McLaren M28

Last updated

McLaren M28
McLaren M28 Mont-Tremblant front.jpg
Category Formula One
Constructor McLaren
Designer(s) Gordon Coppuck
Predecessor McLaren M26
Successor McLaren M29
Technical specifications
Chassis Aluminium monocoque
Engine Ford-Cosworth DFV, 2993cc V8, naturally aspirated, mid-engined, longitudinally mounted
Transmission McLaren / Hewland FGA 400/6 6-speed manual
Competition history
Notable entrants Marlboro Team McLaren
Notable drivers7. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson
8. Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay
Debut 1979 Argentine Grand Prix
RacesWins Poles F/Laps
9000

The McLaren M28 is a Formula One racing car built and run by McLaren in the 1979 Formula One World Championship. Powered by a naturally-aspirated Ford Cosworth 3-litre engine, the M28 was designed and wind tunnel tested during the latter half of 1978.

Contents

Development

Following a disastrous 1978 season, James Hunt left for Walter Wolf Racing and was supposed to be replaced by Ronnie Peterson but he was killed at the 1978 Italian Grand Prix. McLaren was left with few drivers available on the market and John Watson was signed for 1979. [1] The car was noticeably larger than contemporary designs and was much bulkier looking. Three chassis were built. The bulky design had a sharp impact on top speed, and the car was one of the slowest through speed traps. The car first appeared on track in October 1978 during a test at Watkins Glen. [2]

M28 rear view on track McLaren M28 Mont-Tremblant Esses 03.jpg
M28 rear view on track

During initial testing, the M28 was soon found to have problems with poor grip as its ground effect design proved not particularly effective. [1] Watson described the car as "a disaster." [3] Patrick Tambay was even less enthused by the M28, labelling it "a shitbox." [4] The car suffered from a lack of torsional rigidity and a poor understanding of the ground effect aerodynamics required to be competitive against the new generation of F1 cars.

Watson described how after the first round of tests had been done, the chassis was drooping and had lost all tensile strength. The team, unused to working with advanced aerodynamics tried conventional adjustments to compensate, to no avail. He later stated that the M28 was the worst F1 car that he ever drove. [5]

Coppuck had designed the car to have a very narrow monocoque constructed of aluminium and nomex honeycomb to give the car a stiff chassis with as large an underfloor area as possible for the ground effect to work, but the upshot was that the car had a large frontal area which caused drag. [6] McLaren boss Teddy Mayer was shocked at the car's lack of performance, stating that Coppuck had dropped the ball. [7]

The M28 was completely redesigned, and the B spec car was introduced in Belgium, but there was no improvement in performance. Efforts to resolve the car's problems had made the M28 overweight and slow. [1] However, it was still the preferred chassis over its predecessor, the McLaren M26, and was used during the first half of the 1979 season until a better design could be introduced. As their rivals introduced better cars through the season McLaren rapidly slipped out of the running for the championship. [1] However, it was driven to third in the opening race of the season, the 1979 Argentine Grand Prix, by Watson, who also took sixth in Belgium and fourth at Monaco. Its second driver was Patrick Tambay.

In addition to the McLaren team's customary red and white Marlboro sponsorship livery, the M28 also raced in the colours of German beer company Löwenbräu at the 1979 United States Grand Prix West. [8]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position) (results in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearEntrantEngineTyresDrivers123456789101112131415 Points WCC
1979 Marlboro Team McLaren Ford Cosworth DFV G ARG BRA RSA USW ESP BEL MON FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA 15*7th
John Watson 38RetRetRet6411
Patrick Tambay Ret10Ret13DNQ107

* 7 points scored using the McLaren M29.

Related Research Articles

McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team and the second most successful Formula One team after Ferrari, having won 183 races, 12 Drivers' Championships and 8 Constructors' Championships. McLaren also has a history of competing in American open wheel racing, as both an entrant and a chassis constructor, and has won the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am) sports car racing championship. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1982 Formula One World Championship</span> 36th season of FIA Formula One motor racing

The 1982 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 36th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It comprised two competitions run concurrently over the course of the year, the 33rd Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 25th Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers. The championship featured sixteen races contested between 23 January and 25 September. The Drivers' Championship was won by Keke Rosberg and the Manufacturers' Championship by Ferrari.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1979 Formula One season</span> 33rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing

The 1979 Formula One season was the 33rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors which were contested concurrently over a fifteen-round series which commenced on 21 January 1979, and ended on 7 October. The season also included three non-championship Formula One races. Jody Scheckter of Scuderia Ferrari won the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers while Scuderia Ferrari won 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors. Gilles Villeneuve made it a 1–2 for Ferrari in the championship, concluding a successful second half of the 1970s for Ferrari. Alan Jones finished the season strongly for Williams, finishing third in the championship and with teammate Clay Regazzoni scoring Williams's first ever Grand Prix win as a constructor. Scheckter's title was Ferrari's last drivers' title for 21 years, before Michael Schumacher won five consecutive titles for the team between 2000 and 2004.

