F1 2002 - Strategy Guide (Page 05)

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   Fittipaldi started the season with victory over James
   Hunt(Hesketh) in Argentina and second to compatriot Carlos
   Pace(Brabham) at home in Brazil Mass was third. Mass
   salvaged a win from the Montjuich disaster but then Niki
   Lauda took over in the Ferrari with four wins in five
   races. McLaren's pair scored second in Monaco(Fittipaldi),
   and after a couple of non finishes, third and fourth in
   France. Fittipaldi won at Silverstone, Mass was fourth in
   the soaking Austrian GP, Fittipaldi second to Regazzoni at
   Monza, before harrying Lauda to the flag in Watkins Glen,
   with Jochen third.

   There were suggestions that Fittipaldi had been driving to
   score points. He lead the sixth most number of laps, and
   in the end, he was 19.5 pts behind Lauda in the drivers'
   series. Mass was seventh equal while McLaren were third in
   the series, a point behind Brabham. Perhaps they could
   have done better, but the M23 was an old car by now. At
   Indy, Johnny Rutherford finished second in the rain
   shortened race, driving Coppuck's John Barnard modified
   M16E.

   Two sets of circumstances combined to see James Hunt
   replace Emerson Fittipaldi for 1976. Hesketh, for whom
   Hunt had driven for the previous two years, pulled out of
   Formula One, due to lack of sponsorship. And Fittipaldi
   went off to drive for brother Wilson's team. Suddenly Hunt
   was team leader of McLaren, Mass staying on as his
   teammate.

   The tool for the year was intended to be Coppuck's M26,
   but it still wasn't ready, so M23s, lightened by 13.6
   kilos were used initially, and became the favoured car for
   the year.

   And what a year! Ferrari won the first three races, Hunt
   the fourth, disqualified, and then reinstated. Lauda then
   won another two, Hunt came back to win in France and then
   in Britain, only to be disqualified, eventually, after an
   extraordinary race in which he was allowed to restarted in
   the spare car.

   Hunt won in Germany too, but his chief rival, Lauda, was
   desperately injured in a fiery crash. While Hunt went on
   to finish fourth in Austria and first in Holland, Lauda
   fought back from the brink of death to line up at Monza,
   finishing a courageous fourth. Victories for Hunt in
   Canada and Watkins Glen saw Hunt trail Lauda by three
   points as they came into the final race, after a season of
   protests and controversy.

   It was raining hard as the cars lined up for the Japanese
   Grand Prix at Fuji, drivers having discussed whether they
   should race or not. Lauda pitted after just one lap, Hunt
   lead. The Austrian had trouble seeing in the rain, due to
   his fire ravaged eyebrows. He reluctantly but responsibly
   pulled out.

   Hunt, however, had to finish third or higher. But his left
   rear tyre was punctured, and steadily he dropped back,
   eventually having to pit. Furious, he rejoined fifth, with
   just three laps to go. On new tyres, he passed Alan Jones
   and Regazzoni easily, now third. He took the chequered
   flag, but scarcely realised that he was third, refusing to
   believe it for several minutes after he'd come into the
   pits.

   James Hunt was World Champion by a point, Jochen Mass was
   ninth, and McLaren were second in the Constructors'
   championship, nine points behind Ferrari.

   And to cap it all, Johnny Rutherford had won Indy for
   McLaren for the second time in three years; even numbered
   years were favourite for McLarens at Indy.

   A minute gap between the end of one season and the
   beginning of the next of just 75 days meant that McLaren
   quite understandably retained their M23s for 1977 while
   working on Coppuck's M26. Initially, it looked good. Hunt
   was on pole for the Argentina Grand Prix and for Brazil,
   finishing second in the latter. He was on pole again in
   South Africa, beating teammate Jochen Mass to finish
   fourth.

