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McLaren MP4/3

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144-510: The McLaren MP4/3 was the car with which the McLaren team competed in the 1987 Formula One World Championship . The car was designed under the leadership of long-time McLaren engineer Steve Nichols , in collaboration with Neil Oatley , Gordon Kimball , Tim Wright and Bob Bell . It was also the last McLaren car to be powered by the TAG - Porsche turbo engine that had been introduced in 1983. The car

288-489: A "proper disaster" for the team's credibility. 2018 was the first season in McLaren's history when their cars were powered by Renault engines. McLaren also announced that Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne would remain with the team for the 2018 season . On 6 November 2017, the team announced that Lando Norris would be the team's test and reserve driver. At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix , Fernando Alonso scored

432-622: A British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking , Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group , which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known as a Formula One chassis constructor , the second-oldest active team and the second-most successful Formula One team after Ferrari , having won 188 races, 12 Drivers' Championships , and eight Constructors' Championships . McLaren also has

576-564: A British racing licence , was based in Feltham , England from 1963 to 1964, and in Colnbrook , England from 1965 until 1981, and it has been based in Woking , England since 1981. Despite this, Bruce never used the traditional British racing green on his cars. Instead, he used colour schemes that were not based on national principles (e.g. his first Formula One car , the McLaren M2B car, raced at

720-463: A chance going into the last race, the Australian Grand Prix . There, a puncture for Mansell and a precautionary pit stop for Piquet gave Prost the race win and his second title, making him the first driver to win back-to-back championships since Jack Brabham in 1959 and 1960. In 1987 Barnard departed for Ferrari to be replaced by Steve Nichols (who himself joined Ferrari in 1989). In

864-653: A history in American open wheel racing as both an entrant and a chassis constructor, and has won the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am) sports car racing championship. McLaren is one of only three constructors, and the only team, to complete the Triple Crown of Motorsport (wins at the Indianapolis 500 , 24 Hours of Le Mans , and Monaco Grand Prix ). Founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren ,

1008-763: A major upturn in form proceeded. Bruce won the Race of Champions at the Brands Hatch circuit and Hulme won the International Trophy at Silverstone , both non-championship races, before Bruce took the team's first championship win at the Belgian Grand Prix . Hulme also won the Italian and Canadian Grands Prix later in the year, helping the team to second in the Constructors' Championship. Using an updated 'C' version on

1152-604: A minute ahead of his nearest competitor. Despite the impressive underlying pace, the B186 suffered from severe unreliability. The team recorded nineteen retirements, with eight consecutively for Fabi (including from his two pole positions). Benetton ended the season 6th in the championship with 19 points. Berger left the team for Ferrari at the end of 1986 and was replaced at Benetton by his former Arrows teammate Thierry Boutsen . BMW , which had supplied three teams in 1986, scaled back its operation to supply only Brabham in 1987 . With

1296-622: A more regular basis. However, the season started with a massive crash at the Australian Grand Prix in which Fernando Alonso sustained rib fractures and a collapsed lung after colliding with Esteban Gutiérrez and somersaulting into the crash barriers. Alonso, as a result of his injuries, was forced to miss the second round of the Championship, the Bahrain Grand Prix , and was replaced by reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne . Vandoorne produced an impressive performance in his first race to score

1440-493: A number of teams, notably Benetton with their Ford V6 turbo and Arrows with their 4 cyl Megatron turbo (formerly the BMW turbo), encountered problems with the pop-off valve during 1987 when it would often come in lower than the 4.0 bar limit thus giving less horsepower, McLaren got around this by generally setting their TAG's turbo limit at 3.6 bar in 1987. This also allowed McLaren the advantage of better fuel economy. Even today

1584-582: A season of significant progress compared to 2015, Alonso and Button finished the championship in 10th and 15th places respectively with the team ending the season in sixth place in the Constructors' Championship with 76 points. On 3 September 2016, Jenson Button announced he would take a sabbatical from Formula One for the 2017 season. He then confirmed on 25 November that he would retire from F1 altogether with Vandoorne being Alonso's new Teammate for 2017. In February 2017, McLaren signed Lando Norris to their Young Driver Programme. Alonso did not take part in

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1728-508: A season-long battle, winning 15 of the 16 races (at the other race at Monza , Senna had been leading comfortably, but collided with back-marker Jean-Louis Schlesser ). At the Portuguese Grand Prix , their relationship soured when Senna squeezed Prost against the pit wall; Prost won, but afterwards said, "It was dangerous. If he wants the world championship that badly he can have it." Prost scored more points that year, but because only

1872-480: A season. The year 2003 started promisingly, with one win each for Coulthard and Räikkönen at the first two Grands Prix. However, they were hampered when the MP4-18 car designed for that year suffered crash test and reliability problems, forcing them to continue using a 'D' development of the year-old MP4-17 for longer than they had initially planned. Despite this, Räikkönen scored points consistently and challenged for

2016-457: A second-place each for Hulme and Bruce in the first two Grands Prix, but in June, Bruce was killed in a crash at Goodwood while testing the new M8D Can-Am car. After his death, Teddy Mayer took over effective control of the team; Hulme continued with Dan Gurney and Peter Gethin partnering him. Gurney won the first two Can-Am events at Mosport and St. Jovite and placed ninth in the third, but left

2160-455: A single points finish for Benetton; Wurz's 5th place in Austria . Benetton ended the season 6th in the championship with 16 points, their worst ever finish. After Williams switched to works BMW engines, Benetton officially strengthened its partnership with Supertec . Prior to the start of the 2000 season, the team was sold to Renault as the manufacturer sought a return to Formula One, however

2304-628: A supply of Renault's 1997 engines developed by Mecachrome . Benetton re-branded these engines as Playlife , a sportswear brand owned by the Benetton family. Chief executive Flavio Briatore was removed and replaced by former World Rally Champion and Prodrive boss David Richards . Fisichella achieved some success with the B198 , achieving two consecutive 2nd places in Monaco and Canada as well as pole position in Austria . However, Benetton became uncompetitive towards

2448-677: A three-race suspended ban for misleading stewards at the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix. Despite these early problems, a late revival had Hamilton win at the Hungarian and Singapore Grands Prix. For the 2010 season , McLaren lost its status as the Mercedes works team; Mercedes decided to buy the Brackley-based Brawn team that had won the 2009 titles with its customer engines, Whitmarsh having chosen to abandon their exclusive rights to

2592-505: A two-race ban. At the German Grand Prix , Verstappen's B194 burst into flames after being showered with fuel during his pit stop. He escaped with minor burns and returned to score two consecutive podiums at the following races, the first of his career. Another disqualification came for Schumacher after he finished 1st at the Belgian Grand Prix ; his car was measured as having an illegal amount of wear on its skid block . His two-race ban

