The McLaren MP4 (later known as the McLaren MP4/1) was a Formula One car designed by McLaren. It was used by the team from 1981 to 1983 in various iterations. It was the first McLaren car to carry the MP4 naming scheme that the team would use until 2016.
The MP4, short for "Marlboro Project 4", was the first McLaren car built following their merger with the Project Four Racing Formula Two operation run by Ron Dennis. It was only the second car to use a monocoque chassis that was manufactured entirely from carbon fibre composite, following the Lotus 88 that debuted a couple of races prior.
The carbon fibre chassis was the brainchild of executive engineer John Barnard, who had convinced Dennis to fund the idea after seeing the material used in jet engines at the Rolls Royce factory. McLaren used carbon fibre supplied by the American firm Hercules Aerospace.
Driver John Watson debuted the first chassis at the 1981 Argentine Grand Prix, but failed to complete the race distance due to a mechanical failure with the transmission. By the Monaco Grand Prix, McLaren had produced a second car for their other driver Andrea de Cesaris.
On lap 20 of the 1981 Italian Grand Prix, Watson suffered a huge crash. He lost control of his car exiting the second Lesmo bend and crashed backwards into the barrier. The rear of the car was ripped off and sent across the track. Watson escaped the accident without injury. The car was damaged beyond repair and Hercules Aerospace acquired the damaged chassis to show off the strength of carbon fibre cars.
In 1982, the team used a B-spec chassis with Watson driving alongside new teammate Niki Lauda. The duo won four races that season, which was enough to secure the team second in the constructors' title behind Ferrari. Watson finished second in the drivers' championship narrowly behind Keke Rosberg.
A C-spec chassis was used for the 1983 Formula One Season. During the season, the team began development work with TAG and Porsche to develop a turbocharged engine for 1984, using a D-spec chassis of the MP4 as a test car. At this time, many teams were switching to turbocharged engines, which were more competitive than the naturally aspirated engines. Barnard had been working on the designs for the McLaren MP4/2 that would be used in 1984.
However, Lauda complained to Marlboro executive Aleardo Buzzi about how uncompetitive the team was without a turbocharged engine. Buzzi subsequently suspended funding of the team, forcing McLaren to produce an E-spec car late in the 1983 season to use the turbocharged TAG-Porsche engine.
The car made its premature debut at the 1983 Dutch Grand Prix with Lauda at the wheel. He failed to finish the race, while his teammate finished on the podium in the naturally aspirated C-spec car. At the following race, both drivers were racing the E-spec car for the remaining three races, but failed to finish any, largely due to reliability issues from the undeveloped turbo engine.
The MP4 was fully replaced by the MP4/2 for the 1984 Formula One Season.
Race Victories[]
| Year | Event | Driver | Notes |
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| 1981 | British Grand Prix |  John Watson
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| 1982 | United States Grand Prix West |  Niki Lauda
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Fastest lap |
| Belgian Grand Prix | John Watson
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Fastest lap | |
| Detroit Grand Prix | John Watson
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| British Grand Prix | Niki Lauda
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| 1983 | United States Grand Prix West | John Watson
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Complete Formula One Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Car | Engine | Tyre | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 1981 | 
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| MP4 | Cosworth DFV V8 | M | Watson
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Ret | 10th | 7th | Ret | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 6th | 6th | Ret | Ret | 2nd | 7th | |||
 de Cesaris
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Ret | Ret | 11th | Ret | Ret | 8th | DNS | 7th | Ret | 12th | |||||||||
| 1982 | 
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| MP4B | Cosworth DFV V8 | M | Watson
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6th | 2nd | 6th | 1st | Ret | 1st | 3rd | 9th | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9th | 13th | 4th | 2nd | |
| Lauda
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4th | Ret | 1st | DSQ | Ret | Ret | Ret | 4th | 1st | 8th | DNS | 5th | 3rd | Ret | Ret | ||||
| 1983 |
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| MP4/1C | Cosworth DFV V8 | M | Watson
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Ret | 1st | Ret | 4th | DNQ | Ret | 3rd | 6th | 9th | 5th | 9th | 3rd | ||||
| Lauda
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3rd | 2nd | Ret | Ret | DNQ | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6th | DSQ | 6th | ||||||||
 Bellof
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WD | ||||||||||||||||||
| MP4/1E | TAG Porsche V6t | Watson
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Ret | Ret | DSQ | ||||||||||||||
| Lauda
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Ret | Ret | Ret | 11th | |||||||||||||||
| Key | |||||
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| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | ||
| 1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | ||
| 2nd | Podium finish | DSQ | Disqualified | ||
| 3rd | DNQ | Did not qualify | |||
| 5th | Points finish | DNPQ | Did not pre-qualify | ||
| 14th | Non-points finish | TD | Test driver | ||
| Italics | Fastest Lap | DNS | Did not start | ||
| 18th† | Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) | NC | Non-classified finish (<90% race distance) | ||
| 4thP | Qualified for pole position | [+] More Symbols | |||
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