   But at Long Beach, he was only eighth and again on row
   four in Spain. Teammate Mass finished ahead of him on both
   occasions. Hunt qualified the M26 third in Anderstorp, but
   Mass finished second to Laffite. The M23 sometimes seemed
   better, sometimes the M26. Hunt scored his first win of
   the season at home in the latter. Meanwhile Lauda, Laffite
   and Andretti were also potential winners.

   It wasn't until Monza that McLaren were in the points
   again. In spite of Hunt's pole position, Mass finished
   fourth, but Hunt won at Watkins Glen in the now improving
   M26. He was branded the bad boy after thumping a marshal
   in Canada, only to return to glory in Japan with victory.
   But Lauda had had his revenge, Hunt was only fifth with
   Mass sixth in the championship. At least McLaren was third
   in the Constructors' series.

   Elsewhere, McLaren were once again involved with Johnny
   Rutherford and various customers in IndyCar racing but not
   with the success gained before.

   Hunt had a new teammate in Patrick Tambay, while Formula
   One was undergoing a change. Renault had introduced their
   turbo car the previous year although that wasn't the major
   technical trend. Former McLaren designer Ralph Bellamy and
   Colin Chapman had come up with the Lotus 78/79 ground
   effect cars, and it would be this innovation which would
   prove difficult for other teams to match in the coming
   years.

   Hunt and Tambay would continue to use the M26 in 1978 but
   they would be largely outclassed by Lotus in particular,
   but also Ferrari with the 312T3 and Brabham with their
   Alfa Romeo powered BT46s but principally, the Lotuses.

   Hunt scored fourth with the tried and tested M26 at the
   first race in Argentina, then fifth in Spain, while Tambay
   was fourth in Sweden. Hunt was third at Ricard and Tambay
   fifth in Monza but the team was back in eighth place at
   the end of the year.

   Some blame rested with Hunt, that he didn't seem to have
   the determination and fire of old. He had been ditched by
   the team and Ronnie Peterson signed for the following
   year, but the Swede tragically lost his life after a
   startline accident at Monza.

   Meanwhile, McLaren's proven old M23s were much in favour,
   being run in the British Formula One championship and
   appearing in various privateer hands at various Grands
   Prix. In America, Johnny Rutherford was still winning for
   the McLaren team in IndyCar racing, and there were
   privateer successes as well.

   John Watson was signed to replace James Hunt for 1979,
   while Gordon Coppuck came up with his own copy of the
   previous year's all conquering ground effect Lotus. This
   was the M28 but to get the same ground effect figures as
   Lotus, the car had grown huge side pods in which to
   accommodate underwings. It made for a big car which was
   slow on the straights. It also sufferes structurally, due
   to problems with the bonding.

   The M28 was raced for the first half of the season, and
   Watson scored an impressive third in Argentina, partially
   thanks to excellent Goodyear tyres, which masked the
   technical problems. Watson finished fourth in Monaco out
   of six finishers.

   However, as early as May 1, a decision had been taken to
   develop a new, compact replacement for the M28, known as
   the M29. This was more of a Williams copy than a Lotus,
   said Coppuck. In its first race, the British Grand Prix,
   Watson finished fourth and finished fifth at Hockenheim.
   Sixths in Canada and America followed, before the season
   fizzled out.

   Meanwhile, the American campaign was also coming to a
   halt. There were top three finishes in the States, but by
   the end of the season, the team had been wound up. McLaren
   now only raced in Formula One.

   However, there was just one ray of sunlight in the future.
   In November of that year, the team tested an interim M29
   with new underwings. Potential drivers for the following
   season were also on hand, including one Alain Prost. His
   opening laps were quicker than Watson's. He was quickly
   signed for 1980...

   Alain Prost's initial promise was borne out throughout the
   first half of the season, with the Frenchman usually
   outqualifying his teammate. He scored a point in his first
   ever Grand Prix in Argentina, and went on to finish fifth
   in Brazil. Two mechanical breakages in South Africa
   resulted in a broken wrist which kept him out of Long
   Beach. Stand in Stephen South failed to qualify but Watson
   finished an encouraging fourth.