2736-658: Is on display at the Donington Museum , chassis #5 is still owned by McLaren, and chassis #1, the only one in private hands, belongs to a Porsche collector in the United States and was auctioned on 9 March 2012 at Amelia Island, FL by Gooding & Company. #1 : Used as a spare car for every race except Österreichring. Stefan Johansson raced this chassis only once, at the aborted start (1st) at Österreichring. #2 : Raced by Johansson at Rio, Imola, Spa, Monaco, Detroit, Paul Ricard, Silverstone, Hockenheim, and Hungaroring. The car

2880-453: Is using Mercedes-Benz engines from the 2021 season until at least 2030. After initially returning to the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 as a backer of Andretti Autosport to run Fernando Alonso and then in 2019 as an independent entry, McLaren announced in August 2019 that they would run in conjunction with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports starting in 2020 to run the full IndyCar Series ,

3024-667: The 1964 series , but Mayer was killed in practice for the final race at the Longford Circuit in Tasmania . When Bruce McLaren approached Teddy Mayer to help him with the purchase of the Zerex sports car from Roger Penske, Teddy Mayer and Bruce McLaren began discussing a business partnership resulting in Teddy Mayer buying in to Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited (BMMR) and ultimately becoming its largest shareholder. The team, competing under

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3168-667: The 1966 Monaco Grand Prix , was painted white with a green stripe, to represent a fictional Yamura team in John Frankenheimer 's film Grand Prix ). During this period, Bruce drove for his team in sports car races in the United Kingdom and North America and also entered the 1965 Tasman Series with Phil Hill , but did not win it. He continued to drive in Grands Prix for Cooper, but judging that team's form to be waning, decided to race his own cars in 1966. Bruce McLaren made

3312-502: The 1993 season. Senna—who initially agreed only to a race-by-race contract before later signing for the whole year —won five races, including a record-breaking sixth victory at Monaco and a win at the European Grand Prix , where he went from fifth to first on the opening lap. His teammate, 1991 CART champion Michael Andretti , fared much worse; he scored only seven points, and was replaced by test driver Mika Häkkinen for

3456-475: The 1995 season, the MP4/10 , was not a front-runner and Brundle's replacement, former champion Nigel Mansell , was unable to fit into the car at first and departed after just two races, with Mark Blundell taking his place. While Williams dominated in 1996 , McLaren, now with David Coulthard alongside Häkkinen, went a third successive season without a win. In 1997 , however, Coulthard broke this run by winning

3600-530: The 2017 Monaco Grand Prix as he was participating in the Indianapolis 500 . Instead Jenson Button returned for the one race as his replacement. McLaren finished 2017 9th with 30 points in total. McLaren announced during the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix weekend that they would split from engine supplier Honda at the end of the 2017 season and had agreed on a three-year customer deal to be supplied with Mecachrome -assembled Renault engines. Team boss Éric Boullier described their performance between 2015 and 2017 as

3744-583: The 2020 season. The season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The season was shortened to 18 races, with the season opener to take place in Austria . At the Austrian Grand Prix , Norris achieved his first ever podium, finishing in third. Sainz achieved the team's second podium in 2020 at the Italian Grand Prix , where he finished second. The team finished the 2020 season third in

3888-599: The Argentinian season-opener; Fittipaldi, with wins in Brazil , Belgium and Canada , took the Drivers' Championship. It was a close fight for Fittipaldi, who secured the title with a fourth at the season-ending United States Grand Prix , putting him three points ahead of Ferrari's Clay Regazzoni . With Hulme and multiple motorcycle world champion Mike Hailwood , he also sealed McLaren's first Constructors' Championship. The year 1975

4032-635: The B189 was not ready for the start of the season, and the previous year's engine did not fit in the new car. The team therefore had no choice but to continue using the B188. Despite this setback, the B188 still proved competitive, with Nannini claiming a podium finish at Imola . Prior to making his Formula One debut, Herbert was involved in a serious crash in Formula 3000 that broke both his legs. Despite achieving some impressive results, including 4th place in his first race, he

4176-620: The Benetton team), Ferrari pushed the British team more closely in 1990 . McLaren, in turn, brought in Ferrari's Gerhard Berger , but like the two seasons before, the Drivers' Championship was led by Prost and Senna and settled at the penultimate race in Japan . Here, Senna collided with Prost at the first corner, forcing both to retire, but this time Senna escaped punishment and took the title; McLaren also won

4320-549: The Brabham team in 1986 . Brabham's long time designer Gordon Murray had joined McLaren in 1987 as its new Technical Director taking over from Barnard and this led to the popular belief that he had played a major role in the design of the new look McLaren. However, team manager Jo Ramírez downplayed Murray's involvement in the design of the MP4/3, saying that the BT55's design had no bearing on

4464-813: The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in February, Alonso suffered a concussion and, as a result, Kevin Magnussen replaced him for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March. At that inaugural race of the season, Jenson Button finished 11th, but was lapped twice and finished last of the finishing cars. Following considerable unreliability and initial suggestions that the Honda engine was underpowered relative to its competitors, steady performance gains eventually resulted in Button managing to score

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4608-467: The Haas Lola team folding at the end of 1986, Benetton was able to take over its factory supply of turbocharged Ford engines. The B187 suffered with engine trouble at the start of the season, but became more consistent mid-season after reducing the effect of the turbocharger, taking numerous 4th and 5th place finishes as well as two 3rd places in Austria and Australia . Benetton ended the season 5th in

4752-515: The Luxembourg and Japanese Grands Prix gave both him the Drivers' Championship and McLaren the Constructors' Championship. Häkkinen won his second Drivers' Championship the following season , but due to a combination of driver errors and mechanical failures, the team lost the constructors' title to Ferrari. In 2000 McLaren won seven races in a close fight with Ferrari, but ultimately Ferrari and Schumacher prevailed in both competitions. This marked

4896-597: The MP4-29 , which was revealed on 24 January 2014. They had a largely unsuccessful 2014; their best result was in Australia where – after Daniel Ricciardo 's disqualification from second place – Magnussen finished second and Button third. Button subsequently finished fourth in Canada , Britain , and Russia . Their highest grid position was in Britain with Button's third place on

5040-603: The MP4/9 was driven by Häkkinen and Martin Brundle , despite achieving eight podiums over the season no wins were achieved. Peugeot was dropped after a single year due to multiple engine failures/unreliability which cost McLaren potential race victories and they switched to a Mercedes-Benz -branded, Ilmor -designed engine. For 1995 season onwards, McLaren ended their engine deal with Peugeot Sport and started an engine full-works partnership with Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines for

5184-551: The Russian Grand Prix . At the following United States Grand Prix , Button scored his best result of the season with sixth place. The team finished ninth in the constructors' standings with 27 points, McLaren's worst performance since 1980. McLaren retained the Alonso - Button pairing for the 2016 season. The second year of the Honda partnership was better than the first, with the team being able to challenge for top 10 positions on

5328-572: The Williams team were resurgent with their Honda engine and drivers Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet , while at McLaren, Lauda's replacement, 1982 champion Keke Rosberg could not gel with the car. Williams took the Constructors' Championship, but for Prost, wins in San Marino , Monaco , and Austria combined with the fact that the Williams drivers were taking points from each other meant that he retained

