Category Formula One Predecessor MP4-22 | Constructor McLaren Successor MP4-24 | |
 | ||
Designer(s) Paddy Lowe
(Engineering Director)
Neil Oatley
(Design and Development Director)
Tim Goss (Chief Engineer)
Doug McKiernan
(Chief Aerodynamicist) Chassis Moulded carbon fibre/aluminium honeycomb composite incorporating front and side impact structures | ||
The McLaren MP4-23 was Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes' Formula One car for the 2008 Formula One season. It was revealed at Mercedes-Benz's motor sport museum in Stuttgart on 7 January 2008, and it had its first on-track appearance at Jerez in Spain on 9 January. The car won the 2008 World Drivers' Championship in the hands of Lewis Hamilton, but finished 2nd in the Constructors' Championship which was won by Ferrari. The car, along with its rivals during the season marked the end of an era of complex aerodynamic appendages on the bodywork, which would be banned for the 2009 season.
Contents
Development
Following the 2007 Formula One espionage controversy the MP4-23 was subject to FIA inspection before the start of the 2008 season, to determine if any Ferrari intellectual property was on the car. After an admission that the Ferrari information was disseminated more widely throughout the team than was originally thought an apology by McLaren on 13 December 2007, and a pledge that measures would be taken to rectify the situation, caused the FIA to decide that there was no need for a formal hearing and the matter was considered closed.
Revisions from the MP4-22 included a longer wheelbase, the removal of the "bullhorn" winglets from the airbox and a new rear wing which differed both in main profile and its endplates. In the pre-German Grand Prix testing, the car was run with a "shark fin" engine cover, as sported by cars such as the Renault R28 and the Red Bull RB4, but the team did not permanently run it.
At the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, some new aerodynamic parts were added, including "dumbo wings" on the nose, similar to those used by Honda on the RA108, which were temporarily removed at the Italian Grand Prix but reinstated for the rest of the season.
The MP4-23 was succeeded by the MP4-24.
Complete Formula One results
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)