A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines.
The Honda RA272 was a Formula One racing car designed by Yoshio Nakamura and Shoichi Sano for the 1965 Formula One season. It was the first Japanese car to win in Formula One, achieving victory at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix after leading every lap with driver Richie Ginther. The win came just two years after Honda started producing road cars, and was the first of 89 victories for Honda-powered Formula One cars.
The Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda has participated in Formula One, as an engine manufacturer and team owner, for various periods since 1964. Honda's involvement in Formula One began as a full team and engine entry in the 1964 season, and in 1965 they achieved their first victory at the Mexican Grand Prix. After further success with John Surtees, Honda withdrew at the end of the 1968 season due to difficulties selling road cars in the United States and Honda driver Jo Schlesser's fatal accident.
The McLaren MP4/6 is a successful Formula One racing car designed by McLaren's Neil Oatley, Matthew Jeffreys, David North, David Neilson, Bob Bell and Mike Gascoyne; powered by the Honda RA121E V12 engine for use in the 1991 Formula One season, with the engine's design and development led by Osamu Goto. It was driven by reigning World Champion, Brazilian Ayrton Senna, and Austria's Gerhard Berger. Ayrton Senna would win his third World Championship in the MP4/6. The MP4/6 was notable for being the last F1 car to win the championship with a manual gearbox and the only F1 car powered by a V12 engine to do so.
The McLaren MP4/5, and its derived sister model, the McLaren MP4/5B, were highly successful Formula One racing cars designed by the McLaren Formula One team based in Woking, England, and powered by Honda's naturally-aspirated RA109E and RA100E V10 engines respectively. The chassis design was led by Neil Oatley, teaming up with Steve Nichols, Pete Weismann, Tim Wright, Bob Bell and Mike Gascoyne. As with the previous designs, Gordon Murray, as Technical Director, had the role of liaising between the drawing office and production. Osamu Goto was the Honda F1 team chief designer for the car's engine.
The McLaren MP4/8 was the Formula One car with which the McLaren team competed in the 1993 Formula One World Championship. The car was designed by Neil Oatley around advanced electronics technology; including a semi-automatic transmission, active suspension, two-way telemetry, and traction control systems, that were developed in conjunction with McLaren shareholder Techniques d'Avant Garde (TAG). It was powered by the 3.5-litre Ford HBD7 V8 engine and was the first McLaren to feature barge boards. The McLaren MP4/8 was also first Ford-powered McLaren car since McLaren MP4/1C in 1983.
The Honda RA300 was a Formula One racing car produced by Honda Racing, and introduced towards the end of the 1967 Formula One season. It retained the same V12 engine as the preceding RA273 car, but the chassis was designed by Lola's Eric Broadley and based on a previous Lola Indianapolis 500 car, the T90. Internally, Lola designated the RA300 the T130. This collaboration resulted in the machine quickly being dubbed the "Hondola" by the motorsports press.
The Ferrari 641 was the Formula One racing car with which the Ferrari team competed in the 1990 Formula One World Championship. Driven by Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell, it won six Grands Prix.
The Eagle Mk1, commonly referred to as the Eagle T1G, was a Formula One racing car, designed by Len Terry for Dan Gurney's Anglo American Racers team. The Eagle, introduced for the start of the 1966 Formula One season, is often regarded as being one of the most beautiful Grand Prix cars ever raced at the top levels of international motorsport. Initially appearing with a 2.7L Coventry Climax inline 4-cylinder engine, the car was designed around a 3.0L Gurney-Weslake V12 which was introduced after its first four races. In the hands of team boss Gurney, the Eagle-Weslake won the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix, making Dan Gurney only the second driver at the time, and one of only three to date, to win a Formula One Grand Prix in a car of their own construction. Excluding the Indianapolis 500, that win in Belgium still stands as the only win for a USA-built car as well as one of only two wins of an American-licensed constructor in Formula One. It was also the first win for an American constructor in a Grand Prix race since the Jimmy Murphy's triumph with Duesenberg at the 1921 French Grand Prix.
The McLaren MP4/7A was McLaren International's Formula One entry for the 1992 season, and a follow-up to their successful MP4/6 from 1991.
The Brabham BT19 is a Formula One racing car designed by Ron Tauranac for the British Brabham team. The BT19 competed in the 1966 and 1967 Formula One World Championships and was used by Australian driver Jack Brabham to win his third World Championship in 1966. The BT19, which Brabham referred to as his "Old Nail", was the first car bearing its driver's name to win a World Championship race.
This article gives an outline of Formula One engines, also called Formula One power units since the hybrid era starting in 2014. Since its inception in 1947, Formula One has used a variety of engine regulations. Formulae limiting engine capacity had been used in Grand Prix racing on a regular basis since after World War I. The engine formulae are divided according to era.
The Lotus 102 was a Formula One racing car designed by Lotus for use in the 1990 Formula One season and would eventually go on to compete in 37 races spanning three seasons from 1990 until 1992.
Gérard Ducarouge was a French Formula One car designer whose career in motorsport started in 1965 when he joined the French constructor and racing team Equipe Matra Sports. He designed the Matra MS80 car which, entered by the British privateer Matra International team of Ken Tyrrell, won both the World Drivers' Championship and World Constructors' Championship in the 1969 season. After leaving Matra he also designed cars for Ligier and Lotus which won several races in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Honda RA271 was Honda's first Formula One racing car to enter a race. The chief engineer on the project was Yoshio Nakamura, with Tadashi Kume in charge of engine development. It was driven in three races during 1964 by American driver Ronnie Bucknum.
The Zakspeed 891 was a Formula One car for the 1989 season run by the German Zakspeed team. Its drivers were German Bernd Schneider in his second year with the team and F1 rookie Aguri Suzuki from Japan. The car was powered by F1 newcomer Yamaha who had produced the OX88 V8 engine for exclusive use by Zakspeed in Formula One.
The Ferrari 412 T1 was the Formula One racing car with which Scuderia Ferrari competed in the 1994 Formula One World Championship. It was designed by John Barnard and then developed by Gustav Brunner.
The Matra Company's racing team, under the names of Matra Sports, Equipe Matra Elf and Equipe Matra Sports, was formed in 1965 and based at Champagne-sur-Seine (1965–1967), Romorantin-Lanthenay (1967–1969) and Vélizy-Villacoublay (1969–1979). In 1979 the team was taken over by Peugeot and renamed as Automobiles Talbot.
The Lola LC90 was a Formula One car designed by Eric Broadley and Chris Murphy for use in the 1990 Formula One season by the Larrousse team. It was powered by the 3.5L Lamborghini LE3512 V12 engine. The car was driven by Japanese driver Aguri Suzuki who had spent 1989 failing to pre-qualify all 16 races for Zakspeed, and Frenchman Éric Bernard.
Ferrari has made a number of V12 racing engines designed for Formula One; made between 1950 and 1995. Some derived engines were also used in various Ferrari sports prototype race cars and production road cars.
Richie Ginther 
John Surtees 