5472-513: The carbon-fibre rear wings of the BMW M1 race cars that Project Four was preparing, had ideas for an innovative Formula One chassis constructed from carbon-fibre instead of conventional aluminium alloy . On their own, they lacked the money to build it, but with investment that came with the merger it became the McLaren MP4 (later called MP4/1) of 1981 , driven by Watson and Andrea de Cesaris . In

5616-594: The 10th and final career win for Gerhard Berger . Alesi took pole position in Italy but lost out due to a slow pit stop, finishing 2nd. Benetton ended the season 3rd in the championship with 67 points. 1998 saw numerous changes within the Benetton team. Berger retired from Formula One, and Alesi left to join Sauber. Test driver Wurz was promoted to a full-time seat, partnering Giancarlo Fisichella who left Jordan. Renault pulled out of Formula One, leaving Benetton and Williams with

5760-533: The 3.0-litre naturally aspirated engines that had been standard since 1966. Having seen in 1982 the need for a turbo engine of their own, Dennis had convinced Williams backer Techniques d'Avant Garde (TAG) to fund Porsche -built, TAG-branded turbo engines made to Barnard's specifications; TAG's founder Mansour Ojjeh would later become a McLaren shareholder. In the meantime, they continued with Cosworth engines as old rival Lauda came out of retirement in 1982 to drive alongside Watson in that year's 1B development of

5904-412: The Benetton family about future strategy. The Renault engines were now developed by Flavio Briatore's Supertec company, but continued to be labelled Playlife. The B199 was a disappointment and demonstrated the further decline of the team. The highlight of the season was Fisichella's 2nd place in Canada , however this only came after numerous retirements from other cars. The following ten races only saw

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6048-706: The British Formula One team Cooper with whom he had won three Grands Prix and come second in the 1960 World Championship. Wanting to compete in the Australasian Tasman Series , Bruce approached his employers, but when team owner Charles Cooper insisted on using 1.5-litre Formula One-specification engines instead of the 2.5-litre motors permitted by the Tasman rules, Bruce decided to set up his own team to run him and his prospective Formula One teammate Timmy Mayer with custom-built Cooper cars. Bruce won

6192-404: The Constructors' Championship, their worst ranking since 1983. Coulthard left for Red Bull Racing in 2005 to be replaced by former CART champion Juan Pablo Montoya for what was McLaren's most successful season in several years as he and Räikkönen won ten races. However, both the team not being able to work out why the car could not heat its tyres properly in the early stages of the season and

6336-526: The Constructors' Championship. The 1991 year was another for McLaren and Senna, with the ascendant Renault-powered Williams team their closest challengers. By 1992 , Williams, with their advanced FW14B car, had overtaken McLaren, breaking their four-year run as champions, despite the latter winning five races that year. As Honda withdrew from the sport at end of 1992, McLaren sought a new engine supplier. A deal to secure Renault engines fell through, subsequently McLaren switched to customer Ford engines for

6480-578: The Drivers' Championship for much of the year, but tensions arose within the team, BBC Sport claimed that Alonso was unable to cope with Hamilton's competitiveness. At the Hungarian Grand Prix , Alonso was judged to have deliberately impeded his teammate during qualifying, so the team were not allowed to score Constructors' points at the event. An internal agreement within the McLaren team stated that drivers would alternatively have an extra lap for qualifying, however, Lewis Hamilton refused to accept for

6624-535: The Drivers' Championship heading into the final race in Brazil , Räikkönen in the Ferrari won the race and the Drivers' Championship, a single point ahead of both McLaren drivers. In November, Alonso and McLaren agreed to terminate their contract by mutual consent, Heikki Kovalainen filling the vacant seat alongside Hamilton. In 2008 , a close fight ensued between Hamilton and the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Räikkönen; Hamilton won five times and despite also crossing

6768-653: The Drivers' Championship in 1974 and 1976 respectively. The year 1974 also marked the start of a long-standing sponsorship by the Marlboro cigarette brand. In 1981, McLaren merged with Ron Dennis ' Project Four Racing ; Dennis took over as team principal, and shortly afterwards organised a buyout of the original McLaren shareholders to take full control of the team. This began the team's most successful era; with Porsche and Honda engines, Niki Lauda , Alain Prost , and Ayrton Senna won seven Drivers' Championships between them and

6912-637: The Hungarian Grand Prix. Subsequently, the McLaren team was investigated by the FIA for having proprietary technical blueprints of Ferrari's car – the so-called "Spygate" controversy . At the first hearing, McLaren management consistently denied all knowledge, blaming a single "rogue engineer". However, in the final hearing, McLaren was found guilty and the team was excluded from the Constructors' Championship and fined $ 100 million. The drivers were allowed to continue without penalty, and while Hamilton led

7056-460: The Lauda and Ferrari combination proved too strong, Hunt and McLaren managing just fifth and third in the respective championships. From there, results continued to worsen. Lotus and Mario Andretti took the 1978 titles with their 78 and 79 ground-effect cars and neither Hunt nor Mass's replacement Patrick Tambay were able to seriously challenge with the nonground-effect M26. Hunt was dropped at

7200-696: The M7, a further three podium finishes followed for Bruce in 1969 , but the team's fifth win had to wait until the last race of the 1969 championship when Hulme won the Mexican Grand Prix . That year, McLaren experimented with four-wheel drive in the M9A , but the car had only a single outing driven by Derek Bell at the British Grand Prix ; Bruce described driving it as like "trying to write your signature with somebody jogging your elbow". The year 1970 started with

7344-469: The MP4, Watson won the British Grand Prix and had three other podium finishes. Soon after the merger, McLaren moved from Colnbrook to a new base in Woking and Dennis and Mayer initially shared the managing directorship of the company; by 1982, Mayer had departed and Tyler Alexander's and his shareholdings had been bought by the new owners. In the early 1980s, teams like Renault , Ferrari and Brabham were using 1.5-litre turbocharged engines in favour of

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7488-481: The MP4. They each won two races, Watson notably from 17th place on the grid in Detroit , and at one stage of the season McLaren were second in the constructors' championship. As part of a dispute with FISA , they boycotted the San Marino Grand Prix . Although 1983 was not so fruitful, Watson did win again in the United States, this time from 22nd on the grid at Long Beach . Having been fired by Renault, Prost returned to McLaren once again for 1984 . Now using

7632-580: The MP4/3 by Alain Prost at Grand Prix of Brazil , Belgium , and Portugal . Stefan Johansson managed a few podium places, but he would be replaced in 1988 by Ayrton Senna . McLaren still managed to finish 2nd overall, with 76 points, in the Constructor's Championship . The MP4/3 represented the pinnacle of the development of the McLaren TAG-Porsche partnership. The Porsche-TAG engine featured an updated Motronic 1.7 engine management system , and now produced 790 bhp (590 kW) in race trim and up to 850 bhp (630 kW) in qualifying . Although