   Belgium offered little respite, and they hit rock bottom
   in Monaco where Watson failed to qualify, and Prost went
   out at the first corner. Prost qualified seventh in France
   and Watson finished in the same position while Prost was
   sixth at Brands Hatch.

   But by this stage, there were developments on two fronts.
   A new, M30 was on the stocks, designed by Gordon Coppuck
   and 50 per cent stiffer. Prost took his model to sixth on
   its debut in Holland.

   But more importantly, there were changes afoot for the
   team as a whole. Formula Two team owner Ron Dennis and
   Marlboro representatives had already approached Mayer a
   year before, suggesting a merger. Now Marlboro, for whom
   Dennis's Project Four team was running a BMW M1 in the
   Procar series, told Mayer that he had better merge because
   they were no longer competitive on their own. Mayer was
   wise enough to heed the advice.

   Part of the deal was that Dennis would bring his own
   designer, John Barnard, and Gordon Coppuck would have to
   leave. The merger, announced in September of 1980, saw
   Dennis and Mayer as joint Managing Directors of McLaren
   International. Mayer was also Chairman while Tyler
   Alexander, one of the McLaren's early members, and Barnard
   would both be Directors.

   By this stage, Watson had rediscovered his old fire, and
   with Barnard's input, his M29 and the M30 were to score
   points. Watson was a competitive fourth in Canada but
   Prost suffered another breakage at Watkins Glen and was
   once again injured, unable to start the race. It had been
   a poor season, but the dawn of a new era.

   In spite of the promise of the new team, and John
   Barnard's forthcoming carbon fibre monocoque for the first
   MP4(Marlboro Project Four), Alain Prost found a way out of
   his contract to leave the team to drive for Renault, his
   national team. Watson hung onto his seat, and was
   partnered by Marlboro's Italian hope, de Cesaris.

   The team started the year with old M29s, now in F
   configuration and it wasn't until the third race in
   Argentina that Watson got his MP4. Two races later, he
   qualified fifth and two races after that, finished third
   in the queue behind Villeneuve in Spain. At Dijon, he was
   on the front row of the grid and finished second, and at
   Silverstone, he won! All this was against a background of
   technical chicanery to get around new rules to combat
   ground effect, and Formula One politics pitching governing
   body FISA against the teams.

   There was another point for Watson in Hockenheim and
   Austria, while he was second in Canada. But the MP4 was
   prone to porpoising, and it didn't make a driver's task
   easy. De Cesaris's season was remembered as being a
   succession of accidents, earning him the nickname de
   Crasheris, while Watson had a big accident at Monza from
   which he was lucky to walk away uninjured. De Cesaris was
   sure not to keep his seat, but Watson's win and subsequent
   form ensured that he kept his. Before the end of the year,
   it was announced that he would be partnered the following
   season by his old Brabham teammate, Niki Lauda, who was
   emerging from retirement.

   Barnard only slightly modified his MP4 for its
   transformation to B specification. The chassis had lasted
   well, so Barnard tried to slim down the monocoques, modify
   the suspension and increase stiffness throughout. Set up
   on Michelin's tyre proved crucial and the team worked hard
   in both their own local wind tunnel in Feltham and that of
   Michelin. Carbon fibre brake discs were also tried during
   the year.

   The season started remarkably well, with Lauda fourth and
   Watson sixth, both in the points. Watson picked up second
   in Brazil after the disqualifications of Piquet and
   Rosberg. Proving that he'd lost none of his magic, Lauda
   won at Long Beach while it was Watson's turn at the tragic
   Belgian Grand Prix, with Lauda third. However, the
   Austrian was disqualified for being underweight. Watson
   was a point behind leader Prost in the Drivers'
   championship, and McLaren led the Constructors'.

   After a disappointing Monaco, Watson sensationally won the
   inaugural Detroit Grand Prix from 17th on the grid,
   partially helped by a stoppage which allowed him to fit
   harder Michelins to iron out understeer. He scythed
   through the field, past his teammate who then spun, but
   Watson and McLaren now led their championships.

