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(Motorsport-Total.com) – The McLaren MP4 / 1 was a real revolution in Formula 1. The car not only won several races, it changed the whole sport and had technologies that kept going that saved many lives over decades. The MP4 / 1 was the first racing car with a chassis made entirely of carbon. At the 12. April 1981, before 39 years ago, he made his debut in Argentina.

McLaren MP4/1

© Motorsport Photos

The McLaren MP4 / 1 revolutionized Formula 1 zoom Discover

Nowadays it is hard to imagine that there was a time without carbon cars. It is more incredible that many at that time doubted whether the area topic was suitable for racing cars. The trail especially because some groups had already experimented with it. However, it was mostly used in non-structural areas and only for the purpose of saving weight.

Many simply did not know how to use it correctly. They used it much like fiberglass. Only McLaren technical director John Barnard was the one who changed everything. Barnard was already working on 1979 for Ron Dennis and his racing team Project Four. In a secret project, he worked on a car with a carbon chassis as a basis.

He knew that he had to build a car with a very narrow monocoque to have an advantage over the other groups . This allowed him to enlarge the Venturi tunnels and maximize the ground effect. However, the area topic caused him problems. Back then, aluminum was the preferred material. But that was too flexible for the monocoque in the size he imagined.

A long way to the finished product

With steel one would have achieved a better rigidity in comparison, but it weighed too much. The answer was therefore carbon. But because no one had used the area topic in such a way in motorsport, he had to look for experts outside of sports. He met engineers from British Aerospace, but despite being interested in the project, he couldn't be helped.

At least British Aerospace was able to establish contact between Barnard and Arthur Webb. The aeronautical engineer had a lot of experience in the field of carbon fiber. The two of them worked together stubbornly on drawings for a carbon chassis, which consisted of an aluminum grille, which was located between the parallel carbon layers.

McLaren MP4/1

© Giorgio Piola

The McLaren MP4 / 1's chasis consisted of only five components zoom Discover

This variant increased the rigidity and reduced the weight. After the structure was finished, they had to find someone to build it. Because Project Four had neither the factory nor the financial means to do it. Ron Dennis asked several specialists in the UK but was unsuccessful.

This was where the American company Hercules Aerospace came into play. It was hoped that there would be commercial benefits from working with McLaren. With them, the carbon fiber layer was accurately placed over the aluminum grid. The finished product went back to the UK, where the team only had to assemble it.

The 2d, in which McLaren convinced everyone

All of this happened in a difficult time for Project Four. The Formula 1 project could no longer be financed for Dennis and his team. Dennis had previously asked Marlboro to sponsor his entry into Formula 1, but was dwindled. But times had changed and Marlboro's investment at McLaren was on the brink at the same time.

© Motorsport Photos

John Barnard, head behind the project, with John Watson and Ron Dennis zoom Discover

A merger was the obvious solution for Marlboro. On the one hand, they wanted to celebrate success again with McLaren, and on the other hand there were Dennis, Barnard and the carbon fiber project, which should help McLaren.

The entire chassis of the MP4 consisted of only five parts. For comparison: At that time an aluminum chassis consisted of at least 50 components. Nevertheless, not everyone was convinced of the new concept. But when John Watson 1981 won the British Grand Prix, the other groups also realized that they had to deal with the new concept.

The final proof that McLaren had chosen the right path was the Italian Grand Prix two months later. John Watson had a massive accident in which the entire rear end of the car was torn off. The Atomize would have gone much worse if the chassis were made of aluminum. At the latest now McLaren was no longer ridiculed.

The other groups quickly followed suit and copied the idea. Barnard was a pioneer who introduced an area topic that was stronger, lighter and safer than anything that you had seen before – not only in Formula 1, but in complete motorsport. The sport should then change forever. Barnard didn't just raise the diploma. He changed the entire playing field.


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