7776-419: The MP4/3 is still considered to be one of the most powerful F1 cars ever made, since turbo boost pressure would be further reduced to 2.5 bar in 1988 , reducing the power output of the turbo engines to around 650 bhp (480 kW) in a bid to make the naturally aspirated cars more competitive. Turbocharged engines were then banned completely in 1989 , so the turbo era in Formula One may remain possibly

7920-409: The MP4/3B, was a test mule for the Honda turbo engine that would power McLaren's hopes for 1988 . The MP4/3B never raced, but was tested by Prost, and later his 1988 teammate Ayrton Senna , until the all-new MP4/4 made its track debut at Imola a week before the start of the 1988 season (Prost lapped Imola over 2 seconds faster in the MP4/4 than he had in the MP4/3B. The MP4/4 would go on to be

8064-451: The McLaren cars managed only eighth place (Hamilton) and 10th place (Button), while the drivers' and Constructors' Championships were being dominated by Red Bull Racing and Ferrari, whose cars occupied the first four places of the British Grand Prix , this was partially due to pit stop problems and Button's temporary dip in form after not adapting as well as Hamilton to the new Pirelli tyres. The car also suffered reliability problems which cost

8208-616: The Mercedes engines to help Brawn run. Mercedes still continued providing engines to McLaren, albeit under a supplier-customer relationship rather than the works partnership as before, while it sold its 40% shares of McLaren over two years. McLaren signed 2009 champion, Jenson Button , to replace Kovalainen alongside Hamilton in 2010 . Button won twice (in Australia and China ) and Hamilton three times (in Turkey , Canada , and Belgium ), but they and McLaren failed to win their respective championships, that year's MP4-25 largely outpaced by Red Bull's RB6 . Hamilton and Button remained with

8352-401: The TAG engines, the team dominated, scoring 12 wins and 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 times as many constructors' points as nearest rival Ferrari. In the Drivers' Championship, Lauda prevailed over Prost by half a point, the narrowest margin ever. The McLaren-TAGs were again strong in 1985 ; a third Constructors' Championship came their way while this time Prost won the Drivers' Championship. In 1986 ,

8496-424: The best 11 results counted, Senna took the title at the penultimate race in Japan . The next year, with turbos banned, Honda supplied a new 3.5-L naturally aspirated V10 engine and McLaren again won both titles with the MP4/5 . Their drivers' relationship continued to deteriorate, though, especially when, at the San Marino Grand Prix , Prost felt that Senna had reneged on an agreement not to pass each other at

8640-527: The best constructor behind Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull. At the Brazilian Grand Prix , Sainz recorded the team's first podium since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix , finishing fourth on the road but later promoted to third after Lewis Hamilton received a post-race penalty, meaning that the team missed out on the official podium ceremony. McLaren ended the season in 4th place with 145 points, their best result since 2014 and 54 points ahead of their nearest competitor, Renault. McLaren retained Norris and Sainz for

8784-445: The best result being a fourth at Monaco . For 1968 , after driving McLaren's sole entry for the previous two years, Bruce was joined by 1967 champion and fellow New Zealander Denny Hulme , who was already racing for McLaren in Can-Am . That year's new M7A car, Herd's final design for the team, was powered by Cosworth 's new and soon to be ubiquitous DFV engine (the DFV would go on to be used by McLaren until 1983) and with it

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8928-406: The car and that Murray had primarily been in charge of quality control. However, Murray himself has since said that this car, and its successor the McLaren MP4/4 , were designed using his original Brabham BT55 drawings as a base (as they were legally his, Murray had brought the BT55's drawings with him to McLaren). The claim has since been disputed by engineering director Steve Nichols . The engine

9072-425: The car's basic exterior shape was all-new and sleeker than its bulbous looking predecessor with the only visual reminder of the car being its nose section, though this too had been re-designed and was in fact lower and approximately 10% smaller. The suspension set up of the new car was virtually identical to the MP4/2C To many, the MP4/3 seemed to have been designed along the lines of the lowline Brabham BT55 used by

9216-402: The championship up to the final race, eventually losing by two points. The team began 2004 with the MP4-19 , which technical director Adrian Newey described as "a debugged version of [the MP4-18]". It was not a success, though, and was replaced mid-season by the MP4-19B. With this, Räikkönen scored the team's and his only win of the year at the Belgian Grand Prix , as McLaren finished fifth in

9360-399: The championship with 28 points. Fabi was dropped for the 1988 season in favour of Minardi driver Alessandro Nannini , ending Fabi's Formula One career. The B188 became the team's first naturally-aspirated car as Ford wished to concentrate development in light of the upcoming ban on turbocharged engines. The B188 was once again an improvement on its predecessor, suffering almost half

9504-419: The championship with 91 points. Brundle was unexpectedly dropped for 1993 in favour of veteran Riccardo Patrese , who had left Williams. The B193 was similar in competitiveness to its predecessor, taking a single victory in the hands of Schumacher at the Portuguese Grand Prix and finishing 3rd in the championship for the fourth time in the team's history. Benetton achieved ten other podium finishes during

9648-518: The closing laps. Benetton finished the season 3rd in the championship with 68 points, less than half as many as in 1995. By 1997 , technical director Ross Brawn and chief designer Rory Byrne , as well as numerous other staff, had left Benetton to join Schumacher at Ferrari. Composites manager, Philip Henderson, who had been with the team since the start also left to help Dan Gurney with his Indy Car team in California. The B197 , like its predecessor, struggled to compete with Williams and Ferrari. However,

9792-404: The combined entry being named Arrow McLaren SP . Initially having no ownership interest in the team, McLaren would purchase 75% of the operation in 2021. McLaren entered the electric off-road racing series Extreme E in 2022 , and also joined Formula E in the 2022–23 season . Bruce McLaren Motor Racing was founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren . Bruce was a works driver for

9936-423: The constructors' championship with 202 points. Sainz finished the driver's championship in sixth with 105 points and Norris in ninth with 97 points. Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Limited. , commonly referred to simply as Benetton , was a Formula One constructor that participated from 1986 to 2001 . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores. In 2000,

10080-399: The design of both McLaren's Formula One M19 and Indianapolis M16 cars (itself inspired by Lotus 's 72 ), it was a mainstay for four years. Hulme won with it in Sweden and Revson took the only Grand Prix wins of his career in Britain and Canada . In 1974 , Emerson Fittipaldi , world champion with Lotus two years earlier, joined McLaren. Hulme, in his final Formula One campaign, won

10224-411: The end of 1978 in favour of Lotus's Ronnie Peterson , but when Peterson was killed by a crash at the Italian Grand Prix , John Watson was signed, instead. No improvement occurred in 1979 ; Coppuck's M28 design was described by Mayer as "ghastly, a disaster" and "quite diabolical" and the M29 did little to change the situation. Tambay scored no points and Watson only 15 to place the team eighth at

10368-406: The end of 2013, after the team's worst season since 2004, Whitmarsh was ousted. McLaren announced in 2013 that they would be using Honda engines from 2015 onwards, replacing Mercedes-Benz. The team raced as McLaren Honda for the first time since 1992 at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix . In September 2017, McLaren announced they had agreed on an engine supply with Renault from 2018 to 2020. McLaren