   Watson was third in Canada a week later, while Lauda was
   then fourth in Holland, and then won at Brands Hatch.
   McLaren still led the Constructors' but Watson was now
   second in the Drivers' series to Pironi. After the turbo
   Renaults and Ferraris dominated at Ricard, Pironi was
   badly injured in Germany and Lauda also suffered wrist
   injury when he spun off, and would miss the race. Watson's
   suspension broke and he spun out of third. Lauda scored an
   unexciting fifth in Austria, but Rosberg's close second  \
   elevated him to championship leader, a position reinforced
   by victory at Dijon where Watson damaged a skirt and
   dropped to 13th.

   Lauda scored points at Dijon, and Watson scored in Monza,
   his first points in three months which just kept his hopes
   alive but even a fine second in Las Vegas wasn't enough,
   and Rosberg won the title by five points and Ferrari had a
   similar margin in the Constructors'.

   Late in 1982, two things happened which were crucial to
   McLaren. The first was that Teddy Mayer and fellow
   director Tyler Alexander left the team, feeling that they
   were no longer required in the new structure, leaving
   Dennis and Barnard to run the show. Secondly, the second
   phase of an agreement with Porsche to build turbocharged
   V6 engines financed by Akram Ojjeh's Techniques d'Avant
   Garde or TAG was signed. Ojjeh's son Mansour formed a
   company jointly with Ron Dennis and McLaren for the
   purpose.

   The emphasis of the season was weighted towards running
   this engine, particularly when new regulations came into
   effect banning ground effect and calling for cars to run
   flat bottoms. This effectively robbed cars of their
   downforce, and larger front and rear wings would be needed
   to compensate for this loss. However, they would be used
   at the expense of drag, which would handicap the less
   powerful Cosworth runners in comparison to the turbo
   powered entrants. Another handicap was that tyres
   developed for turbo runners weren't necessarily suitable\
   for those running normally aspirated engines...

   So McLaren were looking at several disadvantages during
   the year. The cars were modified for the new aerodynamic
   regulations but they had to bear in mind the forthcoming
   engine. Often they won the Cosworth battle during the
   year, and sensationally, won the second race of the season
   at Long Beach, with Watson and Lauda completing a McLaren
   one two from 22nd and 23rd on the grid! Equally poor
   qualifying at Monaco, however, resulted in neither of them
   starting the race at all.

   Lauda ran the TAG engine in Holland for the first time and
   both drivers had them for the final three races of the
   year. Qualifying positions improved, but neither driver
   finished, as the team began the steep turbo learning curve
   already experienced by other teams and drivers.

   After several seasons of preparation, McLaren now had all
   the weapons that they needed. Barnard changed his chassis
   little, but it did feature new rear suspension. The engine
   development continued during the winter and Alain Prost
   returned to McLaren after being sent on his way by
   Renault, with whom he had gained valuable turbo
   experience. McLaren may have been among the last to join
   the turbo brigade, but they had prepared the ground well.

   They hit the ground running. Alain Prost won the first
   race of the year in Brazil, Niki Lauda led his teammate
   home in the second and while they may not have featured in
   the third, they won the next three between them. At
   season's end, they had won 12 races between them,
   clinching the Constructors' championship by a massive 86
   points, more than that scored by second placed Ferrari.
   Their matched pair of drivers were separated by just half
   a point, Lauda pipping Prost.

   It was a phenomenal demonstration and a warning to all. If
   this was the way McLaren were heading, then rivals would
   have to match this effort. Having said that, Porsche
   certainly had their problems with the engine, although
   rarely in races. And McLaren worked carefully on fine
   tuning brake cooling throughout the year, and had just one
   problem with Prost's front wheel working loose at Dijon.
   Otherwise, it was a pretty remarkable year.

