Emerson Fittipaldi in the McLaren M23 at the 1974 British Grand Prix. | |
McLaren M23 | |
---|---|
Race Car | |
Category | Formula One |
Constructor | McLaren Racing |
Designer | Gordon Coppuck |
Predecessor | M19C |
Successor | M26 |
Chassis | Aluminium monocoque. |
Suspension (front) | Double wishbone, with inboard coilover shock absorbers. |
Suspension (rear) | Double wishbone. |
Engine | Ford-Cosworth DFV 2993 cc (183 cu.in.) 90° V8, naturally aspirated, mid-mounted. |
Electric_motor | {{{Electric motor}}} |
Battery | {{{Battery}}} |
Power | {{{Power}}} |
Transmission | Hewland FG400 5/6-speed manual gearbox. |
Weight | 575 kg (1,268 lb) |
Fuel | |
Brakes | {{{Brakes}}} |
Tyres | |
Notable entrants | Yardley Team McLaren Marlboro Team Texaco Marlboro Team McLaren |
Notable drivers | Denny Hulme Peter Revson Jochen Mass Mike Hailwood Emerson Fittipaldi James Hunt |
Debut | 1973 South African Grand Prix |
Races competed | 83 |
Race victories | 16 |
Podiums | {{{Podiums}}} |
Constructors' Championships | {{{Constructor's Championships}}} |
Drivers' Championships | {{{Driver's Championships}}} |
Pole positions | 14 |
Fastest laps | 10 |
The McLaren M23 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Coppuck, with input from John Barnard, and built by the McLaren team. It was a development of the McLaren M16 Indianapolis 500 car. A Ford Cosworth DFV engine was used, which was prepared by specialist tuning company Nicholson Engines. This helped push the DFV's horsepower output to around 490 bhp.
It was introduced for the 1973 season, and scored pole position with Denny Hulme on its very first outing. Hulme and Peter Revson took three wins between them that season, while rookie Jody Scheckter nearly added a fourth. Scheckter was responsible for one of the biggest accidents Formula One has ever seen, at the 1973 British Grand Prix, when he spun his M23 in front of the pack. Emerson Fittipaldi joined McLaren from Lotus in 1974. His knowledge of the Lotus 72 helped McLaren develop the M23 and that season Fittipaldi gave McLaren its first drivers' and constructors' world championships, beating Ferrari, Tyrrell and Lotus.
Further development in 1975 – including a 6-speed gearbox, a novelty for the time – helped Fittipaldi and McLaren to second in both championships behind Niki Lauda, who had the benefit of Ferrari's 312T chassis. The team experimented with different bodywork styles, including aerodynamic kickups in front of the rear wheels, different nose profiles and extended bodywork in front of the rear wheels, housing the oil coolers. Most of these changes were adopted for the M23 and its successor, the McLaren M26. At the end of 1975 Fittipaldi left the team to join his brother's Copersucar-sponsored Fittipaldi Automotive team. He was replaced by James Hunt, who went on to win a dramatic and controversial 1976 season with the final evolution M23.
When the replacement McLaren M26 proved troublesome, Hunt and Jochen Mass relied on the M23 in the early part of the 1977 season, and even though the car was now four years old it was still competitive.
The M23 was never the most technically advanced F1 car, but sound preparation and continual development helped it win 16 Grands Prix, two drivers' and one constructors' world championships in its lifetime.
The M23 was also modified for use in Formula 5000 racing.
Complete Formula One World Championship results[]
Works team entries[]
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1973 | M23 | Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 |
G | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | BEL | MON | SWE | FRA | GBR | NED | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA | 58* | 3rd | |||
Denny Hulme | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 3 | Ret | 12 | 8 | 15 | 13 | 4 | ||||||||||
Peter Revson | 4 | Ret | 5 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 9 | Ret | 3 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||||
Jody Scheckter | Ret | DNS | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||||||||||
Jacky Ickx | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
1974 | M23B | Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 |
G | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | BEL | MON | SWE | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA | 73 (75) | 1st | |||
Emerson Fittipaldi | 10 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | Ret | 2 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
Denny Hulme | 1 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 6 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | 7 | Ret | 2 | 6 | 6 | Ret | ||||||||
Mike Hailwood | 4 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 4 | 7 | Ret | 15 | ||||||||||||
David Hobbs | 7 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Jochen Mass | 16 | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1975 | M23C | Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 |
G | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | USA | 53 | 3rd | ||||
Emerson Fittipaldi | 1 | 2 | Ret | DNS | 2 | 7 | 8 | Ret | 4 | 1 | Ret | 9 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
Jochen Mass | 14 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 6 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 3 | 7 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 3 | |||||||||
1976 | M23D | Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 |
G | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | BEL | MON | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | JPN | 74 (75) | 2nd | ||
James Hunt | Ret | 2 | Ret | 1 | Ret | Ret | 5 | 1 | DSQ | 1 | 4 | 1 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||
Jochen Mass | 6 | 3 | 5 | Ret | 6 | 5 | 11 | 15 | Ret | 3 | 7 | Ret | 5 | 4 | Ret | ||||||||
1977 | M23E | Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 |
G | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | JPN | 60* | 3rd | |
James Hunt | Ret | 2 | 4 | 7 | Ret | ||||||||||||||||||
Jochen Mass | Ret | Ret | 5 | Ret | 4 | 4 | Ret | 2 | 9 | ||||||||||||||
Gilles Villeneuve | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Bruno Giacomelli | Ret |
* 12 points in 1973 scored using the M19A and M19C
* 39 points in 1977 scored using the M26
Non-works entries[]
(key)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1974 | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | BEL | MON | SWE | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA | |||||||
Scribante Lucky Strike Racing | M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | G | Dave Charlton | 19 | |||||||||||||||||
1975 | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | USA | ||||||||
Lucky Strike Racing | M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | G | Dave Charlton | 14 | |||||||||||||||||
1977 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | JPN | |||||
Iberia Airlines | M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | G | Emilio de Villota | 13 | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 17 | DNQ | |||||||||||
Chesterfield Racing | M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | G | Brett Lunger | DNS | 11 | DNQ | 13 | Ret | 10 | 9 | Ret | 10 | 11 | ||||||||
1978 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | MON | BEL | ESP | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | ||||||
Liggett Group/ B&S Fabrications |
M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | G | Brett Lunger | 13 | Ret | 11 | DNQ | ||||||||||||||
Nelson Piquet | Ret | Ret | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||
Centro Aseguredor F1 | M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | G | Emilio de Villota | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||
Melchester Racing | M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | G | Tony Trimmer | DNQ |
References[]
- F1 Racing magazine, January 2001
- Motorsport magazine, August 2002
External links[]
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This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at McLaren M23. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |