McLaren MP4-16
naturally aspirated, | |||||||||
Transmission | McLaren 7-Speed longitudinal semi-automatic sequential | ||||||||
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Power | 830 hp (619 kW) @ 17,800 RPM[1] | ||||||||
Fuel | Mobil Unleaded | ||||||||
Lubricants | Mobil 1 | ||||||||
Tyres | Bridgestone | ||||||||
Competition history | |||||||||
Notable entrants | West McLaren Mercedes | ||||||||
Notable drivers | 3. Mika Häkkinen 4. David Coulthard | ||||||||
Debut | 2001 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||
First win | 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last win | 2001 United States Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last event | 2001 Japanese Grand Prix | ||||||||
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Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
The McLaren MP4-16 was the car with which the McLaren team competed in the 2001 Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed by Adrian Newey, Steve Nichols, Neil Oatley and Peter Prodromou, with Mario Illien designing the bespoke Ilmor engine. It was driven by double world champion Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard in what would be their sixth and final season together as McLaren teammates.
Competition history
After being narrowly pipped to both titles by
Moreover, Häkkinen had his least successful season since 1997, suffering both from appalling luck and a loss of form at many races. The most notable incident was in Spain when he suffered a last-lap clutch/engine failure while leading. Despite winning two Grands Prix, he elected to retire (originally announced as a sabbatical) at the end of the season, and would be replaced by compatriot Kimi Räikkönen. Coulthard, by contrast, produced the best season of his career to date, winning two races early on and mounting a championship challenge to Michael Schumacher. However, McLaren lost this early parity with Ferrari and he was fortunate to keep second place in the Drivers' Championship ahead of Ferrari's number two, Rubens Barrichello.
Similarly, the team regarded themselves as fortunate to come second in the Constructors' Championship, with 102 points, ahead of the resurgent Williams team.
Livery
McLaren Mercedes went into the 2001 season with renewed major sponsorships such as
McLaren used 'West' logos, except at the French and British Grands Prix.
Complete Formula One results
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
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2001 | West McLaren Mercedes | Mercedes-Benz V10 | B | AUS | MAL | BRA | SMR | ESP | AUT | MON | CAN | EUR | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | USA | JPN | 102 | 2nd | |
Mika Häkkinen | Ret | 6 | Ret | 4 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 6 | DNS | 1 | Ret | 5 | 4 | Ret | 1 | 4 | ||||||
David Coulthard | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | Ret | 3 | 4 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 2 | Ret | 3 | 3 |
References
- ISBN 1-903135-06-0.