   After the victorious and dominant 1984 season, McLaren
   were quite rightly the team in everyone's sights in 1985.
   Most elements in the team were largely unchanged, apart
   from the departure of Michelin. To keep abreast of the
   competition, John Barnard introduced new bodywork, new
   rear suspension, new front uprights and new wings.

   On the engine side, there weren't huge changes, although
   Barnard was highly complimentary about Bosch's Motronic
   electronic management system, while mirror image KKK
   turbochargers were custom made for TAG's V6 instead of the
   previous identical models.

   Three wins by Alain Prost in the first four races - if one
   includes the chaotic San Marino Grand Prix from which he
   was subsequently disqualified - suggested that McLaren
   hadn't lost their touch although Lauda could only claim a
   single fourth place, two mechanical retirements and a spin
   on oil. A further string of retirements followed, while
   Prost won at Silverstone, was second in Germany, won again
   in Austria, and then harried his teammate all the way to
   the line in Zandvoort as Lauda regained form. However, a
   wrist injury suffered two races later in Belgium merely
   served to confirm his decision to retire from the sport.
   Replaced by John Watson for the next race, he retired
   after a year that reaped only 14 points and which Ron
   Dennis described as 'unlucky'

   Prost had clinched the title by round 14 of the sixteen
   races and McLaren were Constructors' champions again,
   although this time only eight points ahead of Ferrari.

   It is often said that this was a season that Williams
   Honda lost rather than McLaren won. Piquet and Mansell
   both had a chance, yet Prost pinched the title in the last
   round at Adelaide, when Mansell suffered a tyre
   delamination, and when Prost himself thought he was going
   to run out of fuel. Praise was fullsome for the Frenchman
   who won his second world title back to back, and McLaren
   won their third consecutive Constructors' title.

   John Barnard, who was to leave McLaren for Ferrari during
   the summer, made detailed modifications to the MP4/2Bs
   that were to become 2Cs, particularly given the new 195
   litre fuel tank restrictions. There was a six-speed
   gearbox but apart from the latest version of Bosch's
   Motronic engine management system, the engines were little
   changed.

   One small headache was new recruit Rosberg's press on
   style of driving, so different to Prost's and previous
   teammate Lauda's. It was only after Monaco that the Finn's
   set up was changed.

   After both engines failed in Brazil, Prost was third in
   Spain, then won at Imola and at Monaco. A point in Belgium
   (in spite of a remarkably bent engine mounting), then
   second in Canada kept their hopes alive, but then Williams
   seemed to gain the upper hand with better fuel
   consumption. Only late in the season did Prost reassert
   the team's position with a win in Austria, second in
   Portugal and Mexico and the crucial win in Australia. But
   once again he had lost his teammate and now the technical
   director had gone too. McLaren were going to have to
   regroup.

   Something old, something new: TAG's legendary engine was
   getting long in the tooth; Stefan Johansson arrived to
   partner Alain Prost, and Steve Nichols became Formula One
   project leader following John Barnard's departure the
   previous year. He had worked on the car and with Barnard,
   and now estimated what needed to be left and what changed.
   The suspension was left, as was the gearbox, but a new
   monocoque was designed, with new aerodynamics and a small
   housing for the smaller fuel tank.

   Meanwhile Porsche raised the compression ratio of the TAG
   engine three times in order to improve fuel efficiency but
   then engine development failed to reap rewards and a
   misfire set in. Alain Prost won in Brazil, Johansson was
   third there and fourth at Imola. The pair were first and
   second at Spa but a couple of thirds were the only reward
   from the next four races. The increase in power had in
   turn resulted in an increase in weight, upsetting the
   engine's balance, causing vibration. In Germany, Prost was
   heading for victory until an alternator belt broke five
   laps from home. It was a curious failure as the belt
   hadn't broken in 100,000 miles of racing, and had then
   broken several times.

   Another lean spell ensued as Honda dominated and active
   suspension became the fashion, but Prost was back on top
   in Portugal and second in Jerez, before sinking into
   oblivion again with only Johansson's third in Suzuka as
   reward.

