The Most Dominant F1 Car Ever?
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- Опубликовано: 9 ноя 2017
- The McLaren MP4/4 in terms of win percentage is the most dominant car F1 has ever seen. But why was it so unstoppable? We speak to chief designer Gordon Murray to find out their secrets.
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1988 Mclaren: dream team
2020 mclaren: meme team
I won't complain! As it seems, they have the potential to become the ultimate dream meme team though!
smoothhh operatorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
haha
*2016
In the season of 1988, 1003 out of 1031 laps were lead by the MP4/4 - thats domination
That's actually insane
The power of dreams.
You may now cry an ocean because in 2016, my favorite team Mercedes have broken McLaren's record of "most laps led in a season" with 1055 laps out of 1268 laps... 🤘
@@madkhaliqfarhan Yes, they had more laps in total, but...
1988 = 97,28% of total rounds led
2016 = 82,04% of total rounds led
@@danielsgrunge no 1988 was McLaren's legendary era and led 91% of those laps throughout all 37 races (2455 of 2687)
Looked at the thumbnail.
Saw "Reliable Honda Engine"
Those were the days.
And then it got reliable, finally, in 2019. And also fast.
@@dauf69 and Now Renault under McLaren does what Honda engines did when powered McLaren, perhaps it was not Honda but the chassis, from what I read McLaren chassis was suffocating Honda engine.
@@MidwestDIY Absolute right.
The proove is. After Toro Rosso had the Honda Engine. And Red Bull had the Telemetrie Dates of both Engines. They change strait from Renault to Honda.
That say a lot.
Woking never let Honda do their thin in recent times. Red bull will profit from their impatience.
@@tomtd well that aged well
700 hp out of a 1.5 L in the 80s?!?! Holy crap
Well BMW also made 1500 HP out of a around 4 L in the mid 90s! But even when the 4/4 had not the most HP it truely had the best HP/L ratio!
Miami Corsa It’s stated in the video that it is a 1.6L six cylinder engine developing 700hp.
@@robinm9130 actually it was 1500 bhp out of a 1.5L 4 cylinder turbo at 5.5 bar of boost in 1986 !
@@abcdefgh-db1to Thanks for the Information!
abcd efgh I find it even funnier that that 1.5L BMW/Brabham engine (M12) was based on an actual production engine, the BMW M10 engine which was used in the BMW 1500.
the VTEC kickin' in yo
I thought Vtec was just something Honda owners say to make their car sound fast
@@Ian4bis Nope. VTEC is the only way to give a turbolag to a car that doesn't have a turbo.
*Interviewer: Why was this car so successful?*
*Gordan Murray: Well the first thing you need to realize is your shirt is too small..*
Absolutely Scott Kilmer:
“Why Honda’s more reliable than Mercedes”
R.I.P Senna
R.I.P (In half) Senna
R.I.P Ayrton Senna 1960-1994
I don't care how that moron rests he plows himself in a wall its nice when he rests in peace when he doesn't to bad for him. Prost was the better driver anyway.
Yes, Prost earned more points both years. Not everyone understands that. Tears Senna fans apart to learn the truth.
f1banter.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/senna-vs-prost-statistics-show-you-would-rather-have-prost-in-your-car-if-you-were-a-f1-team-principal/
"I don't care how that moron rests" - A moron that created a Institute that help millions of poor children in his home country with his own money and today is called "Instituto Ayrton Senna" (Ayrton Senna Institute). Even on the qualifying of the San Marino GP, Senna didn't make a second lap time in respect to Ratzenberger's death, and an Austrian flag was found in Senna's car one day after on race after his crash. But of course, he's just a moron, and you're the great character here. And to "Mark Mark", yes, maybe Prost was the best driver (not faster but more consistent, with less crashes, thus scoring more points), so what? This doesn't justify disrespect to anyone. Looks like some F1 fans are so desperate trying to put their idols as the "best driver of all time" (it can be Prost, Senna, Schumacher, etc) that they need to put their rivals down to make their idols appear better. But guess what? If your favourite driver shined against another legend, this doesn't make them less special (on the contrary). But if they shined against "just morons", well, that's nothing special.
Don't forget the 4/4's big brother, the 1984 MP4/2, manned by Lauda and Prost. It won 12 out of 16 races and was pretty the much the foundation for the MP4/4. Lauda also paid a huge part in developing the MP4/2 into the beast that it was.