10512-411: The end of the season, scoring just a single point in the final seven races. The team partly blamed tyre supplier Bridgestone , claiming that they had favoured the more successful McLaren team. Benetton finished the season 5th in the championship with 33 points. Chief executive Richards left Benetton after just a year in his post and was replaced by Rocco Benetton for 1999 , due to a disagreement with

10656-444: The end of the year. The 1980s started much as the 1970s had ended: Alain Prost took over from Tambay but Watson and he rarely scored points. Under increasing pressure since the previous year from principal sponsor Philip Morris and their executive John Hogan, Mayer was coerced into merging McLaren with Ron Dennis 's Project Four Formula Two team, also sponsored by Philip Morris. Dennis had designer John Barnard who, inspired by

10800-553: The final lap of the race. Despite winning his first Grand Prix in Hungary , Kovalainen finished the season only seventh in the overall standings, allowing Ferrari to take the constructors' title. Before the start of the 2009 season, Dennis retired as team principal, handing responsibility to Martin Whitmarsh , but the year started badly: the MP4-24 car was off the pace and the team was given

10944-415: The final lap, but two other 3rd place finishes were the only podium places the team would achieve in 1991. Benetton sought a young driver for the team's future, and believed neither Moreno nor the ageing Piquet could fill this role. After Michael Schumacher had impressed in his debut for Jordan at the Belgian Grand Prix , he was hired by Benetton for the following race in place of Moreno. Jordan protested

11088-531: The final race in Australia , taking out both drivers. During the 1994 season, some rival teams claimed Benetton had found a way to violate the FIA -imposed ban on electronic aids, including traction control and launch control . On investigation, the FIA discovered "start sequence" (launch control) software in the Benetton B194 cars, and a variety of illegal software in rival teams' cars as well. FIA had no evidence

11232-508: The final three rounds of the season. Williams ultimately won both titles and Senna—who had flirted with moving there for 1993—signed with them for the 1994 season. During the 1993 season McLaren took part in a seven part BBC Television documentary called A Season With McLaren . McLaren tested a Lamborghini V12 engine ahead of the 1994 season, as part of a potential deal with the then-Lamborghini owner Chrysler , before eventually deciding to use Peugeot engines. With Peugeot power,

11376-606: The finale in Japan . Here it rained torrentially, Lauda retired because of safety concerns, and Hunt sealed the Drivers' Championship by finishing third. McLaren, though, lost the Constructors' Championship to Ferrari. In 1977 , the M23 was gradually replaced with the M26 , the M23's final works outing being Gilles Villeneuve 's Formula One debut with the team in a one-off appearance at the British Grand Prix . Hunt won on three occasions that year, but

11520-466: The finish line first at the Belgian Grand Prix , he was deemed to have gained an illegal advantage by cutting a chicane during an overtake and was controversially demoted to third. Going into the final race in Brazil , Hamilton had a seven-point lead over Massa. Massa won there, but Hamilton dramatically clinched his first Drivers' Championship by moving into the necessary fifth position at the final corner of

11664-521: The first corner. Believing that Honda and Dennis were favouring Senna, Prost announced mid-season that he would leave to drive at Ferrari the following year. For the second year in succession, the Drivers' Championship was decided at the Japanese Grand Prix , this time in Prost's favour after Senna and he collided (Senna initially recovered and won the race, but was later disqualified). With former McLaren men Nichols and Prost (Barnard had moved to

11808-417: The first three races of the season and being forced to only enter one car for the following six races, as a result of a dispute with tyre suppliers. Teo Fabi had taken a pole position for Toleman at the German Grand Prix , however the team would score no points during the season, with poor reliability causing a Toleman car to see the chequered flag only twice out of 20 total entries. Benetton Formula Limited

11952-533: The first time in a decade. Montoya parted company acrimoniously with the team to race in NASCAR after the United States Grand Prix , where he crashed into Räikkönen at the start; test driver Pedro de la Rosa deputised for the remainder of the season. The team also lost Räikkönen to Ferrari at the end of the year. Steve Matchett argued that the poor reliability of McLaren in 2006 and recent previous years

12096-549: The first time, after the German manufacturer spent one year in partnership with the Sauber team. The partnership included free engines from Mercedes-Benz that built and assembled by Ilmor Engineering , Mercedes-Benz official team vehicles, financial support, also earned full-factory support from Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz and also Mercedes-Benz and Ilmor staff would work with the team at their Woking base. McLaren's Formula One car for

12240-550: The following race in Spain improved Schumacher's performance in the car. He went on to dominate the remainder of the season, taking nine wins from seventeen races in total and claiming his second world title. Herbert took his first career podium in Spain and then went on to win the British and Italian Grands Prix. This combined effort won Benetton its first constructors' championship, ending Williams' three-year reign. Herbert later claimed

12384-574: The grid. For 2015 , McLaren ended their engine deal with Mercedes which included buying back the 40% stake that Mercedes held in the team and reforging their historical partnership with Honda. The Honda deal not only meant they would supply engines, but that Honda staff would work with the team at their Woking base as well as received full-factory support from Honda including official team vehicles and free engines. The team announced Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button as their race drivers, with Kevin Magnussen demoted to test driver. During pre-season testing at

12528-588: The hands of Prost and Stefan Johansson , though, Nichols's MP4/3 and the TAG engine could not match the Williams-Honda. For 1988 , Honda switched their supply to McLaren and, encouraged by Prost, Dennis signed Ayrton Senna to drive. Despite regulations reducing the boost pressure and fuel capacity (and therefore, power) of the turbo cars, Honda persisted with a turbocharged engine. In the MP4/4 , Senna and Prost engaged in

12672-558: The high-water mark for horsepower levels in Formula 1. The MP4/3 was also the car with which Prost won the 1987 Portuguese Grand Prix to become the driver with the most wins in Formula One history beating Jackie Stewart 's record of 27 wins which had stood since Stewart retired at the end of 1973 . The MP4/3 was the last McLaren Grand Prix car to use the TAG-Porsche engine. Its successor,

12816-486: The highly successful MP4/4 , would be powered by the Honda V6 turbo. Five new MP4/3 cars were moulded from carbon fibre with assistance from Hercules Aerospace , as since the creation of the all-new MP4/1 in 1981. The chassis numbers, 1 through 5, were used throughout the year, with three new cars ready for the first race in Brazil. Two MP4/3s were destroyed during 1987, but three complete MP4/3s still exist: Chassis #4

12960-404: The injuries ended his Formula One career. EuroBrun driver Roberto Moreno had become available after the backmarker team pulled out of the sport, and so he was hired as Nannini's replacement. The next race in Japan marked Benetton's first ever 1-2 finish, as well as Moreno's first and only career podium. Benetton ended the season 3rd in the championship with 71 points. A new title sponsor

