Tag Archives: McLaren

Senna, Prost and the MP4/4

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Today’s piece for Senna week, comes from, Lois Martin. Contributing editor for Formula 1 Blog, www.formula1blog.com.

It is an honor to contribute to Gary’s salute to Ayrton Senna and “Senna Week” on his blog. As I write this, the foundation that Ayrton established in his native Brazil, Instituto Ayrton Senna, is marking the twentieth anniversary of his third – and sadly – final Formula 1 Driver’s Championship today, October 20.

Wow. Where does time go?  Twenty years.

And as I write this, we motorsport fans are still coming around from and trying to comprehend the tragic weekend that just went by, where we lost yet another young talent in Dan Wheldon. I sit here with my original ideas for this post clouded by that reality. What do you say?

Then I think, wait. Go back. Capture that moment in time. What you wanted to originally write about. Oh yes, the car ………

I take you to early spring 1988. Reluctant teammates, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, arms around each other, smiles for the camera. Upstart Senna had been warned, rather frankly, that Prost was first driver and he should not upset the status quo.

Yeah, right. That and putting the Honda V6 turbo-powered McLaren through its final paces before its debut in Brazil that April. The battle between the two began, Ayrton on pole only to be disqualified, Ayrton on pole but Alain wins. Ayrton. Then Alain. Back and forth, back and forth.

One of Formula 1’s most epic seasons played out by two amazing guys, each at the wheel of their edition of one amazing car:

The McLaren 4/4.

Originally this post was going to celebrate the car. But instead I choose to celebrate the men and their storied relationship that, in the end, became a close friendship. In the midst of Senna Week, I salute Alain Prost along with Ayrton Senna.

For those of you who may not know, Ayrton and Alain made amends in the last days and weeks of Ayrton’s life. Alain was a pallbearer at Ayrton’s funeral. And Alain is a trustee of Instituto Ayrton Senna.

Together they drove their McLaren 4/4s into Formula 1 history. When you think about it, the 4/4 was indeed one magnificent machine.


Hall of Fame – Ayrton Senna 1989-1994

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The fractious relationship between Senna and Prost didn’t take long to bubble over at the start of the 1989 season. Senna ran into an early lead in the championship, winning three out of the first four races. Prost felt Senna had gone back on a pre-race  agreement at the restart of the San Marino Grand Prix when he passed the Frenchman to take the lead and go on to win. His early season dominance was halted by a series of technical problems with his car. He failed to finish the races in the USA, Canada, France, Britain and Italy due to car failure plus collisions at the Brazilian and Portuguese races put Prost in the driving seat for the championship. As in 1988, the Suzuka circuit in Japan would see the title decided. With Senna needing a victory to keep his chances alive for the final round in Australia, he trailed Prost in the early stages of the race as the two pulled clear of the field. After both pitted for new tyres, Senna set about closing the gap on the race leader. By lap 40, he was just a second behind and looking much faster at this stage of the race. Senna shadowed Prost’s every move until on lap 46, he got a good run out of 130R and pulled alongside into the breaking zone for the chicane. Seeing Senna in his mirrors, Prost moved right towards Senna, the pair collided and with the cars locked together Prost jumped out of the car. Senna was gesticulating to the marshals to help him bump start his car after it was freed and managed to fire up the Honda engine down the slip road. Having to do a full lap with a damaged nose cone to get back to the pits, the Benetton of Alessandro Nannini roared into the lead as Senna made his way out of the pits. Senna had five laps to catch and pass Nannini, with the extra grip of the fresh rubber from the pit stop, he was quickly on the back of him and passed to retake the lead at the chicane where he and Prost had tangled. Senna crossed the line to take what looked like a victory to take the championship down to the wire. However, after a lengthy meeting with the stewards that saw the podium presentation delayed by half an hour. Senna was disqualified for missing out the chicane when he was bump started, meaning that Prost was controversially crowned Champion. A large fine and temporary suspension of his Super License followed in the winter of 1989 and an irate Senna engaged in a bitter war of words with the FIA and its then President Jean-Marie Balestre. Senna finished the season second with six wins and one second place.

A more harmonious atmosphere was found in the McLaren garage for the 1990  campaign with Gerhard Berger joining from Ferrari. The season got off to a spectacular start for Senna with a hard fought win in Phoenix, battling wheel to wheel with rookie Frenchman, Jean Alesi’s Tyrrell. By the midpoint of the season, Senna had five wins to his name with Prost again his closest rival for the title. As was the tradition between the two, the title was decided around the figure of eight, Suzuka track. Senna had taken pole for the race but was incensed when the stewards moved pole position to the dirty side of the grid, handing second placed Prost the clean side of the track. At the start of the race, Prost took full advantage of the extra grip on the racing line to edge into the lead. Senna was in his slipstream and dived for the inside as they turned into the first corner. Like the year before, the pair collided and both were instant retirements, handing the drivers title to Senna.

The defending champion got off to a flying start in 1991, winning the first four races to again build an early advantage. Williams, with their Renault engines looked like the team to worry Senna. After overcoming teething problems with their semi-automatic gearbox, by mid season Nigel Mansell’s run of three straight win had put him within striking distance of Senna. The Brazilian went into the penultimate round at Suzuka knowing that Mansell need to win the race to keep the championship alive. Senna made a good start, leading Mansell in the early stages. Mansell’s chase ended prematurely when his went wide in turn 1, spinning off into the gravel on lap 10. Senna went on to finish second to win his third title in four years, becoming the youngest triple world champion at 33 years of age.

In 1992, it was clear from the offset that the McLaren was no match for the Williams FW14B with its active suspension. Senna endured a frustrating year with only three wins coming his way. The pick of which came at Monaco. Senna trailed Mansell from the start after jumping Patrese into second. Mansell looked set for his sixth straight victory of the year until a loose wheel nut forced him to pit, giving the lead to Senna. With eight laps to go, Mansell cruised up the back of Senna’s car. With his tyres at the end of their life, Senna produced a masterclass in defensive driving to hold of Mansell for the last three laps to take another famous victory at Monaco. Senna finished the year in fourth place with 50 points.

Senna was in talks with Sir Frank about the possibility of driving for the team in 1993. Williams had signed Prost, who took a sabbatical year in ’92 after being fired by Ferrari. Prost stipulated in his contract that Senna could not be his team-mate, scuppering the chance of any deal. Despite Prost’s advantage in the superior Williams, Senna took two wins and a second in the first three races, including his famous victory in the European Grand Prix at Donington Park. Senna started fourth on the grid and dropped behind the Sauber of Karl Wendlinger before putting in what is widely regarded as his finest racing lap. He was quickly up to third into the Old Hairpin, passing Schumacher and Wendlinger and closing on the Williams of Hill. He passed Hill into Mclean’s to put him up to second before diving up the inside of Prost at the Melbourne Hairpin to take the lead. Senna went on to lap the entire field apart from Hill, who finished the best part of a minute and a half behind. Senna won five races in 1993, including his record breaking 6th victory at Monaco, a record that still stands today. His final win of the year, and of his career, came at the season’s finale at Adelaide to finish runner up to Prost with 73 points.

With Prost retiring at the end of the year, Senna finally made his move from McLaren to Williams. With the banning of several driver aids, including active suspension. Williams no longer had the speed advantage that they’d enjoyed for the previous two years. Senna wasn’t happy with the balance of the car from the offset, which was compounded by the pace of Schumacher in the Benetton Ford. Senna failed to finish the first three races, spinning out of second at his home race in Brazil while lying in second. At the Pacific Grand Prix he was punted out at the first corner by Mika Hakkinen and collected by Nicola Larini’s Ferrari. With both races being won by Schumacher, Senna was 20 points behind after two races. The San Marino Grand Prix weekend got off to a terrible start when Rubens Barrichello left the circuit at high speed after hitting the curb at Variante Bassa, sustaining a broken nose and arm. Twenty minutes into qualifying, Austrian, Roland Ratzenberger became the first driver to lose his life in a race weekend for 12 years after hitting the wall at the fast Villeneuve Curva. The whole paddock was shocked by these events, Frank Williams was unsure if Senna would take to the grid for the race the following day.

On Sunday 1st May, Senna took his position at the head of the grid for the start of the race, when the race got underway, the Benetton of JJ Lehto stalled and was hit by the Lotus of Pedro Lamy causing the safety car to be deployed. When the safety car returned to the pits, Senna led Schumacher, trying to build a gap. Two laps later, Senna’s car left the circuit at 190MPH at the Tamburello corner, hitting the concrete wall on the outside. The race was red flagged as medical personnel rushed to help the unconscious Senna. He was lifted from the wrecked Williams and airlifted to Maggiore Hospital in nearby Bologna. Medical teams continued to treat him during the flight. At 6.40 local time, the doctor who had worked on Senna announced the he had died from his injuries. He gave the time of death as 2.17 local time meaning he died instantly. The post mortem revealed that part of the cars suspension has pierced through his helmet and into his skull.