The BT55 was an epic failure, it destroyed Brabham and Murray's F1 career. Theres even a letter to McLaren leadership (Dennis/Whitnarsh) denouncing the lies spread by Murray and published in the book MP4/4 a technical appraisal. Gordon Murray had no hand or input in the development of the MP4/4 neither the MP4/5.
Jesus loves you
We had Senna and Prost ... that was pretty good. PRETTY GOOD ?!?!? xD
flintenFLORI it's too good, and they finally separated because both of them are chasing the driver's title lol
You need to understand Brit humour...
flintenFLORI Pretty good=OP AF
OP isn't even the word ...
imagine a three man team with Senna Prost and Schumacher
When Honda was reliable....
TheTrapNational the problem with today's Honda is that the people that build it are still working under basically the same logistics style that they were in the 80's. Japan's increasing majority of older people in the population means that FAX messages and telephone calls are still the main way big companies operate over there. Considering their reluctance to produce today's engine anywhere else means that both McLaren and Honda are playing at a disadvantage to everyone else when developing the engine - hence the surprisingly blatant issues of too much vibration when the engine is in the car. Japan was a technological marvel in the 80's and 90's, but they're woefully obsolete today in the places where it counts.
Lord Van der Shaft well that's make alot of sense tho :o
Because it's kinda impossible that Honda that used to create very good and reliable engine in the 90s unable to create a good and reliable engine today.
Exactly. It doesn't really effect their regular car sales because dealerships are willing to work around such issues and development expectations are obviously much lower, but in a cutting edge motorsport like F1 they won't be able to exchange as much data between the team and engine manufacturer as fast as others - hence the cripplingly slow improvement rate we're seeing for them.
@JoeDoe And your impulse to attack someone's theory with a badly constructed sentence and name calling shows you have no knowledge of social interaction beyond the four walls of your parent's basement. Good day.
Lord Van der Shaft
wow.... I never thought of it that way....
then again, Honda’s focus on motorsports today aren’t as sharp as what it used to be back in the 80s through early 2000s...
aren’t they still working to create F1 engines for another team next year?
You didn’t mention the best power a car could have, Marlboro
Fax
The fuel has added weaponized tobacco extract for that added VTEC kick. xD
3:50 the smiley face on the car, hahaha even has a tongue, idk if you can see it
The Lotus 79 for sheer influence and advancement of the sport.
Interview with the legend that is Gordon Murray, a million thumbs up!
*Steve Nichols* designed the MP4/4, not Gordon Murray who has been trying to steal the credit for it for decades. For the truth, see "Steve Nichols & The McLaren MP4/4 - The Story Gordon Murray Doesn't Want Told" ruclips.net/video/5Mz9nAzsLXU/видео.html
The best car & driver that ever lived. RIP Ayrton. ( watch Donnington GP 1993). True genius.
Thank you Marlboro for the livery that was an icon for Motorsport
This is actually a million times better than the kind of feature you'd see on Sky or C4. Really well done man thoroughly enjoyed it!
it just had the best gp2 Engine ever. easy like this
Florian Pike and everyone else had gp3 engines
Also the most beautiful F1 car of all time
British Banter Chaps - Ryan and Josh not even close to the almighty tyrrell 025
Tbh I think the cars were quite ugly in the late 80's early 90's. 2005-2008 cars are the finest ever drawn. 70's F1s were amazing too.
when it comes to looks i actually think the 4/6 looks better
British Banter Chaps - Ryan and Josh yas
They’re only beautiful to people when they’re fast. There have been tonnes of better cars
"this MP4/4 was the best car in grid, cuz the rules were about to change in 89' and everybody else was already thinking on that year and McLaren didn't..." Ron Denis words. That's it.
That is one reason, but Ferrari tried hard in 88
Not only the dominating car, but also the strongest duo in history no doubt.
A lots made of the 89/90s incidents (rightly so) The 88 drive through the field and taking of the lead & championship by Senna, however, was absolutely unbelievable.
Btw, it wasn't a crash by Senna, he was rammed off.
So simple and small it looks. That's why I absolutely love this car.
it's by far my favorite f1 to drive in racing games. a good deal of it is due to it being drivable with a gear stick and clutch, unlike modern ones, but it's also so stable and fast. i love it.
also grew watching senna drive this so this car IS formula 1. it's the one i think of when someone says f1.
