Which car wins the battle of McLaren’s F1 legends?

The MP4/4 is the greatest Formula 1 McLaren, right? It’s a fan favourite, there have been arguments over its design origins and – famously – it won 15 out of 16 races in the hands of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in 1988. It’s undoubtedly one of the finest machines to have graced the championship, but there is another car that can make a case to be the top McLaren.

The MP4/2 won more titles and more races – and managed to remain successful for three seasons despite rule tweaks and a change of tyre supplier.

The stories of both cars are well known, but a brief reminder seems appropriate. John Barnard brought the carbon-fibre monocoque to F1 with his Cosworth DFV-engined MP4/1. The car was a success, winning six times over three seasons and re-establishing the team, now run by former Project Four boss Ron Dennis, as a frontrunner following the fallow final years of the Teddy Mayer era.

But Dennis knew he needed turbo power and the TAG-funded, Porsche-designed-and-built TTE PO1 was the result. Combined with Barnard’s clean ‘Coke bottle’ aero and Michelin rubber developed in conjunction with McLaren, the 1.5-litre V6 turbo helped make the MP4/2 the car to beat in 1984.

Though other teams could turn up the boost in qualifying, the MP4/2’s efficiency in a fuel-limited formula meant 12 wins from 16 races. Prost was the faster McLaren driver, but bad luck for the Frenchman and guile from Niki Lauda meant the title went to the Austrian by half a point.

McLaren’s superior reliability and Prost’s racecraft meant another title double in 1985, despite a switch to Goodyear tyres, reduced downforce due to late rule changes, and increased pace from rivals.

Lauda’s nous edged Prost’s superior pace for the 1984 drivers’ title

Photo by: Ercole Colombo / Studio Colombo / Getty Images

Williams-Honda was the fastest combination of 1986 but a mixture of Prost brilliance and the intra-team rivalry between Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet meant the MP4/2C scooped another title. Its final tally was three drivers’ crowns (for two drivers), two constructors’ championships and 22 grand prix wins.

There were some tweaks, largely around the suspension and making the car work with a fuel allocation reduced from 220 to 195 litres, but the 1986 car was recognisably the same design that had appeared in 1984. 

By 1987 the Porsche turbo was showing its age and McLaren got hold of Honda power – as well as Lotus star Senna – for 1988. Against expectations, given it was the final year of turbos being allowed in F1 (until 2014), Honda developed the all-new RA168E, which was more powerful than its normally aspirated rivals and more efficient than the other turbos.

“It was, ‘Oh my God, look at this machine’. It was quick straight out of the box and we immediately had to back things off to not show our hand” Indy Lall

McLaren did a far better job with the Honda than Lotus and, with Mansell hamstrung by unreliable Judd engines at Williams, it perhaps wasn’t a surprise that Prost and Senna had things all their own way.

Indy Lall, who worked on both cars and is now McLaren Heritage manager, remembers the team realising early on that it had something special. Having spent 12 days with the Honda-powered MP4/3B test mule in Rio with Jo Ramirez, Prost and Senna, they headed straight from there to the pre-season Imola test and the 4/4 – the work of a team led by Gordon Murray and Steve Nichols – arrived for the final day.

“It was, ‘Oh my God, look at this machine’,” recalls Lall. “It was quick straight out of the box and we immediately had to back things off to not show our hand.”

A switch of tyre supplier and late aero peg-back couldn’t stop Prost in 1985

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The view from the team

So, which is the greatest McLaren? As with all these things, it depends who you ask. Perhaps predictably, McLaren’s current chief operating officer Piers Thynne sits on the fence. “It’s clear they were designed by a different person, but there’s commonality,” he says.

“The car packaging on MP4/4 shows the focus stepped up another level, which shows in its dominance. The reliance on aero is more apparent on the MP4/4. I enjoy the stories that both designs tell, so they both go on the podium.”

