HONDA The Power of Dreams

McLaren introduced the MP4/7A, the last car, in 1992, the last year of Honda’s second F1 era. It is widely remembered as the car that Senna drove to win the 50th anniversary Monaco GP against Nigel Mansell in the Williams FW14B Renault, ending the Briton’s six-race winning streak from the opening round. The “A” in the model name suggests that an updated version, “B,” had been planned.

McLaren, which had entered the first two rounds of the season with the previous year’s updated MP4/6B, knew that reliability would be the deciding factor as its rival Williams would be introducing a car equipped with the latest high-tech devices, such as active suspension, traction control, and ABS. Until their new car was completed, McLaren decided to compete with the older car with proven reliability. Contrary to their expectations, the high-tech Williams Renault had extremely high potential and reliability.

In the opening round in South Africa, Senna was out-qualified by Williams’ Mansell by 0.741 seconds, and outpaced by 34.675 seconds in the race. Senna retired in the following Mexico round, while teammate Berger could only manage a 4th place finish, leaving McLaren in a difficult position so early in the season. The team decided to bring forward the launch of the new car, which was scheduled to start from the European rounds, to Round 3 in Brazil. The lack of reliability, however, was undeniably a concern, so they decided to improve their odds by bringing a total of six cars, three new MP4/7As and three older MP4/6Bs, to the race.

The under-developed new car was not only slower than Williams, but also the less-competitive Benettons and Ferraris. In the season-opener, Senna, who retired due to electrical problems in the new car, was so angry that once stopped in the pits, he walked silently into the garage.

For the first time in McLaren’s history, the team replaced convex molds for the monocoque that had been used consistently since the beginning of the MP4 series, with the more conventional concave molds for the MP4/7A. The car’s design also changed from the rounded MP4/6 to a more angular design. The V12 RA122E engine was carried over from last year. In Round 5, San Marino, McLaren introduced the updated RA122E/B, which was probably the most powerful V12 engine in F1 history. Its V-bank was changed from last year’s 60 degrees to 75 degrees, and its overall height was lowered by 20 mm to achieve a lower center of gravity. The variable intake system was retained, but new features such as pneumatic valves, a five-part independent scavenging system, and a lightweight cast magnesium lower case were introduced.

The most notable of the advanced technologies introduced in the MP4/7A was the introduction of an electronically controlled throttle system (drive-by-wire) jointly developed by Honda and McLaren. The semi-automatic system had been tested at the Hungarian GP the previous year, but for the MP4/7A, the system electronically transmitted accelerator pedal movement to the engine. In an era when sequential systems were the norm, the MP4/7A was the only car that could shift gears down continuously (by program) with a single push of a button.

Despite Honda developing a high-power V12 engine with a sophisticated accompanying system, it suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Williams. A possible cause could have been the stagnation of chassis development: since the joint venture with Honda in 1988, McLaren’s car development had been completely dependent on “Honda power.” This was fine in the turbo era, when engine power alone was enough to win, but after the regulations were unified to NA engines in 1989, victory depended not only on power, but also on the quality of the total chassis/engine package. McLaren was left behind.

In Round 13, Italy, Honda announced that it would be suspending its F1 activities at the end of the season. Senna famously weeped when asked for comment by the media. Honda, however, did not slow down its pace of development until the very end. In addition to the “Suzuka Special” engine it developed for the Japanese GP, Honda worked jointly with McLaren on an active suspension system which was introduced on a trial basis for the Italian GP, the race at which Honda announced its withdrawal.

This system was more complicated than the Williams version; The FW14B system was basically a passive suspension with an active system that assisted, making it simple and practical, but McLaren was pursuing a perfect full-active system. Theoretically, it would achieve the ultimate in performance by having the actuators respond to every bump. In reality, pumps had to be powered by the engine, and the loss of engine power was unexpectedly high. Ride height, suspension control, and damping among other controls, depended on the hydraulic system, and much of the engine power was lost there. Senna did not like this system of course, and after the first day of free practice, the car was retired.

Although the title was lost to Williams, who had active suspension, Honda and McLaren demonstrated their determination, and brought to the final race in Australia the MP4/7A which had the potential rivalling the FW14B. During the race, Senna pressured Mansell, unthinkable earlier in the season. In the final race of its second F1 era, Honda celebrated its 71st victory. Project leader Akimasa Yasuoka said: “In the end, we managed to win another race.”