If I remember, Honda spent millions on continued development of the 1.5L turbo for 1988, when the other manufacturers spent their time and money developing the new 3.5L normally aspirated engines for 1989 and on.
David Walls And still McLaren won the next 3 seasons after the 1988 car
not the 94 williams sadly.. #WeMissYou
Honda was simultaneously designing and developing the new 1.5L for 88 and the 3.5L for 89 all while still supplying the 87 1.5L to Lotus for 88 as well.
Finally waiting for this video since your Insta stories!!!
I absolutely loved the mp4/4- Great car - but surely the greatest driver pairing. I'd be tempted to say FW14b or - grudgingly - the 2004 red car. Many drivers could have won in either of them.
1:13 Just what he says: If one of those is missing, it’s difficult to win. That’s just the problem Red Bull for example has. I think they have the best chassis, really good drivers, they are very good at choosing the right tyres at the right moment and they are very good making strategies. It’s just the engine that’s letting them down.
I grew up just after this era, but even so, this car is the absolutely defining F1 car in my mind. If you asked a 10 year old to draw a racing car, it's what I'd imagine the silhouette would look like. There's something about the simplicity of it compared with modern designs, the spartan front and rear wings, the complete lack of... well... anything between the front of the car, and each wheel. Those Goodyear Eagles, and the "Honda" brand steering wheel... that beautiful moment watching Senna driving one handed through Monaco. Stunning.
Thank you Steve Nichols!! Thanks for Gordon from his input with the gearbox too..
16 of 16 would be so good. It bothers me the one lacking lmao
Oh Boy, The Days When Honda Actually Had A Reliable Engine!
And When McLaren Honda Were Actually Good!
Because of aliens
Justin M. Oh No
Josh Macdonald oh yes
"SCOTT! You are the biggest....FLAP."
UH NO
Justin M. Oh no!
Well, there was the BRM H-16. But seriously, epic to get to interview such a legend, well done.
The Ferrari 156 has to be a decent shout. The only manufacturer to properly focus on the new regulations for 1961, the 156 won all but two races that season - in the other two, it finished both second and third. It propelled the Ferrari drivers - Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips - to first and a posthumous second in the World Championship. On no other occasion in their careers did either Hill or von Trips contest a Championship battle. Giancarlo Baghetti also won his debut race; he would go on to finish in the points only twice more in six seasons.
Maybe next year McLaren Renault will win 15 races
I was just hoping it would finish more than 15 races lol
AJHedges
Talking like there is no AMG or Ferrari or Red Bull .
أحمد أبوحمد McLaren has the one of the best chassis on the grid
Niklas still red bull has a better one I think. Put a merc engine in Every car and Red Bull wil win. Close folowed by McLaren and Ferrari
Niklas Yes a very good chasis, but it isnt like an engine will just in one go work perfectly with the car.
awsome video love these knd of topics
nice insight to the background 👍 love this car...
is it just me, i really like bit of glass on the cockpit area, on top of steering wheel.
it looks really good
Please get a bigger t shirt
😂
This is all i could think about during the video
I thought this too. If we can see your belt your shirt is too small. Get the next size up matt.
The T-shirt's size is fine. You don't want to look like a coat hanger lol.
alex does it matter?
It is so cool who you get to interview. I mean: To some extend, that guy surely was happy and proud to once again get the chance to talk about the good old times, but even then: Asking just the right questions to get to just the right guy at the right place at the right time is awesome. I mean to some extend it is also about making the best out of any situation, but that requires even more knowledge and flexibility to pull that off. I wonder when you manage to interview some background guy (like a test driver or technician) that much latter becomes are more prominent role and he (or she) gets back to you offering an exclusive interview. I mean: your production team is awesome, you show so much respect to any racing team member, so that they really get to share the really interesting things, that normally no one even thinks about.
It was really interesting listening to the insight of constructor!
Thumbnail: Reliable Honda engine
My Brain: WTF?!
Well, it’s more than triple the points for Ferrari these days
Man I could listen to Gordon Murray all day
Such a calm and relaxing voice
One of the greatest seasons in f1 and one of the greatest cars
All that apshalt 8 has taught me,
*It has gud acceleration and speed*
Max The Kid isn't that the mp4/8 they have there?
