.jpg) Mika Häkkinen's McLaren MP4/13 on display inEssen in 2018. | |||||||||||
| Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | McLaren | ||||||||||
| Designers | Adrian Newey(Technical Director) Neil Oatley(Chief Designer) Steve Nichols(Engineering Director) Matthew Jeffreys(Head of Vehicle Design) David North(Head of Transmission) David Neilson(Head of Suspension) Paddy Lowe(Head of R&D) Henri Durand(Head of Aerodynamics) Mario Illien(Technical Director, Engine - Ilmor-Mercedes) Stuart Grove(Chief Designer, Engine - Ilmor-Mercedes) | ||||||||||
| Predecessor | MP4/12 | ||||||||||
| Successor | MP4/14 | ||||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||||
| Chassis | Moulded carbon-fibre composite structure | ||||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Double wishbones, pushrod | ||||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Double wishbones, pushrod | ||||||||||
| Engine | Mercedes-Benz FO-110GV10 (72º) | ||||||||||
| Transmission | McLaren six-gearlongitudinalsemi-automaticsequential. | ||||||||||
| Power | 760 hp (567 kW) @ 17,000 rpm | ||||||||||
| Fuel | Mobil 1 | ||||||||||
| Tyres | Bridgestone | ||||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||||
| Notable entrants | WestMcLarenMercedes | ||||||||||
| Notable drivers | 7. David Coulthard8.  Mika Häkkinen | ||||||||||
| Debut | 1998 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| First win | 1998 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| Last win | 1998 Japanese Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| Last event | 1998 Japanese Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Constructors' Championships | 1 (1998) | ||||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 1 (1998,Mika Häkkinen) | ||||||||||
TheMcLaren MP4/13 was the car with which theMcLaren team competed in the1998 Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed byAdrian Newey,Steve Nichols,Neil Oatley andHenri Durand, withMario Illien designing the bespokeIlmor engine. Driven byMika Häkkinen andDavid Coulthard, the MP4/13 proved to be the dominant car of the season, with Häkkinen winning eight races en route to his firstDrivers' Championship, while McLaren won their firstConstructors' Championship since1991. Until2024, this was the last McLaren Formula One car to win the Constructors' Championship and the last car to win the Drivers' and Constructors' Championship double for the team until theMCL39 did so in 2025.
DesignerAdrian Newey had joined McLaren fromWilliams in1997, but was unable to influence the design of theMcLaren MP4/12 other than adjustment during the season. His work was rewarded when driversMika Häkkinen andDavid Coulthard finished first and second at the season-endingEuropean Grand Prix.
When the 1998 season got underway four months later, it became clear that Newey had adapted to the rule changes for 1998 best. With the cars now narrower and running on grooved tyres, the all-new design of the MP4/13 made it the car to beat.
The dominance of the MP4/13 was displayed in the opening race of 1998 inAustralia, as Häkkinen and Coulthard finished a lap ahead of the rest of the field. Newey's aerodynamic design was by far the most efficient one and Mercedes produced the most powerful engine of the season. The team was aided by a unique brake-steer system that allowed the driver to use any one of the car's brakes independently to aid cornering, a system first used in 1997. TheFerrari team protested, stating that the brake-steer system was a violation of the technical rules, which banned four-wheel steering. The FIA eventually sided with Ferrari and the system was banned, although the team was allowed to keep their results up to that point.[1]
In addition, the car had an early hybrid system that used brake energy to generate electrical power that was stored in batteries. This power could then be deployed to run auxiliary pumps on the engine to combat parasitic losses, resulting in an extra 30 to 40 horsepower for a limited period.[2]
McLaren's dominance continued in the second race of the season inBrazil, before Ferrari started to close the gap from theArgentine Grand Prix onwards.[3] The MP4/13 retained its superiority on high-speed tracks like Hockenheim and Silverstone, while Ferrari'sF300 was closer to the McLaren on more technical circuits. Speaking of the MP4/13 some years later, Coulthard said that the car was fast but understeered through slow corners; this was due to Newey's design that maximized the car's aerodynamic grip over its mechanical grip. Häkkinen initially found the car to be nervous in testing due to a rearward biased instability, but this was corrected before the season started.[4]
During 1998, Coulthard's MP4/13 speed-trapped the highest of all F1 cars that year when he was clocked at 353 km/h (219 mph) at the old Hockenheim circuit.
Although Ferrari'sMichael Schumacher took the Drivers' Championship battle to the final race inJapan, Häkkinen took the title with his eighth race win of the season. Coulthard won one race, inSan Marino, en route to third place overall, while McLaren won the Constructors' Championship. This was McLaren's first championship victory since1991 withAyrton Senna and, in terms of race wins, the team's most successful year since1989.[5]
During 1998 bothNick Heidfeld andRicardo Zonta acted as test drivers for McLaren and drove the MP4/13 at test sessions.[6][7] The record time for theGoodwood Festival of Speed hillclimb was set in 1999 when Heidfeld drove an MP4/13 up the hill in 41.6 seconds.[8] In 2021 the MP4/13 set the second outright fastest lap time aroundLaguna Seca in the hands of MexicanIndyCar driverPato O'Ward, when O'Ward lapped the circuit at 1 minute 10.3 seconds, nearly a second faster than a 2021McLaren IndyCar around the same circuit.[9]
The livery was similar to the previous season with additional new sponsorship fromLoctite,Computer Associates,Warsteiner and Schüco. Camozzi returned to the team after five years' absence.
McLaren used theWest logos, except at the French, British and German Grands Prix; they were replaced with a "double stars" logo in Britain and Germany, while in France they were replaced with blank space. The Warsteiner logo was also removed in France.
In July 2017, video game developerCodemasters announced that the MP4/13 would appear in the video gameF1 2017 as a classic car. It also appears inF1 2018[10] andF1 2019.[11]
(key) (results inbold indicate pole position; results initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | McLaren | MercedesV10 | B | AUS | BRA | ARG | SMR | ESP | MON | CAN | FRA | GBR | AUT | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | LUX | JPN | 156 | 1st | |
| David Coulthard | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 6 | Ret | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | Ret | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| Mika Häkkinen | 1 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 1 | 1 | Ret | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | Ret | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Autosport Racing Car Of The Year 1998 | Succeeded by |
