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McLaren MP4/6

Formula One racing car

Field	Value
Car_name	McLaren MP4/6
McLaren MP4/6B
Image	[[File:McLaren MP4-6 Honda.jpg	275px]]
Caption	The MP4/6 of Gerhard Berger
Category	Formula One
Constructor	McLaren International (chassis)
Honda Racing F1 (engine)
Designer	Neil Oatley (Executive Engineer)
Matthew Jeffreys (Head of Vehicle Design)
David North (Head of Transmission)
David Neilson (Head of Suspension)
Dieter Gundel (Head of Systems Engineering)
Bob Bell (Head of R&D)
Mike Gascoyne (Head of Aerodynamics)
Osamu Goto (Engine Technical Director (Honda))
Predecessor	MP4/5B
Successor	MP4/7A
Team	Honda Marlboro McLaren
Drivers	1. BRA Ayrton Senna
2. AUT Gerhard Berger
Technical ref
Chassis	Carbon fibre monocoque
Length
Width
Height
Wheelbase
Track
Engine name	Honda RA121/E,
Capacity	3.5 L,
Configuration	60° V12
Turbo/NA	NA (max: 14000 rpm for MP4/6 and 15300 rpm for MP4/6B)
Engine position	mid-engine, longitudinally mounted
Power	725 hp @ 13,500 rpm (early season)
780 hp @ 14,800 rpm (late season)
Gearbox name	Weismann/McLaren Transverse
Gears	6-speed
Type	manual
Weight
Fuel	Shell
Tyres	Goodyear
Debut	{{Unbulleted list
First_win	1991 United States Grand Prix
Last_win	1991 Australian Grand Prix
Last_event	{{Unbulleted list
Races	18
Wins	8
Cons_champ	1 ()
Drivers_champ	1 (, Ayrton Senna)
Poles	10
Fastest_laps	5
Podiums	19

McLaren MP4/6B Honda Racing F1 (engine) Matthew Jeffreys (Head of Vehicle Design) David North (Head of Transmission) David Neilson (Head of Suspension) Dieter Gundel (Head of Systems Engineering) Bob Bell (Head of R&D) Mike Gascoyne (Head of Aerodynamics) Osamu Goto (Engine Technical Director (Honda)) 2. AUT Gerhard Berger | Turbo/NA = NA (max: 14000 rpm for MP4/6 and 15300 rpm for MP4/6B) 780 hp @ 14,800 rpm (late season) |1991 United States Grand Prix (MP4/6) |1992 South African Grand Prix (MP4/6B)}} |1991 Australian Grand Prix (MP4/6) |1992 Brazilian Grand Prix (MP4/6B)}}

The McLaren MP4/6 is a 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 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 12-cylinder engines used by Ferrari in the championship wins of Niki Lauda in and and of Jody Scheckter in were flat-twelve engines.

Design and pre-season testing

The MP4/6 was the first McLaren to be powered by a Honda V12 engine, which Honda quoted at 735 PS at 13,500rpm. The car was tested by Berger in the off-season, but he was unimpressed with the initial version of the new engine, feeling it was underpowered compared to the 690 bhp V10 engine used in the 1990 car, the MP4/5B. When Senna returned for pre-season testing, he echoed Berger's concerns about the lack of power saying that he was expecting more from a V12 and that it really felt no more powerful than the old V10. However, McLaren and Honda knuckled down to try to solve the engine's problems. McLaren's domination in the early part of the year was mainly due to the lack of reliability of the 700 bhp Renault V10-powered Williams FW14.

By the latter half of the season, Honda (at Senna's urging) had managed to improve the engine to 780 hp (581.6 kW) @ 14,800 rpm.

The MP4/6 raced throughout with a manual "H" pattern gearbox. A semi-automatic transmission was tested during the season (and shown at the Hungarian Grand Prix) the car equipped with it ran 4 laps on track in practice before Senna spun off; the car was then converted back to a manual but was never regarded as good enough to be used in a race; Ferrari and Williams were the only teams to use semi-automatic gearboxes during 1991. The MP4/6 would go down as the last Formula One car to win a World Championship using a manual transmission and the only F1 car to win the World Championship with a V12 engine.

Season summary

Senna won the first four races of the season, in the United States, Brazil, San Marino and Monaco, before Williams and Nigel Mansell found their feet with the FW14, which dominated in mid-season. Consistent podium finishes on Senna's part throughout the year helped McLaren, but Senna insisted that Honda step up their engine development programme and demanded further improvements to the car before it was too late. Honda responded with updated versions of the V12 engine, while Oatley redesigned various features of the car, particularly the sidepods and wings. Senna won in Hungary and Belgium before clinching his third and final Drivers' Championship in Japan with second place behind Berger; he then won the final race in Australia to secure the team's fourth consecutive Constructors' Championship.

McLaren continued with the MP4/6, upgraded to 'B' specification, for the first two races of , Senna finishing third in South Africa. The MP4/6B was then replaced with the car designed for the 1992 season, the MP4/7A which had a semi-automatic transmission and traction control, though three MP4/6Bs were brought to the 1992 Brazilian Grand Prix as spares.

The MP4/6 was considered by some to be the most competitive car in the Formula One field until Williams sorted the FW14, which was aerodynamically and technically more advanced. In all, the MP4/6 took eight Grand Prix wins and ten pole positions and scored 148 points. The car brought a close to McLaren's and Honda's domination of the sport, stretching back to the mid-1980s.

File:Ayrton Senna McLaren MP4-6 1991 United States.jpg|Ayrton Senna won the 1991 United States Grand Prix with the MP4/6. File:Honda RA121E engine Honda Collection Hall.jpg|The Honda RA121E V12 engine.

In popular culture

The McLaren MP4/6 is included as a classic car in Codemasters F1 2017, F1 2018, F1 2019 and F1 2020 video games. It is also featured in Automobilista 2 in the same pack of the McLaren MP4/7A and the McLaren MP4/8.

Complete Formula One results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Honda Marlboro McLaren	MP4/6	Honda RA121E
V12			USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS	139	1st
Ayrton Senna	1	1	1	1	Ret	3	3	4	7	1	1	2	2	5	2	1
Gerhard Berger	Ret	3	2	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	2	4	4	2	4	Ret	Ret	1	3
Honda Marlboro McLaren	MP4/6B	Honda RA121E
V12			RSA	MEX	BRA	ESP	SMR	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN	AUS	99*	2nd
Ayrton Senna	3	Ret
Gerhard Berger	5	4

Only 9 points scored with the MP4/6B. Remaining points scored with MP4/7A.

References

;Notes

;Citations

References

"STATS F1 • McLaren MP4/6". Statsf1.com.
"MP4/6 on Honda website (Japanese)".
"Honda Collection Hall 収蔵車両走行ビデオ McLaren Honda MP4/6（1991）".
"McLaren Racing - History of the F1 engine".
"Balance of power".
(11 July 2014). "Gerhard Berger: Suzuka 1991: McLaren MP4/6 Honda V12…".
ESPN Speedworld: 1991 Hungarian Grand Prix
"1991 McLaren MP4/6 Honda - Images, Specifications and Information".
"McLaren Racing - Heritage - MP4/6".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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