Asphalt 8 is shit
Jack J I admit I do play it but it's just too buggy and the company hasn't helped with the issues.
*it is the pay to win geam*
Max The Kid it's good at drifting. Just one tap of handbrake, and you're sideways
This is the most dominant to date. With Alain Prost (4 drivers title) and Senna (3 drivers title) as their drivers. just dominant
Well Prost technically scored more points in 88, so it should be 5-2. But yeah, amazing line up.
aceman42 Senna should also have been disqualified for 1990 so it should be 6-1.
buster130579 lets make it 7-0 for good measure
Haha! Actually, since you are all tripping... lets make it 4-9 because if Senna hadn't died at the age of 34 (with 3 titles) he would have like 9 titles ... or even more!
nope he never coped with the ban of the suspension aid
Wow man....BRILLIANT job getting Gordon Murray to comment about it.
great video. good questions for a legend in motorsport
The Ferrari F2002 was also very very dominant
Yep, lost only two races, like Mercedes 2016.
Yeah it was dominant but wasn’t used the full season.. started the first two-three races with the 2001 car and the only race where the f2002 didn’t win was Monaco
McLaren and renault is struggling to get a reliable car tho
Ferrari F2004 was best
margus kiis Mercedes 19/21 races Won lol
I would say Mercedes’ current car might be more dominant. Mercedes 1-2 is a fact of nature now 😂
So much has changed from when this comment was made just a month ago...
suiiperable no one would've assumed whats happening now 1 month go
Well im late but for it's time just think about it a 700HP 1.5 l in the 80s
It's not tho over the season Mercedes hasnt even gotten close
That was such a good event, the Gordon Murray thing
Whenever I think of F1 domination, I think of 1998, McLaren Honda, and Ayrton Senna alongside Alain Prost. I have always been a fan of Ferrari, but seeing those MP4/4s turning the corners and accelerating down the straightaways was perhaps the most intimidating sight in F1 history. And those cars had such a simple but elegant design, too, didn't they.
1998? That's Mika Hakkinen duh... 🤣
@@madkhaliqfarhan I meant 1988, jerk. Next.
MP 4/4 is still dominant than that merc, mclaren have the best duo in that era and you can't compare hamilton rosberg to senna prost. I mean its a mp4/4 and with that only its hands down
exactly thats why mercedes is even better
Ayrton Senna raised the level of competition at McLaren in 1988, I believe that without him I would not be so dominant.
If you look at the shape of the mp4/4 vs everything else at the time it was obvious how much sleeker it was. Great car.
Great looking car in iconic McLaren colours
It was dominant and extremely reliable - I would argue that the most dominant car in terms of speed over the rest of the field was the Williams FW14B - the car had active suspension and was so much faster than its rivals - however it did suffer from reliability issues. Great car nonetheless.
I think the 92' Williams fw14b is the best car ever, that shit was seconds faster then every other car and took the crowns with drivers who were used to bad luck and mistakes
but senna won many races ... i wasnt senna in 93 , 93 willians would certainly be the GOAT
I think Lotus 72 and McLaren M23 were more dominant. Competitive for 3-4 seasons, both produced two World Championships.
Yeah but the the williams team had worse drivers. Senna wrang as much as he could out of the car. Thats why mclaren was a force of nature.
Senna was winning Monaco 88 with 45 second ahead of Prost on the same car, in 92 Mansell wasn't so much ahead of Senna on a shitty McLaren and got passed by him after a pitstop, so the mp4/4 was far more dominant. If Senna was on that fw15 for sure have passed Mansell on a mp4/7.
Ps in 1992 was fw15.
Never knew the BT55 was such an influence on the MP4/4. You learn something new everyday.
Bd 48, too.
It wasn't
That active suspension FW14 Williams. Even with decent and bad driver they rocked in 1992
Well I would say the mx5 dominates the championship in the mx5 cup...
Jack Goff Fuck You
I would say " when this film is complete .. but I couldn't watch a horse drink".
don't talk nonsense, it's the cream that floats on the oil.
Henry Grey has a severe lack of humour.
Eddie Oliver 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
+Henry Grey
if you could see my feet you wouldn't be laughing.
do white paint think?
my cat has more legs than average for a cat, absolutely true.