13104-563: The most dominant single season car in F1 history, winning 15 of 1988's 16 races, as well as claiming pole in 15). After finishing the role, the sixth car went to Argentina and is on display at the Juan Manuel Fangio Museum in Balcarce . ( key ) (results in italics indicate fastest lap) McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( / m ə ˈ k l ær ə n / mə- KLARR -ən ) is

13248-412: The move in the British courts, but they found in favour of Benetton. For the 1992 season, Tom Walkinshaw Racing acquired a stake in Benetton, with Tom Walkinshaw and Ross Brawn brought in to run the team's engineering operations. The team also moved its base of operations from Witney, Oxfordshire to a new factory close to the nearby village of Enstone . Piquet had retired from Formula One, and

13392-483: The number of retirements and claiming seven podium finishes, all 3rd places. Boutsen had finished 3rd in Belgium , however both Benettons were disqualified from the race after the season had concluded for fuel irregularities. The team finished the season 3rd in the championship with 39 points. For 1989 , Boutsen left Benetton to join Williams and was replaced by rookie Johnny Herbert . The new engine developed by Ford for

13536-457: The overall unreliability of the MP4-20 cost several race victories when Räikkönen had been leading or in contention to win and also costing him grid positions in some qualifying sessions, which allowed Renault and their driver Fernando Alonso to capitalise and win both titles. In 2006 , the superior reliability and speed of the Ferraris and Renaults prevented the team from gaining any victories for

13680-553: The powerful BMW M12 . Teo Fabi was retained as a driver and Piercarlo Ghinzani was replaced by Gerhard Berger , who joined from Arrows . The B186 demonstrated its pace throughout the season, with Berger securing the team's first podium finish at Imola and a front-row start in Belgium . Fabi claimed two consecutive pole positions in Austria and Italy , before Berger achieved the Witney -based team's first victory in Mexico , almost half

13824-415: The returning Gerhard Berger, both of whom had left Ferrari. Williams returned to dominance in 1996 and Schumacher's departure allowed Ferrari to compete for race wins, leaving Benetton struggling. The B196 took ten podium finishes, but the team failed to win a race for the first time since 1988. Alesi and Berger were on course to win the Monaco and German Grands Prix respectively, but both retired late in

13968-456: The season 4th in the championship with 20 points. The Renault name returned to Formula One in 2001 as Benetton received a supply of full-works Renault engines. Wurz's struggles in 2000 saw him replaced with a young Jenson Button , who had been dropped by Williams. Despite these changes, Benetton suffered a dismal start to 2001 with the B201 often barely qualifying in the top 20. Only a single point

14112-662: The season with a sixth-place after qualifying third in a wet/dry session. After a disappointing display at their home race, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the team scored points at the next three rounds with six points in Hungary, four in Germany, and six points again thanks to an impressive seventh-place finish from Alonso at the Belgian Grand Prix . At the United States Grand Prix , McLaren matched their Monaco result with 12 points after an attacking race from Alonso saw him claim fifth position while Button once again finished ninth. After

14256-412: The season, Hamilton was involved in several incidents with other drivers including – most notably – multiple collisions with 2008 title rival Massa. In 2012 , McLaren won the first race of the year in Australia with a dominant victory by Button and a 3rd place from pole for Hamilton, while Hamilton went on to win in Canada , but by the mid-way mark of the season at the team's home race at Silverstone,

14400-403: The season-opening Australian Grand Prix ; Häkkinen and he would each win another race before the end of the season, and highly rated designer Adrian Newey joined the team from Williams in August that year. Despite the car's improved pace, unreliability proved costly throughout the season, with retirements at the British and Luxembourg Grands Prix occurring whilst Häkkinen was in the lead. It

14544-465: The season. Despite these impressive results and improvements in the team's performance in 1992 and 1993, Benetton were not able to provide Schumacher with a car to challenge for the world championship, and were outclassed by the dominant Williams team. Camel was replaced as the team's title sponsor for 1994 by Japanese cigarette brand Mild Seven . This meant Benetton adopted sky blue as the main car colour. Patrese retired from Formula One, ending what

14688-507: The second constructor (after Shadow in 1976 ) to officially change its nationality. The Benetton family wanted this change of nationality to have their Formula One team flying the flag of their own country. At the 1997 German Grand Prix Benetton became the only constructor to have won races under more than one nationality. The team was based in the UK throughout, initially at the former Toleman factory in Witney, Oxfordshire , before moving to

14832-422: The second-worst average qualifying ranking of any team, only ahead of Williams . The team finished the disappointing season – after being helped by the exclusion of Force India 's points from the first 12 races – in 6th place with 62 points, 357 points behind their target, Red Bull Racing, with the same engine. The 2019 season was much more positive for McLaren, with the team securely establishing themselves as

14976-515: The software was ever used, so teams found with the software received little to no punishment. No traction control software was found to be in the Benetton cars, however. Flavio Briatore , Benetton's chief in 1994, said in 2001 that "Our only mistake was that at the time we were too young and people were suspicious". After eight years of Ford power, Benetton switched to full-works Renault V10 engines for 1995 and thus Ford switched allegiances to then-youngest Formula One constructor Sauber . Herbert

15120-480: The sport, McLaren were once again able to challenge for the championship. Häkkinen and Coulthard won five of the first six races despite the banning of the team's "brake steer" system, which allowed the rear brakes to be operated individually to reduce understeer , after a protest by Ferrari at the second race in Brazil . Schumacher and Ferrari provided the greatest competition, the former levelled on points with Häkkinen with two races to go, but wins for Häkkinen at

15264-540: The start of a decline in form as Ferrari cemented their dominance of Formula One and also beryllium engine material banned in Formula One that affected Mercedes engine performance. In 2001 , Häkkinen was outscored by Coulthard for the first time since 1997 and retired (ending Formula One's longest ever driver partnership), his place taken by Kimi Räikkönen , then in 2002 , Coulthard took their solitary win at Monaco while Ferrari repeated McLaren's 1988 feat of 15 wins in

15408-464: The struggling Lotus team. Benetton used a modified B189 before introducing the B190 at the third race of the season. 1990 proved to be the team's most successful to date, with Piquet winning the final two races of the season and the team achieving six other podium finishes. Tragedy would befall the team late into the season after Nannini lost his right forearm in a helicopter crash. His arm was re-attached but

15552-550: The team and its drivers numerous potential points, most notably in Singapore and Abu Dhabi , where Hamilton had been leading from the front in both races and in Italy where the team lost a 1-2 finish when Button's car failed with fuel problems on lap 33. Sergio Pérez replaced Hamilton for 2013 , after Hamilton decided to leave for Mercedes . The team's car for the season, the MP4-28 ,

15696-502: The team and was rebranded it Renault Sport Formula One Team in 2016 , then becoming Alpine in 2021 . The team continues to operate from the site at Enstone established by Benetton in 1992. The Benetton team is today best known for its success with Michael Schumacher, who accounts for 19 of the team's 27 race victories and their two World Drivers' Championships. Benetton Team had a British licence from 1986 to 1995 and an Italian licence from 1996 to 2001 , thus becoming only

