1988 McLaren MP4/4

Depending on the yardstick used, the McLaren MP4/4 is the most successful Formula 1 racecar created, with nearly a 94% win ratio, winning 15 out of 16 races, with an equally successful 15 out of 16 pole positions. They had ten 1-2 finishes and set 10 fastest race laps. During the 1988 Formula One season, the MP4/4 was driven by teammates Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna and earned McLaren the Constructor's Championship with a record 199 points. Senna earned his first F1 World Driver's Championship in the McLaren.

The team's dominant performance was only interrupted once, at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza for Round 12, when Senna crashed out of the lead with only two laps remaining while lapping Jean-Louis Schlesser. With Prost already out due to an engine failure, Gerhard Berger claimed victory for Ferrari.

Six examples of the MP4/4 were built including chassis number MP4/4-03, the primary test car. All six MP4/4 chassis still exist, with chassis number 1, 4, and 6 in the care of the McLaren Coupe. Honda owns a showcar, chassis MP4/4/SSC/10 (SSC for static show car).

The McLaren MP4/4 was the brainchild of Gordon Murray and designed and engineered by Bob Bell, Steve Nichols and Osama Goto and their teams. At its core was a new Honda RA163E 1.5-liter V6 turbocharged engine installed in the carbon-fiber honeycomb monocoque.

What was the Genesis of the McLaren MP4/4?
When Ron Dennis took over ownership of McLaren in 1980, he became instrumental in transforming the team into a regular and consistent world championship contender. His formula to success included the employment of the most talented individuals, but talent can only go so far when underpowered by the competition. When the normally aspirated Cosworth DFV engines lost ground to the latest turbocharged units, Dennis turned to Porsche to develop an engine for his new car.

Turbocharged engines were compulsory for the first time in 1986 due to a ban on naturally aspirated engines. The ban was rescinded in 1987 in preparation for turbos, themselves being banned from 1989.

Before the engine, Dennis and his team, led by John Barnard, designed and built a competitive car using a new construction material known as carbon fiber. Lightweight and very rigid, the new car was called the MP4/1. During the 1982 season, it would score four victories using Cosworth DFV normally-aspirated engines. The following season, the team won a single victory.

McLaren's MP4/2 chassis, initially tested near the close of the 1983 season, relied on the TAG-Porsche turbocharged engine. During the 1984 championship, Niki Lauda and Alain Prost dominated the championship and would have another victorious performance in 1985. Still very competitive during its third season, the MP4/2 earned a 2nd-place result in the Constructors' Championship in 1986.

The MP4/3 was raced during the 1987 Formula One World Championship and would be the final McLaren car to be equipped with the TAG-Porsche turbo engine that had been introduced in 1983. During the sixteen-race season, the MP4/3 captured three victories, earning McLaren 2nd overall, with 76 points, in the Constructor's Championship.

In need of a new engine, McLaren turned to the Osamu Goto-designed Honda powerplant that had captured the Constructors' Championship in 1986 and 1987.

What was the 1.5L V6 Honda Turbo Engine used by McLaren in 1988?
Since late in the 1985 season, the 1.5-liter Honda turbo engine had been the most successful engine in Formula One, earning the Williams teams the Constructors' Championship in 1986 and 1987 (Nelson Piquet won the 1987 Drivers' Championship). For the 1988 season, Honda decided not to supply Williams with their engines, perhaps due to Williams's refusal to get rid of Nigel Mansell and hire Japanese driver and Honda test driver Satoru Nakajima.

Securing the engine, McLaren longitudinally mounted the Honda RA168E 80-degree 1,494cc (91.2 cubic inches) turbocharged V6 engine (2.5 Bar limited) midship, sending the 675 horsepower (at 12,500 RPM) to the rear wheels. The RA168E was built specially for the reduction in turbo boost from 4.0 bar to 2.5 bar. Cars with turbochargers were limited to a fuel tank allowance of 150 liters, compared to an unlimited amount for naturally aspirated cars. This put the turbocharged cars at a disadvantage as they would have to conserve fuel to get to the end of a race.

What were the Mechanical Specifications of the McLaren MP4/4?
McLaren was one of the few competing manufacturers with an all-new car for the 1988 season, as most other teams used updated or developed versions of their previous years' cars, as work focused on the 1989 season when turbocharged engines would be outlawed altogether.

The Steve Nichols-designed MP4/4 was designed to house the turbocharged engine. It had a 113.2-inch wheelbase, a 71.8-inch front axle track, and the rear track measured 66 inches. The carbon fiber honeycomb monocoque chassis was moulded with assistance from Hercules Aerospace. The suspension was double wishbones at the front and rear, with the front using pull/push-rod actuated coil springs and dampers, while the rear used rocker-arm actuated coil springs and dampers. The transmission was a Weismann-McLaren 6-speed manual.

The McLaren MP4/4 Design, Aerodyanmics, and Driver's Position
The McLaren MP4/4 had low-slung aerodynamics courtesy of Gordon Murray (technical director), Steve Nichols (chief designer and lead engineer) and Bob Bell (the chief aerodynamicist). To comply with FIA safety rules, the top of the driver's helmet had to be below an imaginary straight line drawn from the top of the roll bar to the top of the cowling. Rather than using a conventional upright seating position, the drivers were required to be in a reclining position. For Senna, this was not an issue, but for Prost, who was smaller, preferred to be slightly more upright. Because of his size, the team was able to accommodate Prost's preferences without modification.