I remember that like if it was today. Good old times...
The guy who explains everything has such a relaxing voice. This video is a Meditation instruction for engineers
The Williams 6 wheeler ground effect car would have definitely dominated F1 if the FIA hadn't banned it before it could race
The MP4/4 is the most dominant car in F1!
last half of 2013 I've heard the Red Bull RB9 was pretty good.
I love the print that hangs above the displayed ‘project 4/4’. A proper representation of how collective an endeavour our beloved sport -truly is. For a team of utterly brilliant talent, all competing at the higher end. Gordon is watching the behaviour of his car. Ron is watching his team’s (and opposing) lap times.
Senna?...............
............Alain. Of course?
I think the FW11, FW18, F2002 and BGP001 were also nice cars ;)
RoiDesP brawngp car dominant but was like the second best car by the midway point of 2009.. Jenson consistency wins him the title and he’s got a huge buffer gap.. only finished two times on the podiums in the last 10 races of that season
1988 italian grand prix was just after Enzo Ferrari passed out.
Still deeply convinced it was the spirit of the Drake that stopped the two McLaren and let the red car pick up the home win
Utter nonsense. The real reason was the Senna and Prost raced each other ruthlessly and pushed the cars a lot harder than they otherwise would have with weaker team mates (something Schumacher never needed to worry about). Senna meanwhile saw a chance to win the title right there and approached Mansell's replacement Schlesser way too fast. He took Senna out. Had it been Mansell in that car this would probably never have happened because as shrewd and tough a racer as Mansell was he wouldn't have made such a mistake.
Last of all. "deeply convinced". Sounds like a religious fanatic too me. You know, the kind who are deeply convinced they saw God or Jesus or frickin' Jehovah or whoever they're "deeply convinced* is real. Fanaticism isn't a very healthy way to see things. You know what Bertrand Russell said? (mathematician, writer, philosopher, founder of modern Western school of philosophy, human rights activist, pacifist , advocate for nuclear disarmament and Nobel Prize winner). "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure ("deeply convinced" in your case) and the intelligent are full of doubt."
Kindly shut the h*ll up. Or next time be a little more modest and say something like:"Ironic coincidence one can ascribe to poetic fate."
And if you can't come up with good counter-arguments and be rational then I pity you even more.
@@paulallen8109 Dude, chill out...
You have an amazing voice.
First thing i noticed.
The fw14 was also a very dominant
It was lapping all the other cars in 1992 in many races
It's only downfall was reliability issues which led to frequent retirements
It was so ahead of all the other cars at that time
Active suspension
Traction control etc etc
A great car
and now newey has thrown this car to the curb with how dominant red bull are now in 2023
😅And then LOST! in singapore😂
*1500cc V6 twin turbo (1.5 litres)
Williams FW-14B. Once they got their reliability to decent level it was far more dominant than mp4/4. Drivers gave more than bit of boost for mp4/4.
That's a thing of beauty!
It is the most dominant car in history because it was driven by the god Senna and Professor Prost
Not really
Dani Gonzalez yes
Brahman BT46b - One car that could POTENTIALLY could have got a perfect gold score back in the 70s had it been allowed to compete for the next year and had it not been for the drivers complaining... but at least it has a 100% win considering it only won at the Swiss GP. :)
Ali Mahfooz it was at Sweden
Certainly not, because if the van was allowed, other teams would use it too.
Gordon Murray's design as well
i love that car so much. the genius of it was that the rules said "no moving parts whose primary function is aerodynamics" so they made the engine overheat if the fan was off. it just so happened that the intakes for the fan to "cool the engine" were on the bottom of the car and it sucked way more air than it needed to. I still don't understand why this hasn't made it into a track day special car somewhere.
It's appeared a couple of times at Goodwood...
Love you Matty. I love the merch
Whatever, what makes Senna Prost rivalry the greatest is they both achieved 3 WC titles in McLaren and shared one together.
Someone told me about racing drivers (a fast runner in any car) and gp driver (someone dedicated to tune his car to the race) and Senna/Prost rivalry showed that concept so brilliantly they achieved their goals with different ways.
Prost dominance before Senna joined McLaren was obvious but Senna ways proved it could be done otherwise.
This rivalry could've been healthy but outsiders and communication pinned down a growing friendship. Bercy 93 showed the Truth.
