The McLaren MP4/12 was a Formula One car entered by McLaren for the 1997 Formula One season. Driven by Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard, the Mercedes powered MP4/12 achieved three wins during the 17 race season, leading the team to fourth place in the Constructors' World Championship. Coulthard and Häkkinen finished 3rd and 6th respectively in the Drivers' Championship, following the disqualification of Michael Schumacher.
After the departure of title sponsor Marlboro, McLaren had a new title sponsor: a German cigarette brand West. McLaren launched their interim livery in orange colours, before they unveiled their actual livery in silver and black.
The MP4/12 was a promising car for the team, but due to the troublesome reliability of the FO110E and the FO110F engines, the team could only manage three wins throughout. It could have won seven more races if the Mercedes-Benz engine was reliable. It was succeded in 1998 by the MP4/13.
Team Personnel[]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Team Principal | Ron Dennis |
| Engineering Director | Adrian Newey |
| Vice-President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport | Norbert Haug |
| Director of Operations for Mercedes-Benz Motorsport | Hans-Ulrich Maik |
| Director of Engines for Mercedes-Benz Motorsport | Mario Illien |
| Operations Manager | Martin Whitmarsh |
| Team Manager | Dave Ryan |
| Chief Engineer | Tim Goss |
| Chief Designer | Neil Oatley |
| Head of Aerodynamics | Henri Durand |
| Head of Vehicle Engineering | Mark Williams |
| Chief Race Engineer | Steve Hallam |
| Race Engineer to Mika Häkkinen | Dave Brown |
| Race Engineeer to David Coulthard | Pat Fry |
| Driver | Mika Häkkinen |
| Driver | David Coulthard |
Race Wins[]
| No. | Event | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1997 Australian Grand Prix |  David Coulthard
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| 2 | 1997 Italian Grand Prix | David Coulthard
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| 3 | 1997 European Grand Prix |  Mika Häkkinen
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Complete Formula One Results[]
| Complete Formula One results | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year | Driver | Tyre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pts. | Pos. |
| 1997 | 
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63 | 4th | ||
| Häkkinen
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G | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | Ret | 7th | Ret | Ret | Ret | 3rd | Ret | DSQ | 9th | Ret | Ret | 4th | 1st | |||
| Coulthard |
1st | 10th | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6th | 7th | 7th | 4th | Ret | Ret | Ret | 1st | 2nd | Ret | 10th | 2nd | ||||
Notes[]
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