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10 Of The Coolest Cars Of All Time Formula One

McLaren MP4/4

When it raced: 1988

It’s hard to overstate the coolness of the MP4/4. Honestly I get goosebumps typing the name sometimes. In the course of achieving levels of domination previously unheard of in F1, it was the iconic red and white weapon of the great battles between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. As the pair came one race from sweeping the entire season, the MP4/4 made sure they looked good doing it.

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The McLaren MP4/4 was a highly successful Formula 1 car that competed in the 1988 Formula One season. It was designed by American engineer Steve Nichols, with assistance from the team’s Technical Director Gordon Murray. Nichols and Murray based the design on the lowline Brabham BT55, designed by Murray for the 1986 season when Murray was chief designer at Brabham.

The Honda powered MP4/4 is one of the most dominant Formula One cars ever built, winning all but one race and claiming all but one pole position in the 1988 season. Statistically the car holds the record as the most dominant single season car with a winning percentage of 93.8% with the closest any car has come was in 2016 when the Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid won 19 of 21 races (90.5%).

1987 was a relatively disappointing season for McLaren. The Steve Nichols designed McLaren MP4/3 with its maximum power output of approx. 800 bhp TAG-Porsche engine lost out nine times to the dominant Honda powered Williams of Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell, twice to the Lotus-Honda of Ayrton Senna, and twice in the latter stages to the Ferrari of Gerhard Berger. Reigning World Champion Prost could only manage three wins for the season, and finished 4th in the Drivers’ Championship, though his win in Portugal was cause for celebration as it was the Frenchman’s 28th career win, taking him past the previous record of 27 wins by triple World Champion Jackie Stewart.