I'm a Senna fan
Obviesly manor is the closest to the mp4/4.
no no no a virgin is the closest... hehehe see what i did there?
Well technically, it would be faster than the MP4/4 cuz of the advancements in f1 over the years.
Say what you want about the Manor, but one can't deny that it was a very pretty looking car - all of those unbroken lines on the chassis, unhindered by any troublesome aero devices that the top teams kept gluing on. Nice paintjob, too.
Some of the old turbo F1 cars were as fast if not faster than modern cars and they had zero driver aides or programmes
I wonder if Vettel was in an MB with Hamilton, who'd come out on top... thumbs up for Vettel
Complete nonsense, Hamilton has ALWAYS been better than vettel
Incredible stats for the mp44.
both Legendary car and drivers
The W07? Let's be real, it would have crushed it in Spain if Hamilton and Rosberg hadn't taken each other out
Gordon Murray is a genius. A rival to Adrian Newey for sure
NOBODY is even close to Rory Byrne
The stars aligned.
Lotus 25. First monocoque chassis in f1. Jim Clark wiped the floor with everyone in 1963. 7/10 wins. Not bad with no seatbelts!
wtf1 u forgot the 2014 caterham as that car won 100% of its races especially as Marcus Ericsson was the best driver that season to make it go even quicker
The good old days....
yeah axactly it was the good old days when we had a team dominating the field and V6 Turbo engines, not like now
oh wait
You're on a commenting spree, aren't you?
exactly haha
A Kid the days when Honda was actually reliable and fast
1988 was a transition year for F1: last season with turbos and new engine regulations coming up for 1989. So everybody decided to race that season with a conservative evolution of 1987 cars. On the other hand, McLaren and Honda presented a 100% brand new car basically outdating all of other cars and winning with ease also thanks to its drivers.
That could explain why the phase of the McLaren's of 1989-1992 faded considerably quick
The Brawn in 2009 was pretty dominant, only for the first 7 races though. The Red Bull of 2013 was also quite a dominant one, winning all races with Sebastian Vettel after the summer break. Oh, and don’t forget Schumacher’s 2002 / 2004 car
''Reliable Honda engine.''
Prins van Oranje Hondas are well known to be reliable
Thomas John Solidum I'm joking, it's because of Alonso's experiences with McLaren.
Maybe if Barrichello wouldn't had played a second driver role, the 2002 and 2004 Ferraris could have been the same as the MP4/4 or even better, and, don't get me wrong, at that time I was only 2 and 4, so I didn't watch those seasons, but as far as I know they were dominant cars, but Schumi was the number one driver so Rubens had to "protect" him. With this I don't mean that he was a bad driver, in fact I like him, but a pair like Senna and Prost both fighting for the championship, might have won every race.
Please let me know what you think about this
honestly the only reason why the F2002 isn't on top heree is because they used the F2001 for the first 2 races of the 2002 season
Stormtrooper P13 Sorry, since Montoya managed 7 poles in 2002 - which is as many as Schumacher the 2002 Ferrari certainly wasn't the fastest car in qualifying. The Bridgestones were tailored for the Ferrari (used their data to design the tires) other teams suffered. Williams-BMW had the pace - and the BMW V10 was widely reported as the most powerful V10 during the early 2000's as was evident by the Williams cars often clocking the highest top speed on the straights - but the Bridgestones let them down in the races.
Here's the thing: A totally dominant car needs to have *both* the best chassis and the best engine. The BMW V10 was the best engine in 2001-2005. Bridgestone tires being tailored for Ferrari masked the actual potential of the car. Had Bridgestone bothered with the other teams they would have been closer.
Sorry, but the MP4/4 was so dominant it was unmatched. It lead a record 1003 laps, which wasn't beaten until 2016, when there were 21 races (5 more than the 16 in 1988).
It lead 1003 out of 1031 laps in total. That's a whopping 97,28%. That's a huge margin to second best, the 2014 Mercedes with 86,2%, the third best the 1992 Williams with 83,7%. Ferrari 2002 car is in 6th with 79,4%.
As for raw pace. Senna and Prost sometimes finished *a whole lap ahead of the entire field* lapping everybody. In San Marino both the McLaren were more than three full seconds faster in qualifying. In Monaco they were over 2 seconds faster than anybody else. The rest of the season they were at least a full second faster either in qualifying or in the fastest race laps.