In the wake of Senna’s death, the Brazilian government declared three days of mourning. An estimated three million people lined the streets for the funeral, among them were  Alain Prost, Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill, Rubens Barrichello, Johnny Herbert, and Emerson Fittipaldi who were among the pallbearers. Ayrton Senna’s body was laid to rest at the Morumbi Cemetery in his home town of Sau Paulo.

Directors New Directions

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Williams and Renault aside, the driver market is really quite static. As I outlined in my first ever blog, high ranking technical personnel including Sam Michael and Aldo Costa, paid the price for poor early season pace with their jobs at their respected teams. Since then, we have seen several announcement’s as up and down the pit lane, teams look to bolster their technical nous.

Williams have endured their worst season ever in F1. In an attempt to regain lost ground, they have enlisted the help of Mike Coughlan – Chief Engineer, Jason Somerville – Head of Aerodynamics and Mark Gillan as Chief Operations Engineer. All have already joined their new employer with Gillan being the last with the Singapore race being his first race for the Grove based squad.

Outgoing technical director at Williams, Sam Michal, will begin his new role as McLaren’s sporting director in the new year. In this role, Michael will relinquish all the technical responsibility that had at Williams, instead focusing on the race weekend operations for his new employers.

Today (Friday) has seen two very significant captures for Mercedes GP, the team already boast Ross Brawn as team principle and Nick Fry as CEO. Together, they instigated the management buyout of the Honda team and went on to win both championships in 2009 in Brawn’s on season in F1. Italian, Costa, left Ferrari in May after paying the price for the teams poor start to the season again will join forces with Ross Brawn as the teams engineering director. The two worked during Ferrari’s successful period that saw Michael Schumacher claim five straight titles. Geoff Willis rejoins the team he worked for in their BAR/Honda days, taking up the role of technology director after severing ties with the HRT team, who he was working for on a consultancy basis. The new recruits will work closely with technical director, Bob Bell, himself a high profile capture from Renault last year.

The Curious Rise Of Jenson Button

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Going into the winter of 2008, the contrast of emotions felt by Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were poles apart. Hamilton was on a high after securing his first world title in dramatic fashion on the final corner of the final race in Brazil. Button on the other hand had endured his toughest season to date, worse was to follow as his Honda team had decided to pull the plug on their F1 programme in the face of the impending world financial crisis.

After his world drivers title in 2009 with the Brawn team, many expected the unlikely dream team to continue under the Mercedes banner. Instead, Jenson surprised many by joining Hamilton in ‘his team’, McLaren. Although the media hailed this as the British dream team, many couldn’t see Button living with the raw pace of Hamilton. Button was keen to test himself against the best and for that you had to give him credit and he got off to a flying start in 2010, picking up two wins in the first three races. Come the end of the year, it was Hamilton who was leading the McLaren charge for the title. This seemed to cement the views that Button had made the wrong move joining McLaren and that in dry conditions, he couldn’t keep pace with his team mate.

So what has been the change this year? Is it because it’s his second season with the team or perhaps his driving style suits the Pirelli rubber better? For me, there has been a significant moment for Jenson this year, that moment came at Canada where he scored an improbable win, charging through from last to overtake Vettel on the last lap. Since then, we have seen a different Jenson Button, his confidence has gone through the roof. Not only has he provided the most spectacular entertainment with his overtaking prowess, he is also silencing the critics who say he needs changeable conditions to beat Hamilton. The facts speak for themselves, since Hamilton’s last win at the Nurburgring, Jenson has been on the podium every race, whereas Hamilton hasn’t made it once.

If you could buy shares in racing drivers right now, Buttons stock right now would fetch a premium price. Something that is reflected in the admiration he is getting from other team bosses. Red Bull principle, Christian Horner told the BBC that Button and Vettel were in a class of their own in Singapore and there are strong rumours linking the Frome Flyer with a move to arch rivals, Ferrari.

 

 

Half Term Report – McLaren

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If someone told Martin Whitmarsh during pre-season testing that going into the summer break that his team would have four wins and be sitting second in the constructors championship, I think he would have taken that. After a bare all launch in Germany where the car was assembled in front of the expecting crowd, it soon became apparent that the MP4-26 had some serious teething problems as they struggled to find grip. Martin Brundle said at Barcelona that “it looks like it’s driving on ice, there is no grip”.