Additional new safety regulations for the 1988 season stipulated that the driver's feet be behind the line of an imaginary front axle. Since the MP4/4 was a new car, the design was created to accommodate this rule. Teams using cars from the previous season were able to operate under the earlier regulations for which they had been designed, as modifications may have been too extensive.

Part way through the season, at Silverstone, McLaren revised the aerodynamics of the MP4/4, removing the turbo 'snorkels' that had been positioned on top of the side pods. During qualifying, both drivers felt that the removal of the snorkels (which force-fed air to the turbos) created issues with the balance, so the snorkels were re-attached for the rest of the British Grand Prix weekend. This would be the final time the snorkels were mounted on the MP4/4s for the remainder of the season. It was discovered that the imbalance had not been caused by the snorkel's removal but rather by an incorrect setting on the car's suspension.

Who were McLaren's Drivers for the 1988 Formula One Season?
Alain Prost began his racing career with McLaren in 1980, and although he had two years remaining on his contract, he left and signed with Renault. He returned to McLaren in 1984 and would remain with the team until 1989. In 1985, Prost became the first French Formula One World Champion, winning five of the sixteen Grands Prix during the season. (He won the San Marino Grand Prix but was disqualified after his car was found to be 2 kg underweight in post-race scrutineering).

For the 1988 season, Prost convinced Ron Dennis to sign Ayrton Senna to a three-year contract, which helped in securing the Honda engines, as the Japanese marque had been impressed with Senna's ability while using their engines with Lotus in 1987.

The hiring of Senna would begin a competitive rivalry between two of the sport's greatest drivers, resulting in tremendous success but also controversy.

Other than his retirements at Silverstone and Monza, Prost finished first or second in every race during the 1988 season, winning seven races and outscoring his new teammate Senna by eleven points. This was a tremendous accomplishment, considering Senna won one more race than him. Since the eleven best results from the season counted toward the championship total, Senna won the title by three points.

Was the McLaren MP4/4 tested?
The McLaren MP4/4 had very little pre-season testing before its first race in Brazil. A week before the race, it was brought to Imola, where the new chassis and engine were put through their paces. The combination worked, proven by Senna securing the pole position a week later in Brazil. His time was half a second faster than the second-place qualifier, Nigel Mansell in a naturally aspirated Williams-Judd V8 producing 600 horsepower. Prost qualified in third position.

The McLaren MP4/4 and the 1988 F1 Season
At the season opener in Brazil, Prost finished first, while Senna was disqualified. The second race was at San Marino, and both Senna and Prost qualified at the Imola circuit in the 1:27s, with Senna's time being 0.7 faster than Prost (During the season, both McLarens qualified for a race over one second faster than the rest of the field on six occasions). The rest of the field was unable to get below 1:30. Nelson Piquet, the defending World Champion, qualified his Lotus 100T in third position on the grid, and his car used the same 1988 specification Honda engines as McLaren. The Lotus was unable to match the McLaren's acceleration and downforce, although it did record faster speed trap figures (1.5 km/h faster than the McLarens).

During the race at San Marino, both McLarens lapped the entire field, including third-place finisher Piquet. Lapping the field and achieving the sustained speeds was perhaps a risky and unnecessary gamble as the long periods of full-throttle racing on the fast Imola circuit had a reputation for draining the fuel from the tanks, often leading to late race retirements in recent years. For McLaren, their ability to finish the race was attributed to the aerodynamic efficiency of the car and the work Honda had undertaken to minimize fuel consumption.

When Prost retired at Silverstone, it was due to the very wet conditions. At Monza, he was sidelined prematurely due to engine failure, the only one McLaren suffered all season. He failed to qualify on the front row four times during the season, at Brazil, Detroit, Britain, and Hungary. At Hungary, Prost qualified in 7th position, the worst qualifying position for a McLaren during the 1988 season. Senna was just barely able to edge out Nigel Mansell's Williams-Judd for the top qualifying spot at Hungary.

At Monaco, Senna qualified 1.4 seconds faster than Prost, who himself was 1.2 seconds faster than third-place Gerhard Berger in his Ferrari. Senna led the race and had a 50-second lead over Prost, who had been stuck for 54 laps behind Berger, when he crashed into the barriers at Portier.

During qualifying sessions at Hockenheim in Germany, both Senna and Post achieved 333 km/h (207 mph), setting the MP4/4's top speed record, and the fastest speed trap of the 1988 season (12 mph slower than the fastest speed achieved in 1987 due to the reduction in engine power levels).

The lowest finishing position (non-retirement) for the MP4/4 during the 1988 season was a 6th place finish in Round 13 at Portugal and 4th in the following race in Spain (both by Senna). Senna drove conservatively to save fuel during both races due to fuel readout problems. Prost won both of these races.

At the end of the season, Prost had scored more overall points, but Senna was declared the winner (Driver's title) as only the eleven best results counted (Senna's 8 first-place finishes to Prost's 7). McLaren-Honda took the Constructors title with a 1-2 finish in Belgium for Round 11 of the 16 race season, earning the team its eighty 1-2 finish of the season. Additional 1-2 finishes would be earned at Japan and Australia.

What car did McLaren race during the 1989 season?
For the 1989 season, McLaren replaced its MP4/4 with the Honda V10-powered McLaren MP4/5. It would earn the team another Constructors Championship, with Prost and Senna finishing 1-2 in the Drivers' Championship. The MP4/4B was a test mule for Honda's new 3.5-liter V12 engine designed to comply with new regulations for the 1989 season banning turbocharged engines.

by Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2023