McLaren MP4-22

**McLaren MP4-22**
	Lewis Hamilton in the MP4-22, at the 2007 Canadian GP
Constructor:	McLaren Racing
Designer:	Pat Fry
Predecessor:	McLaren MP4-21
Successor:	McLaren MP4-23
Technical specifications
Weight:	605 kg (including driver and ballast)
Tires:	Bridgestone
Petrol:	Mobile 1
statistics
Driver:	F. Alonso L. Hamilton;
First start:	2007 Australian Grand Prix
Last start:	2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
World Cup points:	203
Podiums:	25th
Leadership laps:	525 over 2,415,583 km

The McLaren MP4-22 was the 35th Formula 1 - racing cars from McLaren . He contested all 17 world championship rounds of the 2007 Formula 1 season . The monoposto was presented on January 15th in downtown Valencia in Spain. It was also the first season with Vodafone as the new main sponsor.

Technology and development

The MP4-22 was developed by Pat Fry and was the successor to the MP4-21 . The racing car was powered by a Mercedes V8 engine (Mercedes-Benz FO 108T) with a displacement of 2.4 liters. The tires were supplied by the Japanese manufacturer Bridgestone , which had become a standard supplier to Formula 1 for the 2007 season.

Painting and sponsorship

Most of the MP4-22 was painted chrome. In addition, the monoposto had red accents due to the new main sponsor Vodafone. Further sponsors were SAP , Mobil 1 and aigo.

driver

McLaren started the 2007 season with two new drivers. With the two-time and reigning Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso from Spain, the number one switched from Renault F1 to McLaren-Mercedes. The second driver was Formula 1 newcomer and reigning GP2 series champion Lewis Hamilton from Great Britain.

Season course

The season got off to a good start for McLaren. In the first race in Australia both drivers finished second and third. Only the Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen was faster. Alonso managed to clinch a victory with the MP4-22 in the second race of the season. Hamilton made it a one-two with a second place. In the following three races, Lewis Hamilton took three more second places and after the fifth race of the season was tied with his teammate, who already had a second win.

At the Canadian Grand Prix , Hamilton drove to his first Formula 1 victory. He repeated this success in the following race in the USA. Alonso finished second in that race, but had drawn attention with gestures during the race as he could have driven faster.

In the two races that followed, neither driver won. Hamilton finished third twice and Alonso finished seventh and second once.

At the European Grand Prix won Alonso the third time this season. Since Hamilton was only ninth and did not make it onto the podium for the first time in the season, Alonso caught up ten points in the championship standings.

The tenth race of the season in Hungary made headlines in qualifying . In the last section of qualifying, Alonso held his team-mate in the pit lane for so long, despite the clearance , that he was unable to drive another fast lap. A few hours after qualifying, Alonso was then penalized with a five starting positions back. Hamilton started from pole position . He also used it and won his third victory.

In the three following races, Alonso always finished on the podium, of which he won once. Hamilton had to be content with a second place, as well as a fourth and fifth place. Raikkonen, however, caught up in the championship.

A McLaren driver retired for the first time in the 15th race of the season. Alonso lost control of his vehicle on a wet road and hit the lane - Hamilton won the race.

At the following race in China it was Hamilton who did not see the checkered flag. When entering the pit lane, he drove too fast and slipped into the gravel bed. Team-mate Alonso finished second behind Raikkonen in this race. It was these three drivers who had a mathematical chance of winning the championship in the last race in Brazil (Hamilton 107 points, Alonso 103 points, Raikkonen 100 points).

Raikkonen won the season finale ahead of his teammate Massa. Alonso was third and Hamilton only seventh. Thus, Raikkonen won the championship one point ahead of the McLaren drivers with the same points.

Fernando Alonso switched back to Renault after the season.

Espionage affair

The 2007 season was overshadowed by an espionage affair. McLaren had illegally obtained technical information about Ferrari's racing car and was fined $ 100 million. In addition, the team was deprived of all points in the constructors' championship.

Results

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	Points	rank
Formula 1 season 2007																			~~203~~	DQ
Spain F. Alonso	01	2	1	5	3	1	7th	2	7th	2	1	4th	3	1	3	DNF	2	3
United Kingdom L. Hamilton	02	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	3	3	9	1	5	2	4th	1	DNF	7th

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)
violet	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
red	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
White	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
Light Blue	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

Web links

Commons : McLaren MP4-22 - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Chronology of the espionage affair (ntv.de on September 13, 2007)
Espionage affair - McLaren severely punished (ntv.de on September 13, 2007)
"Silver Arrows" target the world championship title (Motorsport-Total.com on January 15, 2007)
McLaren-Mercedes bursts with optimism (Motorsport-Total.com on January 15, 2007)
McLaren-Mercedes with starting number one (Motorsport-Total.com on January 15, 2007)
Alonso: "We want to become world champions" (Motorsport-Total.com on January 15, 2007)
'Vodafone' wants to further strengthen the brand (Motorsport-Total.com on January 15, 2007)