   Sadly, Johansson was to be elbowed by a dream team in
   1988; Dennis has succeeded not only in attracting Ayrton
   Senna, but also Honda...

   In theory, this was a transitional year for Formula One,
   as the turbo boost was lowered from four bar to 2.8 to
   give the advantage to normally aspirated engines in
   preparation for a turbo ban and fuel capacity lowered from
   195 to 150 litres. In practice, it allowed McLaren, Honda,
   Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna to rewrite the record books
   as they totally dominated the year.

   The statistics are simple: McLaren won 15 out of 16 races,
   Senna winning eight(he was disqualified from the first
   race in Brazil), Prost seven. Senna therefore won the
   championship by three points; both drivers had double the
   points of third placed Gerhard Berger. Similarly, McLaren
   scored three times as many points as the second team in
   the Constructors' championship, winning with 199 points to
   Ferrari's 65. Senna started the first six races from pole
   position, and added another seven before the end of the
   year. It was a magnificent, mind numbing performance by
   team and drivers; scarcely exciting, but mightily
   impressive in its perfection.

   The drivers did occasionally clash, particularly when
   Senna chopped Prost at Jerez, and both were beyond the
   limit at Monza, where Senna's audacity in lapping Jean
   Louis Schlesser's Williams resulted in retirement. He also
   lost concentration at Monaco and ended up in the barrier.
   Prost, once again, revealed his dislike of wet conditions.

   Steve Nichols once again led the design team which had to
   cope with new cockpit regulations as well as the smaller
   fuel tank, so much of the car was new, which made it even
   more deserving. Honda reliability was exceptional and
   overall reliability was phenomenal, all contributing to a
   record breaking season. They deserved everything they got.

   While Steve Nichols's MP4/4 design had been winning the
   final championship of the turbo era, Neil Oatley had been
   hard at work on McLaren's first chassis for the return to
   normally aspirated, but now 3.5 litre engines. Although
   the end result was the same - McLaren winning both
   Constructors' and Drivers' Championships - there was no
   surprise that they didn't quite enjoy the domination of
   1988.

   However, a McLaren led every race but Portugal (where
   Senna started from pole), and he and Prost won ten of the
   16 races, Prost with four to Senna's six, although it was
   the Frenchman who claimed the Drivers' title with just
   three retirements to the Brazilian's nine non-scores.

   But that just tells half the story. It was a year in which
   Prost became increasingly paranoid about his teammate.
   They fell out at Imola, when Prost felt that Senna had
   breached a no passing agreement. Prost went further at
   Monaco where Senna scored a superb victory, apparently
   without second gear. At Monza Prost accused Honda of
   favouring Senna and would then reveal that he was leaving
   the team. Earlier in the year, he had written off a
   monocoque at Phoenix, the first such accident he'd had in
   five and a half years with the team. Three races later, he
   and Senna collided at the Suzuka chicane, and even though
   neither of them scored points in the last two races, the
   championships still went to McLaren.

   Against this intensely political background, McLaren and
   Honda provided the best combination for the best two, if
   different, drivers in the field. Oatley's design still
   followed similar lines to those before, but weight shaving
   continued throughout the year, although it also suffered a
   handling imbalance. The team also introduced a complete
   new rear end, based around a transverse gearbox, midway
   through the season.

   Honda, meanwhile, made a phenomenal effort, with five
   different specifications of engine for various conditions,
   circuits and situations. They reaped their reward, but
   there was a human cost. And it was interesting that Senna
   suffered more mechanical failures than Prost...

   Prost's defection to Ferrari also saw Steve Nichols leave
   McLaren, but Neil Oatley's design from the previous season
   had been successful and he was entrusted with what became
   a B version of the same car. It incorporated different
   front suspension, revisions to the six speed transverse
   gearbox, aerodynamic profile changes and a multi-arch
   diffuser which was ultimately discarded.

   Senna's new teammate, Gerhard Berger, didn't fit into this
   new design, however, in spite of initial changes to the
   car, and it was no surprise that Gerhard was somewhat
   downhearted until further changes almost resolved the
   problem at mid season.

