The McLaren MP4-22 was the car the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team built for the 2007 Formula One World Championship. With Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton it won eight races, four for each driver, yet finished the season without either championship.
McLaren MP4-22 at a glance
| Type | Formula One racing car |
|---|---|
| Season | 2007 |
| Designers | Paddy Lowe, Neil Oatley, Pat Fry, Mike Coughlan, Simon Lacey |
| Engine | Mercedes-Benz, designed by Andy Cowell and Markus Duesmann |
| Drivers | Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton |
| First appearance | testing at Valencia, 15 January 2007 |
| Wins | eight, four each |
| Reliability | no mechanical retirements in any race |
| Championship | excluded from the constructors’ title after the Italian Grand Prix |
| Tyres | Bridgestone, the first McLaren on them since the MP4-16 of 2001 |
based on one source (English Wikipedia).
History of the McLaren MP4-22
The car was revealed in testing at Valencia on 15 January 2007 and was driven by the double world champion Fernando Alonso and the debutant Lewis Hamilton. At the design stage the team spoke of advanced engineering concepts and novel aerodynamic solutions. On 17 January Alonso completed a shakedown at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, setting the fastest time of the day.
At a test in Catalunya on 1 May 2007 Pedro de la Rosa tried a new front wing that was used for the rest of the season: a thin carbon-fibre wing that arched from the top of each endplate over the nose cone, bypassing it. It raced for the first time at the Spanish Grand Prix and was dropped for the Italian Grand Prix, where low drag was needed. As new rules for 2008 banned driver aids through a standard ECU, the MP4-22 was the last McLaren to use traction control.
The MP4-22 was far more competitive than its similar-looking predecessor: McLaren scored eight victories after a winless 2006, and the car had no mechanical retirements all season. Its low-downforce package was particularly strong, and the team scored as many points in the first half of 2007 as in the whole of 2006. The season was spoiled by the fierce rivalry between Hamilton and Alonso and a falling-out between Alonso and the team’s management; both drivers lost the title by one point to Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen, despite Hamilton leading by 17 points with two races to go. McLaren led the constructors’ championship from the start of the season until the Italian Grand Prix, after which the team was excluded over allegations that the MP4-22 had used data from Ferrari.
The race drivers covered 5,340 racing kilometres in 2007, 45 per cent of them while leading, and the car completed 27,150 kilometres of testing. It kept the chrome livery with red accents of its predecessor and carried Vodafone as title sponsor, with Aigo and Santander joining as new main sponsors and SAP, Hilton, Henkel and Schüco retained. In France the Johnnie Walker logos were removed because alcohol advertising was outlawed, and at the Turkish Grand Prix the logo was replaced by Diageo. The MP4-22 was succeeded by the MP4-23.
Design and features
- Arched front wing: a thin wing running from the endplates over the nose, raced from the Spanish Grand Prix.
- Low-downforce package: especially strong on fast circuits.
- Perfect reliability: no mechanical retirements in any race of 2007.
- Last with traction control: the 2008 standard ECU ended driver aids.
- Chrome and red livery: Vodafone title sponsorship with Santander and Aigo as new partners.
McLaren MP4-22 versions
- MP4-22 (2007): the race car of the season.
- Spanish Grand Prix specification: the version with the arched front wing.
- Italian Grand Prix specification: the low-downforce package without that wing.
The MP4-22 followed the MP4-20 and was replaced by the MP4-23; the team’s first Honda title car was the MP4/4. More cars are in the McLaren collection.
Video: F1 Fuji 2007 Fernando Alonso McLaren Mercedes MP4/22
Video by YouTube on YouTube.
Sources
- McLaren MP4-22, English Wikipedia: design, 2007 season, livery