As big as the shock was to see McLaren so far off of the pace in testing, not many in the paddock could have been expecting the turn of pace they showed when the racing got under way in Melbourne. The smiles on the driver’s faces had reappeared after last minute upgrades, including a titanium diffuser, turned the car into a contender overnight. Button qualified 4th and Hamilton split the two Red Bulls in 2nd but neither had an answer to Vettel’s searing pace, but Hamilton scored an impressive podium coming home in second.

McLaren wouldn’t have to wait long to stand on the top step of the podium, after two successive wins for Vettel in Melbourne and Sepang, Hamilton gave the rest of the chasing pack some hope as the German picked the wrong tyre strategy allowing Hamilton to close and pass in the closing stages. This was Hamilton’s first win since the Belgium Grand Prix back in August 2010 and he was delighted, “I’m overwhelmed. There is a long road ahead of us but I’m absolutely over the moon, it feels like a long time since I’ve been sitting here.”

Jenson Button once again showed his prowess in changeable conditions to open his 2011 account in a quite remarkable race in Canada, in a rain affected race that lasted over four hours from lights to flag. Button tangled with team-mate Hamilton on the start-finish straight to put him out of the race. After a two hour delay because of heavy rain the race got back under way. A combination of a puncture, (through a collision with Alonso) a drive through penalty for speeding behind the safety car left Button last in the race. The Frome flyer went on to master the changing conditions and as the safety car took to the track again with ten laps to go, he had fought his way up to 4th behind Vettel, Schumacher and Webber. As Vettel once again scampered off in to the distance, Button took advantage of his DRS and quickly passed Schumacher and Webber to chase down the leader. Going into the last lap, the gap was down to less than a second. Button was looking good for a run into the final chicane with the DRS until a mistake from Vettel, going wide in turn 6 gifted the win to Button.

With further wins coming in Germany and Hungary for the pair, the momentum is firmly with McLaren. With still three, 1-2 finishes effetely separating them and Red Bull in the constructors championship, Managing Director, Jonathan Neale knows that they must keep their attacking mentality if they are going to stand any chance over the remaining eight races. “We certainly haven’t given our drivers any change of brief,” he said. “We still intend to give both drivers equal opportunity in terms of all of the upgrades that we bring to the circuit and they should both attack at all opportunities.” He continued, “The most important thing for us is to continue to win races and the only way we are able to do that when the competition is as tight as it is, is to keep our drivers focussed on taking every opportunity that they can and for us in the team to get behind them and say we will work on the reliability and give them confidence in the systems.”

While I believe both championships will end up where they went last year, I think McLaren will be the team on top, pushing for victories more often than not in the final eight races.

Alonso’s Plan to Catch A Bull

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What was Fernando Alonso doing the week before the German Grand Prix? I don’t know, but I would hazard a guess that he took a trip back to his homeland to see how the towns folk of Pamplona deal with being charged at by raging bulls (albeit real bulls not cars called Red Bulls). Never the less it’s the Encierro or ‘running of the bulls’ participants mentality that the Spaniard has seemed to have adopted after another fine showing in Germany, finishing second to Lewis Hamilton.

In the bull run, the objective is…well quite obvious to stay alive by not being trampled by the marauding beasts! The best way of not being trampled to death is by staying ahead of the bulls and keep as many bodies between yourself and the bulls for added protection. A strategy Alonso seems to have in mind “We have a small chance to recover the gap in the Championship, if we do races like this, we are on the podium and he isn’t,” he said.

“To have that combination in our case, we need the best possible performance from our team-mates, in my case, we need the best McLaren performance as well, to see the McLarens very, very strong and taking points from Red Bull.”

This means Alonso will have to be on the top of his game for the remainder of the season if his closest rivals are also going to have a car capable of beating the Red Bulls, and Webber of course to do what he can until the obvious “maintain the gap” call comes over the team’s radio.

Not everyone can run the encierro. It requires cool nerves, quick reflexes and a good level of physical fitness. Anyone who does not have these three should not take part. It is a highly risky enterprise. Bearing this in mind I’m sure Fernando would love to see a competitive Renault up there in the hand of his own title wrecker last year, Vitaly Petrov, who once again giving Button a master class in defensive driving at the Nurburgring.

Even if Ferrari and McLaren can steal a march on Red Bull in the second half of the year, we would surely see a repeat of 2009 when by half distance Button had an almost unassailable lead. Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull took points off of each other and Button eventually took the title in Brazil with a race to spare despite not winning another race.

The fat lady hasn’t sung yet on this year’s championship, even with Alonso’s optimism and ‘bullish’ attitude. I think she is definitely rehearsing with a few warm ups.