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Classics: McLaren MP4-1
By Sam Cooper April 22 2007
As a new feature on McLaren Fans, were bringing you an in depth look into the classic fast cars that came out of the Woking factory, first off, the MP4-1.

The MP4-1 was an exceptional car, designed by the great John Barnard, it was the first formula one car’s chassis to be completely made out of carbon fibre, twenty six years later, its still used today by all 11 teams.

Until John came up with this idea, the cars chassis was completely made of aluminium panels that were joined together, this new way of making the chassis was a huge weight saver and a major breakthrough in the sport.

Many people disbelieved that the car was strong enough to protect the driver in a crash, however, it was strong enough, as driver Andrea de Cesaris spun off a massive 24 times in the whole season.

The car was that successful, it lead one hundred and ninety five laps or four hundred and sixty two miles in its three year run, that’s impressive! What’s even better is that in three years it only retired four times.

Just for its excellent reliability and its ground breaking technology, which other teams used a few races after McLaren first introduced it. The ford engine churned out just under 500bhp, 495 to be precise, this is the car that brought McLaren 1 win, and enabled them to finish in 6th position with 28 points. A good haul, one to be bettered the year after when they would finish in second position.

There will be another classic, next month.

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