Gordon Murray's ultra low-slung MP4/4 optimized flow over the wings like never before. At the time there was nothing like it (aside from his theoretically sound 1986 Brabham BT55). Mated to Honda's low-boost turbo V6 *specifically designed for the 1988 rules* it was a total winner.
"in fact I like him, but a pair like Senna and Prost both fighting for the championship, might have won every race." This is where you are wrong. You see Senna and Prost raced each other ruthlessly and neither gave the other pardon. The raced to beat each other. As such Senna retired quite a few races and even Prost had the odd mechanical failure (still managed a whopping 14 podiums in 16 races, 7 wins and 7 second places). Had Schumacher actually had a good team mate - something which he btw never had as he enjoyed handpicked number two's throughout his Benetton and Ferrari careers and never had to worry they would ever challenge him anyway - who had raced him ruthlessly like Prost and Senna did (and Hamilton and Rosberg did too at some occasions when they took each other out) then it goes without saying the 2002 Ferrari either would have suffered mechanical failures due to it being so hard raced by its two drivers or they would have taken each other out or done risky maneuvers trying to beat the other.
Again. If the 2002 Ferrari was so dominant, how come Montoya managed to put the Williams on pole in 7 races, which is as many as Schumacher did? Ralf Schumacher won fair and square in Malaysia driving the Williams BMW. David Coulthard won in Monaco fair and square too, fact is Schumacher would have finished 3rd had Montaya's car not broken down.
Again, Kimi Raikkonen was going to win the 2002 French Grand Prix and kept Schumacher behind him. He skidded on an oil slick and thanks to that Schumacher passed him with 5 laps to go. No skid on oil-slick? Raikkonen would have won his first race.
And again: The only fair comparison is against your team mate. Senna beat Prost, who at the time was already a two time world champion, and who lost two other titles by a grand total of 2,5 points, not to mention that he was the most successful F1 driver of all time with a record 28 wins in 1987. Schumacher's team mates hadn't even won a single race when they joined the team. This is why Senna's record will always be more impressive than Schumacher's.
fetuso fetuso 1. The only reason the F2002 was so well developed IS because they developed it for so long it had to miss the first two races (in Barrichello's case the first *three* races). So that "argument" of yours is moot.
2. I seem to have read this pretty telling statistic that Montoya put the Williams-BMW on pole 7 times in 2002. He had as many poles as Schumacher. Now this either means that Schumacher wasn't a top qualifier OR it means the Williams-BMW actually was the faster car in qualifying - and it not being as fast in the races themselves had A LOT to do with the Bridgestones tailored for the Ferrari.
3. Schumacher qualified 3rd on Monaco and Coulthard both outqualified him and won the race fair and square. Kimi Raikkonen kept Schumacher at bay for 13 laps in the final stages of the French Grand Prix. Had he not skidded on the oil slick Schumacher would never have passed him. Montoya lead several races but when his tires wore out he couldn't keep the pace.
4. The MP4/4 lead 97,3% of all the races. NONE has ever gotten close to that. 2nd is Mercedes from 2014 with 86,2%, Williams in 1992 with 83,7%. Ferrari from 2002 is 6th with 79,4%.
The MP4/4 or the Williams FW14B were *never* close of being outqualified and certainly not challenged on the track even for half of the race. Sorry, but Montoya's 7 poles and the *fact* the BMW V10 was the most powerful engine at the time makes the 2002 more the best reliable car than the fastest car by far. It wasn't.
You deal with subjective opinion and bias, whereas I will state cold, hard facts and take all the factors you so conveniently ignore into account.
Without those Bridgestones Ferrari wouldn't have looked so dominant. Therein lied their *real* advantage. And this is why plenty of teams abandoned them and put their faith to Michelin - who at the time had *severe issues* with tyre degradation.
"honestly the only reason". Honestly NEVER use a REDUCTIONIST point of view to ANYTHING. It''s a hallmark of myopic ignoramus.
Feel free to verify at the StatsF1 site.
beautiful car! beautiful cars actually. That Brabham BMW Arrow car is a pretty picture as well.
Everyone forgets about the Alfa Romeo 158 in 1950. It won every race that it entered in 1950. Yea it was only raced in 6 of the 7 races, but it still had a 100% winning percentage.
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