The McLaren MP4/3 was a Formula One car designed by McLaren for the 1987 Formula One Season. It was driven by Alain Prost and Stefan Johansson.
The car's design was vastly different from the predecessor McLaren MP4/2C used in the previous year. It was a lower design with a new sleeker shape due to the addition of side-ducted radiators. However, the suspension setup was largely unchanged.
To many, the new design was reminiscent of the Brabham BT55 from 1986. For 1987, Brabham's long time car designer Gordon Murray joined McLaren as Technical Director, bringing the BT55 drawings with him. While it's disputed by team manager Jo Ramírez and engineering director Steve Nichols, Murray claims that both the MP4/3 and subsequent MP4/4 used the BT55 plans as a starting point.
Although the car was considered to be powerful and very fuel efficient, the team was out-performed by the Williams team over the course of the season with their Honda.
During the season, the team produced a B-spec MP4/3B to use solely as a test car for the Honda engine the team used in the 1988 Formula One Season. This meant the MP4/3 was the final McLaren car to use the TAG-Porsche engine.
Race Victories[]
Year | Event | Driver | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Alain Prost | |
Belgian Grand Prix | Alain Prost | Fastest lap | |
Portuguese Grand Prix | Alain Prost |
Complete Formula One Results[]
Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Car | Tyre | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |
1987 | |||||||||||||||||||
MP4/3 | G | Prost | 1st | Ret | 1st | 9th | 3rd | 3rd | Ret | 7th | 3rd | 6th | 15th | 1st | 2nd | Ret | 7th | Ret | |
Johansson | 3rd | 4th | 2nd | Ret | 7th | 8th | Ret | 2nd | Ret | 7th | 6th | 5th | 3rd | Ret | 3rd | Ret |
Key | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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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