McLaren MP4/1

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The McLaren MP4/1 was a Formula One racing car produced by the McLaren team. It was used during the 1981,1982 and 1983 seasons. It was the first Formula One car to use a carbon fibre composite monocoque, a concept which is now ubiquitous.

The MP4/1 was the first car to be built following the merger of the McLaren team and Ron Dennis' Project 4 team, as the car's name (short for "McLaren Marlboro Project 4/1") indicates.

Contents 1 Design and construcion 2 Racing 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Design and construcion

The main engineer for the MP4/1 was John Barnard. The chassis itself was built by Hercules Aerospace (U.S.A.) and quickly revolutionised car design in Formula One with new levels of rigidity and driver protection and its Carbon-Fibre-Composite (CFC) construction, a first in Formula One. Within months the design had been copied by many of McLaren's rivals.

The car was originally powered by a Ford engine but later switched to a Porsche engine.

[edit] Racing

John Watson and Andrea de Cesaris drove for the 1981 campaign with Niki Lauda replacing de Cesaris for the 1982 and 1983 seasons. The MP4/1 brought McLaren 6 wins; 1 in 1981, 4 in 1982 and a further victory in 1983. ^[1]

[edit] See also

• John Watson
• Andrea De Cesaris
• Team McLaren
• Ford
• Ron Dennis

[edit] External links

1. ^ http://www.gpracing.net192.com/cars/data/419.cfm

McLaren

Founder: Bruce McLaren

Personnel: Ron Dennis | Martin Whitmarsh | Norbert Haug | Mike Coughlan

Current drivers: Fernando Alonso | Lewis Hamilton | Pedro de la Rosa | Gary Paffett

Formula One cars:

1960s: M2B (1966) | M4B (1967) | M5A (1967–1968) | M7A (1967–1969) | M7C (1969–1971) | M9A (1969) 1970s: M14A (1970–1971) | M7D (1970) | M14D (1970) | M19A (1971–1973) | M19C (1972–1973) | M23 (1974–1978) | M26 (1977–1979) | M28 (1979) | M29 (1979–1981) 1980s: M30 (1980) | M29F (1981) | MP4 (MP4/1) (1981) | MP4/1B (1982) | MP4/1C (E, 1983) | MP4/2 (1984) | MP4/2B (1985) | MP4/2C (1986) | MP4/3 (1987) | MP4/4 (1988) | MP4/5 (1989) 1990s: MP4/5B (1990) | MP4/6 (1991) | MP4/6B (1992) | MP4/7A (1992) | MP4/8 (1993) | MP4/9 (1994) | MP4/10 (B, C, 1995) | MP4/11 (B, 1996) | MP4-12 (1997) | MP4-13 (1998) | MP4-14 (1999) 2000s: MP4-15 (2000) | MP4-16 (2001) | MP4-17 (2002) | MP4-17D (2003) | MP4-18 (test car) | MP4-19 (B, 2004) | MP4-20 (2005) | MP4-21 (2006) | MP4-22 (2007)