McLaren MP4/4: the most dominant season in Formula One

The McLaren MP4/4, also known as the McLaren-Honda MP4/4, was one of the most successful Formula One designs of all time. Powered by Honda’s 1.5-litre V6 turbo and driven by Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, it won 15 of the 16 races of 1988.

McLaren MP4/4 at a glance

based on one source (English Wikipedia).

History of the McLaren MP4/4

Why Honda and why a turbo

Honda had supplied the constructors’ championship-winning engines of 1986 and 1987 and for 1988 switched from Williams to McLaren, which had struggled with its dated TAG-Porsche units. Ron Dennis had tried to secure Honda engines for his Formula Two team years earlier, and after four successful years with TAG he welcomed the Japanese company. Most teams were moving to naturally aspirated cars because 1988 was the last turbo season before the ban, and the rules rewarded those who had already switched, so staying with a turbo put McLaren at a potential disadvantage: over a race distance the MP4/4 would give away power to its atmospheric rivals.

The car

The sleek, all-new MP4/4 appeared early in 1988 and was one of the few genuinely new cars that year, as Ferrari, Lotus, Arrows and Tyrrell developed their previous models to save effort for 1989. It sat distinctly lower than the MP4/3, which forced the drivers into an almost lying-down position; the FIA safety rule requiring the top of the helmet to be below a line from the roll bar to the cowling made the reclining stance necessary. The car also had to meet FISA’s new rule that the driver’s feet sit behind the front axle line.

Fuel and boost

The 150-litre race fuel allowance for turbo cars forced extreme fuel conservation. Honda built the RA168E specifically for the reduction in turbo boost from 4.0 to 2.5 bar rather than upgrading the 1987 engine, and its engineers worked hard on consumption to avoid late-race retirements. The RA168E produced 685 bhp, and the team managed the boost to reach the finish. The car arrived at the first race in Brazil with very little testing, only a week after a session at Imola, yet Senna took pole by half a second from Nigel Mansell’s atmospheric Williams-Judd and Prost qualified third after finding a balance only in the morning warm-up.

The season

In 1988 McLaren won all but one race and took all but one pole position, with ten one-two finishes; Prost finished first or second in the 14 races he completed. The team won the constructors’ title with about three times as many points as Ferrari. The MP4/4 holds the record for the highest percentage of laps led in a season at 97.3 per cent, 1,003 of 1,031, and it held the record for the highest win rate in a season until 2023, when the Red Bull RB19, also Honda V6 turbo powered, won 95.45 per cent. It was the last turbo McLaren to win the constructors’ championship until the Mercedes-powered MCL38 in 2024.

Design and features

• Honda RA168E: a 1.5-litre V6 turbo of 685 bhp, built for lower boost and better fuel economy.
• All-new chassis: much lower than the MP4/3, which dictated a reclining driving position.
• Fuel management: 150 litres per race meant the team had to conserve fuel while leading.
• Suspension-driven performance: a new car built to the 1988 safety rules for the feet and helmet.
• 97.3 per cent of laps led: a record for a Formula One season.

McLaren MP4/4 versions

• MP4/4 (1988): the standard car, unchanged through the season apart from small aerodynamic revisions.
• Low-downforce specification: used at the fastest circuits.

The MP4/4 began the Honda era that produced four constructors’ titles from 1988 to 1991; the later turbo lines are traced in the McLaren in Formula One story, and the team’s first titles came with the M23. More cars are in the McLaren collection.

Video: McLaren Honda MP4/4 (1988 late) vol.1 – Ultimate V6 Turbo engine

Video by YouTube on YouTube.

Sources

• McLaren MP4/4, English Wikipedia: design, engine, 1988 season