   Senna, meanwhile, was leading from the front. Indeed, he
   led every race of the season apart from Hungary where he
   harried Thierry Boutsen to the flag, and Suzuka, where he
   punted Prost off at the first corner to claim the
   championship.

   Against a continued backdrop of acrimony with the
   governing body from the previous year, McLaren claimed the
   first race at Phoenix, in spite of the late completion of
   their cars. Berger set pole position but Senna would be on
   pole for the next four and then Berger. In all, Senna
   started from pole ten times during the year.

   But Prost at Ferrari proved a formidable opponent with
   team-mate Mansell, and Williams's pairing of Boutsen and
   Patrese also had their fair share of success. Honda again
   supplied McLaren with a variety of engines which often
   suffered power loss during the year, while McLaren
   themselves suffered a drop in performance mid season.
   Typically, they reacted well and returned to claim both
   titles, only the second time that the Constructors' series
   had been won three times in a row.

   For the fourth time in as many years and the third time
   with Honda McLaren had a different engine specification to
   use. Otherwise, things were pretty much the same, apart
   from Henri Durand helping chief designer Neil Oatley on
   the aerodynamics side of the latest car.

   The new engine and its thirst not surprisingly, demanded
   several changes to the car's layout. Front suspension was
   changed twice during the year, while both the gearbox and
   the chassis itself were changed, the former being operated
   by automatically and the latter being more rigid.
   Aerodynamics were also changed.

   Honda's decision to go to V12 configuration did result in
   a greater thirst in comparison to the V10s of the
   opposition, but it was also tricky for the team's own TAG
   engine management system to keep abreast of development
   both in fuel and engine terms. This resulted in Senna
   running out of fuel twice during the season, at
   Silverstone and then two weeks later in Hockenheim.

   But the season had started brilliantly with a quartet of
   victories, including an emotional if troubled win at home
   at Interlagos. One retirement and two thirds to Williamses
   were followed by those two retirements, but Senna came
   back superbly with a flag to flag win in Budapest and then
   leading home a great one two in Spa, in spite of gearbox
   problems as in Brazil. The subsequent two second places
   should have been enough to clinch the championship, but
   for previous problems, but a generous second to teammate
   Berger in Suzuka was sufficient to clinch the title with
   the seventh win of the year in Australia the icing on the
   cake. It was Senna's third title, McLaren's fourth in
   succession.

   This was to be fifth and last season with Honda, and the
   third and final season that Gerhard Berger would drive for
   the team. Nevertheless, with Ayrton Senna still with the
   team and Honda, there were still expectations of huge
   promise. The team started with the previous year's MP4/6
   until it was suddenly realised that perhaps the new car
   was going to be introduced as soon as possible, and it was
   used from Brazil onwards.

   Once again, the new car was the work of the team lead by
   Neil Oatley with several new features, fly by wire
   throttle being one of them, and a new method of making the
   monocoques. The gearbox was still transverse, but once
   again, revised.

   However, there were several shortcomings. The car was
   unpredictable in fast corners, while the latest Honda was
   scarcely more powerful than its precedessor and certainly
   just as thirsty, which of course, meant a weight penalty.
   In the days of ever more sophisticated V10s, this was a
   considerable handicap.

   Both drivers were in the points in the first race, Berger
   in the second and both retired their new cars in the
   third. Senna won Monaco, Berger won in Canada and then
   after two disappointments, Senna finished second in
   Germany and then won in Hungary and in Italy, now with
   active suspension. Berger won in Australia, his swansong
   with McLaren.

   But in spite of three wins, Senna and his teammate were
   fourth and fifth respectively in the championship, and
   McLaren 65 points behind winners Williams in the
   Constructors' series, now faced with a search for a power
   unit.

