McLaren MP4 / 4
Alain Prost's McLaren MP4 / 4 |
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Constructor: | McLaren | ||||||||
Designer: | Steve Nichols | ||||||||
Predecessor: | McLaren MP4 / 3 | ||||||||
Successor: | McLaren MP4 / 5 | ||||||||
Technical specifications | |||||||||
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Chassis: | Monocoque | ||||||||
Engine: | Honda RA168E, 80 ° V6 engine, 1.5 liters | ||||||||
Length: | 4450 mm | ||||||||
Width: | 2150 mm | ||||||||
Height: | 940 mm | ||||||||
Wheelbase: | 2875 mm | ||||||||
Weight: | 540 kg | ||||||||
Tires: | Goodyear | ||||||||
Petrol: | Shell | ||||||||
statistics | |||||||||
Driver: |
Alain Prost Ayrton Senna |
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First start: | 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last start: | 1988 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||
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World Cup points: | 199 | ||||||||
Podiums: | 25th | ||||||||
Leadership laps: | kA / tba |
The McLaren MP4 / 4 is a Formula 1 racing car from the McLaren team that was used in the 1988 World Cup . With the car developed by Steve Nichols , Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna won 15 of the 16 races of the season and posted 15 pole positions and ten fastest laps.
The MP4 / 4 was powered by a V6 engine from Honda with an 80 ° cylinder bank angle and the type designation RA168E. The longitudinally mounted twin turbo - mid-engine had 1500 cc. The power transmission was carried out by a manually shifted 6-speed transmission from McLaren's in-house production. The monocoque was made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic .
The flat design of the MP4 / 4 was based on the Brabham BT55 by Gordon Murray . The aim was to direct as much air as possible onto the rear wing through the small frontal area of the car and thus generate more downforce. The concept had not brought the desired success at Brabham due to problems with the gasoline supply of the horizontally installed 4-cylinder in- line engine from BMW . With the V6 from Honda, these difficulties did not arise due to the design.
The 1988 season was the last one in which turbo engines were allowed until the 2014 regulations were changed. While most of the other teams had already shifted part of their development capacities to the construction of naturally aspirated cars for the following season, McLaren built a car that was uncompromisingly designed for the more compact turbos and, together with the most powerful engine in the field at the time, was the basis for the dominance of the team.
Trivia
Due to its success and dominance during the 1988 season, the McLaren MP4 / 4 is often referred to as “The best Formula 1 car of all time”, “Iconic Car” and “Greatest of all times” even in the specialist press. From a technical point of view, however, such statements should be viewed with a certain amount of skepticism .
Results
driver | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th | 16 | Points | rank |
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1988 Formula 1 season | 199 | 1. | |||||||||||||||||
A. Cheers | 11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | DNF | 2 | ( 2 ) | (2) | DNF | 1 | 1 | (2) | 1 | ||
A. Senna | 12 | DSQ | 1 | DNF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 * | (6) | (4) | 1 | 2 |
Legend | ||
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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 |
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() | Streak results | |
underlined | Leader in the overall standings |
literature
- Peter Higham: Formula 1: Car by Car 1980-89. RACE POINT PUB, London 2018, ISBN 978-1-91050-523-6 .
Web links
- McLaren MP4 / 4 statistics
- YouTube: "Step inside the MP4 / 4" : Explanations on the technology of the MP4 / 4 (English)
- YouTube: "The argument behind F1's most dominant car: Origin story of the MP4 / 4" (English)
- YouTube: "McLaren Honda MP4 / 4 (1988 late) vol.2 - Ultimate V6 Turbo engine" : Uncut raw material from test drives in Japan
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Schmidt: The best Formula 1 car of all time. auto motor sport, February 11, 2014, accessed January 25, 2020 .
- ^ Autosport: The argument behind F1's most dominant car: Origin story of the MP4 / 4. Autosport, October 12, 2018, accessed January 25, 2020 .
- ↑ HondaVideo: The Best Formula 1 Car Ever? The McLaren-Honda MP4 / 4 with Louise Goodman. HondaVideo, October 11, 2019, accessed January 25, 2020 .