Lall, who was number one mechanic on Prost’s car in 1984 and 1985, says “as a pure racer, winning the title with Alain means a lot”, but he stops short of picking the MP4/2.

Tim Wright race engineered Prost to those 1985 and 1986 titles and does make a decision: “The MP4/2 because of its longevity. Once we got the bugs ironed out it was nice to work on and had a wider set-up window. The MP4/2 was more flexible.”

The view from the cockpit

McLaren Heritage driver Rob Garofall is one of the few to have put both cars through their paces. In fact, he’s probably driven more models of McLaren than anyone else – around 80. 

These two cars are quite different to drive, even though they produce surprisingly similar lap times, partly due to the popoff valves that limited the power on later turbo F1 cars.

Just looking at the duo, you can tell the MP4/4 is much more refined than the earlier car. It also has a six-speed gearbox, whereas the MP4/2B’s five-speeder is more reminiscent of the 1970s, and then you get to the engines…

“The power delivery in the MP4/4 is much more linear,” says Garofall when comparing the 680bhp MP4/4 to the earlier car’s 800-850bhp. “The MP4/2 delivers in a big rush. You can see how much the technology was moving. The whole driving experience of the MP4/4 is easier. The seating position is very different and the chassis is a lot tighter. The cockpit is tight but it’s much easier to drive.”

As to which one he prefers… “It’s an age thing. For me it was the Senna, Prost and Mansell era, so that’s the MP4/4. I remember the MP4/4 better and, if you said to any of my kids ‘draw a racing car’, the MP4/4 is slicker. The MP4/2 is a little bulky but it was the start of the dominant McLarens of the era.”

The MP4/2C soldiered on for 1986 to deliver Prost’s second world championship crown

Photo by: LAT Images via Getty Images

The Autosport verdict

When assessing the greatest cars, we also like to consider how much a particular design moved the game on. Did it change racing cars forever; what was its legacy? That’s what helped the Lotus 72 scoop our Greatest Competition Car accolade in 2020. And the MP4/2 has to beat the MP4/4 in this particular game.

As well as the ‘Coke bottle’ bodywork that tidied up rear airflow and was widely adopted, the MP4/2’s Bosch Motronic engine management system was pioneering when it came to electronics. “The breakthrough with Bosch was a big thing,” confirms Lall.

The MP4/4’s engine was, of course, the end of a line. And while the lowline chassis concept worked well, the Adrian Newey-designed March 881 was the season’s best pointer to the future of F1 aero.

The MP4/2’s importance to McLaren should not be overlooked either. It was the first Dennis-era car to win a title, starting a run of success that set McLaren as the team to beat and delivered seven drivers’ and six constructors’ titles in eight years. The MP4/4 was the peak of that, but it arguably also coincided with a rut for its rivals.

With Prost and Senna on the books and cars run by the best team in the business, McLaren probably could have won in 1988 even without a car as brilliant as the MP4/4

The MP4/2 had to contend with the growing threat of Williams-Honda and a revitalised Lotus, while Brabham and Ferrari also started its era strongly before fading.

In 1988, Williams had to take customer engines and hadn’t yet joined forces with Renault, Benetton was still some years away from becoming a true powerhouse, Ferrari was in one of its many periods of recovery, and Lotus was beginning its terminal decline. McLaren also had to compete against Senna rather than with him. 

With Prost and Senna on the books and cars run by the best team in the business, McLaren probably could have won in 1988 even without a car as brilliant as the MP4/4.

The romantic vote will always go to the MP4/4. Its sheer dominance, role in the Senna-Prost story, and the fact that it delivered the great Brazilian his first F1 crown will always give it a certain mystical quality. It’s also clearly the better car, the more-rounded package, which is what you’d expect from a later design. 

Brilliance of the MP4/4 ensured Senna-Prost duopoly in 1988

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But stepping back and being more objective gives a different result. The MP4/2 was more significant in F1 design, won more titles over a longer period against better opposition, and was also involved in a greater variety of storylines – from dominance in 1984 to one of the great F1 title steals in 1986.