15840-452: The team failed to provide him with equal equipment and accused them of favouring Schumacher. Benetton began racing under Italian nationality for the 1996 season, but remained based in the United Kingdom. Despite being contracted to race for Benetton, Schumacher left early to join Ferrari, citing the team's actions in 1994 as his reason for opting out. Herbert was dropped by the team and joined Sauber. Their replacements were Jean Alesi and

15984-465: The team finishing third in the Constructors' Championship. McLaren gave Jody Scheckter his Formula One debut at the final race at Watkins Glen . All McLaren drivers used the Ford-Cosworth engines, except for Andrea de Adamich and Nanni Galli who used engines from Alfa Romeo in 1970. The McLaren M23 , designed by Gordon Coppuck, was the team's new car for the 1973 season. Sharing parts of

16128-434: The team into 2011 , with Hamilton winning three races – China , Germany , and Abu Dhabi and Button also winning three races – Canada , Hungary , and Japan . Button finished the Drivers' Championship in second place with 270 points behind 2011 Drivers' Champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing, ahead of Hamilton's 227 points. McLaren was second in the Constructors' Championship to Red Bull Racing. Throughout

16272-516: The team mid-season, and Gethin took over from there. While 1971 began promisingly when Hulme led the opening round in South Africa before retiring with broken suspension, ultimately Hulme, Gethin (who left for BRM mid-season, ) and Jackie Oliver again failed to score a win. The 1972 season saw improvements though: Hulme won the team's first Grand Prix for 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 years in South Africa and he and Peter Revson scored ten other podiums,

16416-515: The team still achieved a number of podium finishes over the season. Berger was forced to miss three races due to illness and the death of his father; his replacement was rookie test driver Alexander Wurz . Wurz scored a podium in Britain , only his third race in Formula One. Berger returned for the German Grand Prix , winning the race from pole position in dominant fashion. However, this would turn out to be Benetton's last victory in Formula One, as well as

16560-458: The team took six Constructors' Championships. The combination of Prost and Senna was particularly dominant—together they won all but one race in 1988 —but later their rivalry soured and Prost left for Ferrari. Fellow English team Williams offered the most consistent challenge during this period, the two winning every constructors' title between 1984 and 1994 . By the mid-1990s, Honda had withdrawn from Formula One, Senna had moved to Williams, and

16704-425: The team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. In 2002 , the team became Renault . The Benetton Formula team was chaired by Alessandro Benetton from 1988 to 1998. The Benetton Group entered Formula One as a sponsor company for constructor Tyrrell in 1983 , then Alfa Romeo in 1984 and 1985 and finally Toleman in 1985. Toleman had struggled in 1985, missing

16848-464: The team went three seasons without a win. With Mercedes-Benz engines, West sponsorship, and former Williams designer Adrian Newey , further championships came in 1998 and 1999 with driver Mika Häkkinen , and during the 2000s the team were consistent front-runners, with driver Lewis Hamilton taking their latest title in 2008 . Ron Dennis retired as McLaren team principal in 2009, handing over to long-time McLaren employee Martin Whitmarsh . At

16992-572: The team won its first Grand Prix at the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix , but their greatest initial success was in Can-Am, which they dominated from 1967 to 1971. Further American triumph followed, with Indianapolis 500 wins in McLaren cars for Mark Donohue in 1972 and Johnny Rutherford in 1974 and 1976 . After Bruce McLaren died in a testing accident in 1970, Teddy Mayer took over and led the team to their first Formula One Constructors' Championship in 1974 , with Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt winning

17136-447: The team would retain the Benetton name. As part of their restructuring, Renault brought back Flavio Briatore as team manager. The B200 was an improvement on its predecessor, claiming three podium finishes, including 2nd place in Brazil after David Coulthard was disqualified. All three of these podiums were scored by Fisichella; Wurz struggled with the car and only claimed a single points finish with 5th place in Italy . Benetton ended

17280-497: The team's Grand Prix debut at the 1966 Monaco race (of the current Formula One teams, only Ferrari is older ). His race ended after nine laps due to a terminal oil leak. The 1966 car was the M2B designed by Robin Herd , but the programme was hampered by a poor choice of engines: a 3.0-litre version of Ford 's Indianapolis 500 engine and a Serenissima V8 were used, the latter scoring

17424-462: The team's best finish since the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix with fifth, Alonso said that the team's target would be Red Bull Racing. McLaren had a relatively good start to the season with points finishes in the next four races, but in the next 16 races after Spain, McLaren only scored 22 points, 8 points less than in the same period in 2017. On 14 August 2018, Fernando Alonso announced he would not compete in Formula One in 2019, ending his four-year spell at

17568-407: The team's first (four) points of the season at the sixth round in Monaco . By contrast, Alonso scored his first point three races later at the British Grand Prix . The Hungarian Grand Prix saw the team score their best result of the season with Alonso and Button finishing fifth and ninth, respectively. However, McLaren did not score points in the next four races until Button finished ninth at

17712-550: The team's first point in Britain , but both were underpowered and unreliable. For 1967 Bruce decided to use a British Racing Motors (BRM) V12 engine , but due to delays with the engine, was forced initially to use a modified Formula Two car called the M4B powered by a 2.1-litre BRM V8, later building a similar but slightly larger car called the M5A for the V12. Neither car brought great success,

17856-457: The team's first point of the season with 10th place. The next points for McLaren came at the Russian Grand Prix with Alonso and Button finishing sixth and 10th respectively. The rain-affected Monaco Grand Prix was one of best races of the season for the team. Alonso finished fifth, having kept Nico Rosberg 's Mercedes behind him for 46 laps, while Button scored two points with ninth. At the Austrian Grand Prix , Button recorded his best result of

18000-486: The team, including an impressive podium finish for Fisichella in Belgium . 2001 was the final season featuring the Benetton name, as the team was fully re-branded as the Renault F1 Team for the 2002 season. The Renault F1 Team would go on to win the drivers' and constructors' championships in both 2005 and 2006 with Fernando Alonso . The team was sold off and became Lotus F1 Team in 2012 . Renault re-purchased

18144-439: The team. Carlos Sainz Jr. was signed as his replacement on a multi-year deal. On 3 September 2018, it was announced that Stoffel Vandoorne would be leaving the team at the end of the season, with Lando Norris being promoted from reserve driver to replace him in 2019. McLaren struggled with performance throughout the season, with the McLaren drivers being knocked out 21 times in the first qualifying session, and McLaren having

18288-511: Was acquired for 1991 in the form of American cigarette brand Camel , which had previously appeared as a minor sponsor on Benetton cars. The 1991 season was less successful for Benetton. An upgraded B190 was used for the first two races of the season before the B191 made its debut at the San Marino Grand Prix . Piquet achieved an unexpected victory in Canada after Nigel Mansell retired on

18432-401: Was again strong in his Ferrari; at midseason, he led the championship with 56 points while Hunt had only 26 despite wins in Spain (a race from which he was initially disqualified ) and France . At the German Grand Prix , though, Lauda crashed heavily, was nearly killed, and missed the next two races. Hunt capitalised by winning four more Grands Prix giving him a three-point deficit going into

