{"id":859,"date":"2025-12-31T12:58:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T12:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/?p=859"},"modified":"2025-12-31T12:58:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T12:58:28","slug":"legendary-f1-mclaren-mp4-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/legendary-f1-mclaren-mp4-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Legendary F1: McLaren MP4\/2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Under the leadership of its new owner Ron Dennis, McLaren quickly re-established itself as a winning team in the early 1980s. A fundamental ingredient in this resurgence was undoubtedly the innovative carbon-fibre chassis designed by John Barnard. What initially prevented the team from fighting immediately for world titles, however, was the ageing Ford Cosworth DFV V8 engine, which could not match the performance of the latest-generation turbo units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The venerable Cosworth DFV was the only engine available for the 1981 season, but Dennis had already begun to consider turbocharged powerplants for the future, such as the Renault V6 and the BMW inline-four. Both options, however, would have required significant compromises to Barnard\u2019s design philosophy, so the decision was taken to commission a bespoke engine from none other than Porsche. The German manufacturer had not been involved in Formula 1 for two decades, but its deep expertise in turbocharged engines made it the ideal partner for McLaren. There was, however, a major obstacle for Dennis to overcome: funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Porsche was more than willing to develop the new engine, but only if a third party covered the costs. Unfortunately, McLaren was not in a position to shoulder most of the financial burden and therefore needed an investor. Ron Dennis addressed this by approaching Mansour Ojjeh, head of TAG (Techniques d\u2019Avant Garde), at the time one of the main sponsors of rival Williams. The prospect of becoming a full technical partner rather than \u201cjust\u201d a sponsor convinced Ojjeh to switch his support to McLaren. With an investment estimated at around five million dollars, the engines were officially branded \u201cTAG Turbo\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key requirements was an engine block as narrow as possible in order to maximise ground-effect potential beneath the car. Porsche\u2019s chief engineer Hans Mezger therefore opted for a V6 engine with an 80-degree bank angle. However, by the time the engine first ran on the test bench, the Formula 1 regulations for the 1983 season had changed, abolishing ground effect. It was too late to introduce major changes to the McLaren-Porsche project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The engine capacity was just under the 1,500 cc limit, with a short stroke that allowed it to exceed 10,000 rpm. Each bank of three cylinders was fed by a KKK turbocharger, while two generously sized intercoolers reduced intake temperatures. Bosch supplied the fuel-injection system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the engine\u2019s auxiliary components were mounted at the front of the block and cylinder heads, resulting in a very compact and lightweight unit that, according to official figures, produced around 700 horsepower. It was also sufficiently robust to serve as a fully stressed member of the McLaren chassis. The only visible sign of its origins was a small \u201cMade by Porsche\u201d sticker on the airbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the summer of 1983, little more than a year after development began, the engine was ready. McLaren, however, did not yet have a brand-new car available and therefore chose to install it in the older MP4\/1, originally designed around the Cosworth DFV. The goal was not necessarily immediate victories, but rather to further develop the engine ahead of the 1984 season. The prospect of a Porsche-powered McLaren even tempted double world champion Niki Lauda out of retirement, making him the first driver to sample the new twin-turbo V6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the four races contested with this interim car, poor reliability and chronic understeer were constant issues. Using the data gathered during the latter part of the 1983 season, Barnard returned to McLaren headquarters to work on the MP4\/2, which in many respects represented a direct evolution of the original MP4\/1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the major changes was a larger fuel tank to cope with the turbo engine\u2019s consumption. The five-speed gearbox was carried over unchanged from 1983, despite an increase of some 200 horsepower. Compared with most rivals, the McLaren MP4\/2 featured an exceptionally tidy rear end with very compact packaging, aided by the small size of the TAG-Porsche engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year after bringing Lauda back from retirement, McLaren scored another major signing by recruiting Alain Prost, recently released by Renault. Two new MP4\/2 cars were ready just in time for the opening race of the season in Brazil. The TAG-Porsche V6 was not the most powerful engine in qualifying trim, when peak output was crucial, but in race configuration it proved superior to the competition, particularly thanks to its excellent fuel efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prost won the opening race, and the two outstanding drivers dominated the 1984 season, using just three chassis to win 12 of the 16 races. Separated by only half a point, Lauda was crowned world champion ahead of his team-mate. Unsurprisingly, McLaren also secured the Constructors\u2019 Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the winter, Barnard introduced only minor changes to the design, including a smaller rear wing due to regulatory changes and revised suspension to suit the new Goodyear tyres. The existing cars were updated to MP4\/2B specification, while three new chassis were built from scratch. The sixth MP4\/2 chassis was constructed entirely in carbon fibre, becoming the first \u201cmade by McLaren\u201d carbon chassis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new car proved competitive and successful from the outset, allowing Prost to win the opening race in Brazil in the 1985 season. Prost went on to claim five victories and his first world championship, while Lauda, in his final season, scored a single win. McLaren once again won the Constructors\u2019 title after a hard-fought battle with Ferrari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further refinements were introduced over the winter for the 1986 season with the MP4\/2C. The most notable update was a new six-speed gearbox, while the fuel tanks were completely redesigned and reduced in capacity following FIA regulatory changes. Lauda\u2019s vacant seat was filled by another former world champion, Keke Rosberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By its third season, the McLaren MP4\/2 was no longer the fastest car on the grid, not even in race trim. Prost nevertheless secured four victories and enough points to defeat the Williams drivers Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell in the championship fight, as the two rivals focused more on battling each other than on containing Prost\u2019s consistent challenge. Before the end of the season, Barnard left McLaren and his replacement, Steve Nichols, began work on a new project for 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MP4\/3 was once again powered by the TAG-Porsche engine but failed to represent a significant step forward against the dominant Williams-Honda. In the final season with the German engine, Prost managed \u201conly\u201d three victories. After just over four seasons, a highly successful partnership came to an end\u2014one that had delivered 25 wins, three Drivers\u2019 Championships and two Constructors\u2019 titles. The TAG-Porsche-powered McLaren MP4\/2 had returned McLaren to the summit of Formula 1, a position the Woking team would continue to occupy in the years that followed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Under the leadership of its new owner Ron Dennis, McLaren quickly re-established itself as a winning team in the early 1980s. A fundamental ingredient in this resurgence was undoubtedly the innovative carbon-fibre chassis designed by John Barnard. What initially prevented the team from fighting immediately for world titles, however, was the ageing Ford Cosworth DFV […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[40],"class_list":["post-859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-f1","tag-legendary-f1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":876,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859\/revisions\/876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}