McLaren's first carbon fiber chassis were designed by Barnard and manufactured by Hercules in the United States. These chassis were as light as they were structurally rigid, securing the pilot and supporting the vibrations of the V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine.
In 1981 the driver John Watson led his McLaren to victory at the Grand Prix of England, marking the resurrection of the team. In the 1982 season McLaren won four victories, while in 1983 only one. While the development of the car was progressing, the results did not come. It was a time when all the teams were fairly even in possibilities.
Later in the 1983 season, Ron Dennis secured the supply of Porsche engines, although the German company would not give assistance. For all the maintenance and development of the engine Porsche hired the company “Techniques d” Avant Garde”, better known as TAG. That year they ran the last seven races adapting the Porsche engine to the MP4/1 chassis, without finishing any.
The initial 80º Porsche V6 engine had a displacement of 1,499 cm3 and two KKK twin turbos. With this configuration, 600 hp was obtained, although it did not take too long for TAG to get 1,000 hp from it.
By 1984 the new McLaren MP4/2 was a far superior car, with aerodynamic improvements, overhaul of pontoons, suspensions and engine cooling. Four cars were built and only three were used. Even Lauda used the same all season. McLaren scored an impressive record of 12 wins, 5 for Champion Niki Lauda and 7 for Runner-up Alain Prost.
McLaren's dominance was so remarkable that he won the Constructors' Cup with 143.5 points against just 57.5 of the second (Ferrari).
In 1985, successes continued. Alain Prost won 5 Grand Prix and was Pilot Champion. Lauda won a single race and had a bad campaign finishing tenth, although he scored enough points for McLaren to repeat as a winner in the Constructors' Cup.
The 1986 season saw McLaren suffer against his Williams-Hondarivals. Alain Prost was able to retain the title of World Champion by triumphing in 4 Grand Prix and finishing second in another 4. The McLaren MP4/2C didn't take advantage over the thriving Williams-Honda, who won the Constructors' Cup with a lot of margin over McLaren.
In 1987, the McLaren MP4/3 used Porsche-Tag engines for the last year. While Alain Prost scored three victories, he finished fourth in the championship with no big glories. Later, McLaren would adopt Honda engines. The McLaren Honda combination would mark a new milestone in F1 history.
© Adrián Blanco 2007 - No full or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —
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