Theodore Racing was a Formula One constructor from Hong Kong founded by real estate magnate and millionaire Teddy Yip. They participated in 51 grands prix, entering a total of 64 cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren MP4/4</span> Racing automobile

The McLaren MP4/4, also known as the McLaren-Honda MP4/4, is one of the most successful Formula One car designs of all time. Powered by Honda's RA168E 1.5-litre V6-turbo engine and driven by teammates Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, the car competed during the 1988 Formula One season. The design of the car was led by American engineer Steve Nichols, the full responsibility for the design of the chassis having been conferred on him by Ron Dennis. Gordon Murray, as Technical Director, had the role of liaising between the drawing office and production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotus 79</span> Formula One racing car

The Lotus 79 is a Formula One car designed in late 1977 by Colin Chapman, Geoff Aldridge, Martin Ogilvie, Tony Rudd, Tony Southgate and Peter Wright of Lotus. The Lotus 79 was the first F1 car to take full advantage of ground effects aerodynamics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren M23</span> Formula One racing car

The McLaren M23 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Coppuck, with input from John Barnard, and built by the McLaren team. It was a development of the McLaren M16 Indianapolis 500 car. A Ford Cosworth DFV engine was used, which was prepared by specialist tuning company Nicholson-McLaren Engines. This helped push the DFV's horsepower output to around 490 bhp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren MP4/2</span> Formula One racing car

The McLaren MP4/2 was a Formula One car produced by McLaren for the 1984 season. An iteration of it, the MP4/2B, was used in the 1985 season, and a slightly updated version, the MP4/2C, raced in the 1986 season for McLaren. It was closely based on the MP4/1E model that was used as a test car, used in the final races of 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren MP4/8</span> Formula One racing car for the 1993 season

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren MP4/1</span> McLaren teams Formula One racing car

The McLaren MP4/1 was a Formula One racing car produced by the McLaren team. It was used during the 1981, 1982 and 1983 seasons. It was the second Formula One car to use a monocoque chassis wholly manufactured from carbon fibre composite, after the Lotus 88, a concept which is now ubiquitous. The MP4/1 was first entered in a Formula One race at the third grand prix of the season in Argentina.

Team Haas (USA) Ltd., sometimes called Beatrice Haas after its major sponsor, was an American Formula One team founded by Carl Haas in 1984 after an agreement with Beatrice Foods, a US consumer products conglomerate, which competed in the World Championship from 1985 to 1986. An agreement to use Ford engines for three seasons faltered after a change of management at Beatrice. The firing of Beatrice CEO Jim Dutt led to Beatrice withdrawing their funding of the project. The team was unable to continue in Formula One after the 1986 season. 1980 World Champion Alan Jones was coaxed out of retirement to drive the team's first car at the end of the 1985 season and on into 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren M26</span>

The McLaren M26 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Coppuck for the McLaren team, to replace the aging McLaren M23 model. The car was designed to be a lighter and lower car than its predecessor, with a smaller frontal area and narrower monocoque. Coppuck began design work in early 1976, with a view to introducing the car in the mid season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren M2B</span> 1966 Formula One racing car by McLaren

The McLaren M2B was the McLaren team's first Formula One racing car, used during the 1966 season. It was conceived in 1965 and preceded by the M2A development car. Designed by Robin Herd, the innovative but problematic Mallite material was used in its construction. The car was powered by Ford and Serenissima engines but both lacked power and suffered from reliability issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren M7A</span> Formula One racing car

The McLaren M7A and its M7B, M7C and M7D variants were Formula One racing cars, built by McLaren and used in the world championship between 1968 and 1971. After two relatively unsuccessful years of Formula One competition, the M7A was used to score McLaren's first win at the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferrari 641</span> 1990 Formula One racing car by Ferrari

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williams FW06</span> Formula One motor racing car

The Williams FW06 was the first car produced by the combination of Frank Williams and Patrick Head for their Williams Grand Prix Engineering Formula One team. As was the standard arrangement for the many small British garagiste teams, the car was powered by the Cosworth DFV 3.0 litre V8 engine.

Four-wheel drive (4WD) has only been tried a handful of times in Formula One. In the World Championship era since 1950, only eight such cars are known to have been built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Formula One drivers from France</span> List of Formula One drivers who competed as French

There have been 74 Formula One drivers from France, the most successful of them being Alain Prost, who won the World Drivers' Championship four times.

Ralph Bellamy is an Australian retired motor racing car designer and engineer. He worked for various teams such as Brabham, Ensign, Fittipaldi, Lola and McLaren.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren MCL33</span> Formula One racing car

The McLaren MCL33 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by McLaren to compete in the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by two-time World Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, with additional testing and development work carried out by reigning European Formula 3 champion Lando Norris and McLaren's regular test driver Oliver Turvey. The MCL33 is the first car built by McLaren to use a customer Renault engine after the team terminated its engine supply deal with Honda after three years and also first McLaren car to utilize a French-licensed engine manufacturer since the Peugeot-powered McLaren MP4/9 in 1994. It made its competitive debut at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix. The car was launched with an orange and blue livery designed as a tribute to some of the team's earliest cars. Currently Fernando Alonso’s MCL33 is on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Watson, John (December 1999). "The Worst Car I Ever Drove: Blunder Bus". Motor Sport . Vol. 75, no. 12. pp. 50–51. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  2. AP Archive (24 July 2015). "SYND 17 10 78 PREVIEW OF NEW FORMULA ONE MCLAREN" . Retrieved 23 November 2018 via YouTube.
  3. Fearnley, Paul (19 April 2018). "John Watson and the art of the pass". Motor Sport Online. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  4. "Patrick Tambay interview - Motor Sport Magazine Archive". motorsportmagazine.com. 6 January 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  5. "8W - Who? - Alain Prost".
  6. "1979 McLaren M28 Cosworth - Images, Specifications and Information". Ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  7. "Official Website of the McLaren Formula 1 Team". www.mclaren.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  8. Diepraam, Mattijs (May 1998). "McLaren's Löwenbräu connection". 8W. Retrieved 21 April 2018.