18576-584: Was also at the start of this season that saw long time sponsor, Marlboro, shift its support to long time rival Ferrari. For the first time since the 1974 season, McLaren would have a new identity, shifting to fellow tobacco sponsor West. This saw the traditional red and white replaced with silver, grey, white and red. McLaren would retain this colour scheme (or very similar) for twenty years until 2017. With Newey able to take advantage of new technical regulations for 1998 , and with Williams losing their works Renault engines following Renault's temporary withdrawal from

18720-470: Was declared fit for the San Marino Grand Prix , but would only score a single point in the following four races and was replaced again by Verstappen for the French Grand Prix onwards. Schumacher finished 2nd at the British Grand Prix , but was deemed to have overtaken Damon Hill on the formation lap and then ignored black flags . He was disqualified from the results after the race, and later handed

18864-466: Was driven by double World Champion Alain Prost , in his fourth season with the team, and Stefan Johansson , who moved from Ferrari . The MP4/3's aerodynamics were completely different from the MP4/2, and the car appeared much more low-slung, to take advantage of the maximum fuel capacity limit of 195 litres, rather than the 220 litre limit in effect from 1984 to 1985. With addition of side-ducted radiators ,

19008-468: Was dropped by the team after failing to qualify for the Canadian Grand Prix as it became clear he had still not fully recovered. He was replaced by rookie and McLaren test driver Emanuele Pirro . The B189 was finally ready to compete at the following race. Nannini would go on to achieve Benetton's first victory since 1986 at the Japanese Grand Prix after Ayrton Senna was disqualified. Pirro

19152-565: Was due to a lack of team continuity and stability. His cited examples of instability are logistical challenges related to the move to the McLaren Technology Centre , Adrian Newey's aborted move to Jaguar and later move to Red Bull, the subsequent move of Newey's deputy to Red Bull, and personnel changes at Ilmor. After scoring no victories in 2006, the team returned to competitive status in 2007 . That year saw Fernando Alonso race alongside Formula One debutant and long-time McLaren protégé Lewis Hamilton . The pair scored four wins each and led

19296-552: Was formed in 1985 when the Toleman team was sold to the Benetton family . Toleman had already developed the TG186, their planned chassis for the 1986 season. This was renamed the Benetton B186 after the change in ownership. Benetton's first season in Formula One also came with a change in engine supply, with Toleman's Hart engines being replaced with that of a large car manufacturer,

19440-425: Was launched on 31 January 2013. The car struggled to compete with the other top teams and the season had McLaren fail to produce a podium finish for the first time since 1980 . Kevin Magnussen replaced Pérez for 2014 , and Ron Dennis, who had remained at arm's length since stepping down from the team principal role, returned as CEO of the operation. McLaren was the first team to officially launch their 2014 car,

19584-443: Was less successful for the team: Fittipaldi was second in the championship behind Niki Lauda . Hulme's replacement Jochen Mass took his sole GP win in Spain . At the end of 1975, Fittipaldi left to join his brother's Fittipaldi/Copersucar team. With the top drivers already signed to other teams, Mayer turned to James Hunt , a driver on whom biographer Gerald Donaldson reflected as having "a dubious reputation". In 1976 , Lauda

19728-411: Was only able to secure a single points finish in his ten races with the team, taking 5th place in Australia . Benetton ended the season 4th in the championship with 39 points. Prior to the 1990 season, the team management was fired and businessman Flavio Briatore was appointed team manager by the Benetton family. Pirro was dropped in favour of three-time world champion Nelson Piquet , who had left

19872-412: Was replaced by experienced Brabham driver Martin Brundle . Benetton's new car was once again delayed, with the team using an upgraded B191 for the first three races of the season in which Schumacher achieved two podium finishes. The B192 was a marked improvement, with eleven more podium finishes including a victory at Spa-Francorchamps , the first of Schumacher's career. Benetton ended the season 3rd in

20016-508: Was retained alongside Schumacher, whilst test driver Verstappen was loaned to the struggling Simtek team. Schumacher was initially critical of the new B195 , claiming that it was difficult to control. The car was outclassed by the Williams FW17 in the early season, with the team's poor performance culminating in Schumacher crashing out from pole position at Imola . However, setup changes at

20160-418: Was salvaged in the first eleven races, when Fisichella finished 6th in Brazil after twelve other cars failed to finish. The team's fortunes began to change at the German Grand Prix , when Fisichella and Button finishing 4th and 5th respectively. Continued chassis development allowed Benetton to leave Formula One on something of a high, and the cars' performance lifted. Button and Fisichella scored 10 points for

20304-515: Was served at the following two races, during which Lehto returned to the team as a replacement. In an attempt to win the constructors' championship, Benetton replaced Verstappen with the more experienced Johnny Herbert for the final two races of the season, marking his return to the team. This was ultimately unsuccessful after Herbert retired from both races. Despite Benetton losing the constructors' championship to Williams, Schumacher won his first world title after colliding with championship rival Hill at

20448-609: Was the longest career in the sport's history. He was replaced by Sauber driver JJ Lehto . However, Lehto was injured whilst testing the B194 prior to the start of the season and Benetton's test driver Jos Verstappen was brought up to replace him. The B194 was dominant in the hands of Schumacher, winning six of the first seven races including the tragedy-marred 1994 San Marino Grand Prix and taking Benetton's first pole positions since 1986. Verstappen and Lehto were less successful. Verstappen retired from his first two races after accidents. Lehto

20592-768: Was the same 1.5 litre, Porsche built, TAG funded and badged twin-turbo V6 engine that had so successfully powered the MP4/2, but with slight changes in compression and engine balancing , to cope with not only the new reduced fuel limit, but also with the FIA 's mandated pop-off valve which restricted turbo boost to 4.0 bar after turbo charging was unrestricted prior to 1987. Weight: 150 kg Engine: TAG TTE PO1 T Engine Configuration: 90° V6 T Bore: 82 mm (3.23 in) Stroke: 47.3 mm (1.86 in) Valves: 4 per cylinder Displacement: 1.5 L (1,499 cc) No. of revolutions: Max. 12,300 rpm Power: 634 kW (862 PS; 850 hp) Power/liter: 467 hp/L There were three wins in 1987 with

20736-610: Was written off in practice at Österreichring by Johansson, after a deer struck the car, and crashed. #3 : Raced by Alain Prost at Rio, Imola, Spa, Monaco, Detroit, and Paul Ricard. Car modified for Johansson for race use at Österreichring. It was originally a spare car at Mexico City, but then raced by Johansson, but written off in 1st-lap accident. #4 : New car for Prost to race at Silverstone, Hockenheim, Hungaroring, Österreichring, Monza, Estoril, Jerez, Mexico City, Suzuka, and Adelaide. #5 : New car for Johansson at Monza, Estoril, Jerez, Suzuka, and Adelaide. The sixth car, known as

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