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 Mika Häkkinen's MP4/12 on display at theTechnik Museum Sinsheim | |||||||||||
| Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | McLaren | ||||||||||
| Designers | Neil Oatley(Executive Engineer) Steve Nichols(Engineering Director) Matthew Jeffreys(Head of Vehicle Design) David North(Chief Transmission Engineer) David Neilson(Chief Suspension Engineer) Paddy Lowe(Head of R&D) Henri Durand(Head of Aerodynamics) Mario Illien(Chief Engine Designer (Ilmor-Mercedes)) | ||||||||||
| Predecessor | MP4/11B | ||||||||||
| Successor | MP4/13 | ||||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||||
| Chassis | carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite structure | ||||||||||
| Suspension (front) | double wishbones, pushrod-operated inboard coil spring/damper | ||||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | double wishbones, pushrod-operated inboard coil spring/damper | ||||||||||
| Engine | Mercedes-Benz FO110E (75°) andMercedes-Benz FO110F (72°)V10s | ||||||||||
| Transmission | McLaren six-speed longitudinal semi-automatic sequential. | ||||||||||
| Power | 740 hp (551.8 kW) @ 16,000 rpm[1] | ||||||||||
| Fuel | Mobil 1 | ||||||||||
| Tyres | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||||
| Notable entrants | West McLaren Mercedes | ||||||||||
| Notable drivers | 9. Mika Häkkinen10.  David Coulthard | ||||||||||
| Debut | 1997 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| First win | 1997 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| Last win | 1997 European Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| Last event | 1997 European Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
TheMcLaren MP4/12 was theFormula One car with which theMcLaren team competed in the1997 Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed bySteve Nichols,Neil Oatley andHenri Durand withMario Illien designing the bespokeIlmor-Mercedes engine. It was driven byMika Häkkinen andDavid Coulthard.
Externally, the car was a more streamlined and refined evolution of the previous year'sMP4/11.
The engines were supplied byMercedes-Benz for the third year of the Anglo-German alliance.
During the season,F1 Racing photographerDarren Heath noticed that the rear brakes of the McLarens were glowing red in an acceleration zone of the track. The magazine discovered through photos of the inside of the cockpit, that McLaren had installed a second brake pedal, selectable by the driver to act on one of the rear wheels. This allowed the driver to eliminateundersteer and reduce wheelspin when exiting slow corners, dubbed "brake steer". Ferrari's protestations to the FIA led to the system being banned the following season at the1998 Brazilian Grand Prix.[2]
McLaren later designed a road car that shared a similar designation to the MP4/12: theMcLaren MP4-12C, which also featured the "brake steer" system.
The car proved extremely promising and could have won at least seven races during the course of the season, but reliability proved troublesome, in particular that of the engine. TheFO110E engine was replaced with theFO110F engine from theFrench Grand Prix, but the trouble happened frequently to either engine. This proved frustrating, especially after Coulthard won the first race of the season inAustralia, McLaren's first win since losingAyrton Senna and also Mercedes' first F1 win since the1955 Italian Grand Prix. The situation was exacerbated by Häkkinen retiring from three further races whilst in the lead - all from engine failures - including at theNürburgring, where the team lost a comfortable one-two finish when both cars retired with identical failures within a lap of each other. Coulthard also lost a certain victory – atMontreal, with a clutch problem after a precautionary pitstop just a few laps before the race prematurely ended. However, Coulthard did manage to win again atMonza.
The team finally claimed the reward of a one-two finish at theseason finale after the collision betweenMichael Schumacher andJacques Villeneuve, although it was a contentious finish with many nodding to the fact thatPatrick Head of Williams andRon Dennis of McLaren had negotiations where Villeneuve would give up the lead if the McLarens made sure to steer clear from the troubled Williams. Regardless, this was Häkkinen's first win in F1 and was much celebrated by the F1 world which had been tipping him to win since he first out-qualified Senna in Portugal 1993. The win set him up with a good base to start his1998 campaign, which he was able to win after a season-long battle with Michael Schumacher.
The team eventually finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship, with 63 points.
During the pre-season test, the cars were painted in traditional papaya orange interim livery before switching into a new striking black and light silver livery was launched to celebrate the team's new title sponsorship deal withWest, replacing the red and whiteMarlboro livery that has been used since 1974.
McLaren used the West logos, except at the French, British and German Grands Prix; where they were replaced with a "double stars" logo.
(key) (results inbold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | McLaren | MercedesV10 | G | AUS | BRA | ARG | SMR | MON | ESP | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | AUT | LUX | JPN | EUR | 63 | 4th | |
| Mika Häkkinen | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Ret | 7 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 3 | Ret | DSQ | 9 | Ret | Ret | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| David Coulthard | 1 | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 1 | 2 | Ret | 10 | 2 |
