McLaren MP4 / 6

Ayrton Senna in the McLaren MP4 / 6 at the 1991 Monaco GP

The Honda RA121E

The McLaren MP4 / 6 is a Formula 1 racing car from Team McLaren that was used in the 1991 and 1992 World Cup seasons . McLaren won both the drivers 'and constructors' championships with this vehicle in 1991.

Technology and development

The car developed by Neil Oatley and Henri Durand had a monocoque made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic . Compared to its predecessor MP4 / 5B , not only has the aerodynamic concept been heavily revised; The chassis also had to be completely redesigned to accommodate the larger and heavier engine: Instead of the previous Honda V10 , a V12 engine with a 60 ° cylinder bank angle and the type designation RA121-E was used. This along front built of the rear axle naturally aspirated engine was 3497 cc and provided at 13,500 min ^-1 735 hp (541 kW). The power transmission was handled by a transversely installed 6-speed McLaren gearbox. A semi-automatic transmission was also tested in the course of the season (including in Friday practice for the Hungarian GP). However, this technology was not used in racing in the MP4 / 6 because it was not yet sufficiently mature.

The MP4 / 6 was the last twelve-cylinder vehicle and the last manual car to win a Formula 1 world championship.

A slightly further developed version was used under the designation MP4 / 6B in the first two races of the 1992 season . Externally, the MP4 / 6B only differs from the 1991 vehicles in the significantly enlarged front wing end plates. From the third run of the season it was replaced by the MP4 / 7A .

Painting and sponsorship

The racing car was painted in the typical red and white colors of the main sponsor Marlboro . Other sponsors were Shell and Honda .

driver

The MP4 / 6 was piloted by the Brazilian and last year's world champion Ayrton Senna and the Austrian Gerhard Berger . They won a total of eight races and took ten pole positions .

Results

1991 season

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1991 Formula 1 season																		139	1.
Ayrton Senna	01	1	1	1	1	DNF	3	3	4 *	7 *	1	1	2	2	5	2	1
Gerhard Berger	02	DNF	3	2	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	2	4th	4th	2	4th	DNF	DNF	1	3

1992 season

This season started with a B version of the MP4 / 6.

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1992 Formula 1 season																		9	2.
Ayrton Senna	01	3	DNF
Gerhard Berger	02	5	4th

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

swell

Joe Honda, McLaren MP4 / 6. Hiro Racing Pictorial Series 2012. ISBN 978-4-905248-25-5 .

Web links

Commons : McLaren MP4 / 6  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• McLaren MP4 / 6 statistics (1991)
• McLaren MP4 / 6B statistics (1992)
• Data of the MP4 / 6 and the Honda RA121-E