while TAG refined the engine. The suspension had to be redesigned after McLaren switched from Michelin to Goodyear tyres. However, the competition had more or less caught up. Michele Alboreto fought Prost for most of the season, until McLaren's superior reliability told in both championships with Prost winning his first championship, and McLaren claiming their second successive constructors' championship.

The MP4/2 was virtually unchanged in 1986, but by this time Williams had overtaken McLaren as having the best car. Piquet joined Nigel Mansell and the two fought a fierce internal battle, while Prost cleverly built up his points total and snatched wins from under the Williams teammates' noses. His second world championship was won more by stealth than speed as by now it was clear the TAG/Porsche engine was past it's best.

The MP4/2 won 22 Grands Prix, 7 pole positions and 329 points in it's career. It was and still is the single most successful car in F1 history.