   Having tested him a year or so before, Ron Dennis signed
   reigning IndyCar champion Michael Andretti for the 1993
   season, even though Dennis hadn't revealed the source of
   the team's power unit, perhaps because it wasn't finalised
   until November of the previous year. It turned out to be a
   McLaren financed development of Ford's HB engine. However,
   it was a version behind that of Benetton until
   Silverstone, which was a disadvantage.

   What they lacked in straight horsepower, however, they
   hoped to pick up with mechanical sophistication, and that
   involved TAG's electronics, the light and economical
   engine, loads of electronic trickery including, of course,
   very advanced active suspension and traction control.

   In spite of a fine second to Prost at Kyalami, two superb
   races in the wet one at home and the legendary Donington
   victory and his sixth victory at Monaco, there was some
   doubt as to Senna's commitment and it became increasingly
   clear that he would turn his back on the team that had
   brought him three World Championships at the end of the
   season.

   While Prost and Hill made hay for Williams, Senna suffered
   few mechanical problems, although there was a third
   consecutive fuel related retirement at Silverstone. The
   year ended with two victories at Suzuka and then Adelaide,
   which was Senna's last and which promoted McLaren as the
   most successful Grand Prix team of all time. But they
   scored exactly half the points scored by winners Williams,
   although Senna was only 23 points behind World Champion
   Prost.

   But McLaren was pretty much a one driver team this year. A
   late regulation change meant that Andretti didn't have the
   laps available for him to learn circuits and he never
   really embraced the European Grand Prix way of life. His
   best race might have been at Imola before he went off, but
   after finishing third at Monza, he returned to the USA, to
   be replaced by Mika Hakkinen who promptly out qualified
   Senna in Portugal. That, in itself, signified the end of
   one era, the beginning of a new one.

   The only question mark over McLaren's long term future was
   its engine, and in 1993, the team began a long term
   partnership with Peugeot except it lasted a year. It
   wasn't an entirely disastrous year but inevitably,
   Peugeot's arrival, the loss of Senna, new regulations, new
   drivers was going to take time to get used to.

   The new MP4/9 chassis was based on the Ford chassis from
   the previous year with slightly different aerodynamics and
   the facility to use a hand operated clutch for the first
   time. A fully automatic upchange facility in the gearbox
   was outlawed. The team also ran power steering for the
   first time, although the drivers preferred conventional
   steering on the faster circuits.

   The main problem was handling on slow corners, although a
   revised underbody and new rear wing made things better
   after the Hungarian Grand Prix. There were rule changes
   with the banning of traction control and other driver
   aids, and more after the death of Ayrton Senna.

   Peugeot's new engine made several steps forward during the
   year, but it had been difficult to define the cooling for
   the engine prior to running it, and then when it did run,
   it was in fairly cool conditions. However, when races were
   run in hot conditions, there were problems.

   Hakkinen was very highly motivated, scoring his first
   rostrum position in that devastating San Marino Grand
   Prix, with more consecutive thirds in Belgium, Italy,
   Portugal and Jerez, the downside being his accident in
   Hockenheim for which he was banned for race, his place
   being taken by Philippe Alliot.

   But the fact remains that for the first time in its
   existence, McLaren International did not win a race.
   Before the end of the season, the long term relationship
   with Peugeot had been terminated and a new one signed with
   Mercedes Benz.

   This was a year of ups and downs as McLaren coped with new
   drivers, a new engine partner, new regulations and new
   ideas.

   First of all, they were using their fourth different
   engine in as many years. And perhaps reviving a precedent,
   Ron Dennis insisted on engine design changes to
   accommodate new regulations, just as John Barnard had done
   with Porsche. But the Ilmor designed Mercedes engine was
   smaller than the previous year's Peugeot, so it wasn't too
   much of a problem for Neil Oatley's design team. The new
   car featured McLaren's first high nose and a wing atop the
   engine cover.

   Meanwhile sponsors Marlboro insisted on high profile name
   and after he'd been turned down by Williams, Nigel Mansell
   was signed. But the MP4/10 not only suffered a major
   imbalance in testing, both drivers also found it lacked
   room.