The MP4/4 represents McLaren getting close to perfection, but it was the MP4/2 that laid the foundations for it to do so. The MP4/2 is the greatest McLaren F1 car.

5-2 – MP4/2 titles vs MP4/4 titles

The MP4/2’s better tallies of wins and titles were, of course, scored across three seasons. Longevity could be seen as a plus or a minus – is it better to remain competitive for longer or to have greater domination for a short period?

Going by strike rates, it’s no contest, with the MP4/4 winning 94% of its races compared to 45.8% for the MP4/2. On pure pace, the older machine never had the sort of advantage enjoyed by the MP4/4, taking ‘only’ seven poles compared to the MP4/4’s 15. The fastest lap percentages are 33% versus 63%.

When it comes to reliability, the MP4/4 was truly outstanding in an era with far greater rates of serious car problems. Prost’s engine failure at the 1988 Italian GP was the MP4/4’s only car-induced retirement from 32 starts, whereas Lauda finished just three races in 1985!

McLaren MP4/2

The MP4/2 delivers its power in a rush, reports McLaren Heritage driver Garofall

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Years 1984-86
Races 48
Wins 22
1-2s 6
Poles 7
Fastest laps 7
Points 329.5 (9-6-4-3-2-1 scoring system)
Drivers’ titles 3 (Niki Lauda 1984, Alain Prost 1985-86)
Constructors’ titles 2 (1984-85)

McLaren MP4/4

The more refined and “slicker” MP4/4, reports Garofall, is much easier to drive

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Year 1988
Races 16
Wins 15
1-2s 10
Poles 15
Fastest laps 10
Points 199 (9-6-4-3-2-1 scoring system)
Drivers’ titles 1 (Ayrton Senna, 1988)
Constructors’ titles 1 (1988)

The other great contender

ʻBest McLaren’ candidate the M23 carried Fittipaldi to his second crown in 1974

Photo by: Rainer Schlegelmilch / Getty Images

The first car to bring a Formula 1 world title to the team has to be included in any discussions about McLaren’s finest racer. That the M23 scored two drivers’ crowns and a constructors’ title, as well as 16 world championship grand prix wins, adds to its status as one of the great designs.

The work of Gordon Coppuck, who followed the wedge-shaped lead of Colin Chapman’s Lotus 72, the Cosworth DFV-powered M23 arrived in 1973. Denny Hulme took pole on its debut – that was the 1967 world champion’s only pole, which tells you all you need to know about the M23’s pace.

With no disrespect to Hulme and team-mate Peter Revson – who between them racked up three wins that season – the car probably would have been a championship contender in the hands of a topliner.

That was proved when Emerson Fittipaldi defected from Lotus for 1974. Fittipaldi took three wins and, with a little help from bad luck for Niki Lauda, pipped Ferrari’s Clay Regazzoni to the crown. Solo winner Hulme was seventh, but McLaren still just beat Ferrari to take its first constructors’ success.

The M23 was so good that McLaren found it hard to replace, with some members of the team not seeing the benefit of the M26

Lauda’s Ferrari was unstoppable in 1975, but Fittipaldi was the closest challenger and finished second in the championship before making the shock move to his brother’s team for 1976.

Developments and upgrades kept the M23 in play and a combination of factors brought the car its second drivers’ title. The first was Fittipaldi’s replacement, James Hunt, arguably the car’s fastest driver. The second was Lauda’s horrific crash at the German GP and subsequent convalescence, which brought Hunt into title contention before he famously took the crown in the wet Fuji finale.

The M23 was so good that McLaren found it hard to replace, with some members of the team not seeing the benefit of the M26. Before the newer car got into its stride, Hunt took the M23 to three straight poles at the start of 1977, four years after its debut.

The MP4/5, which scored title doubles in 1989 and 1990, and this year’s MCL39 get honourable mentions in this debate, but the MP4/2, M23 and MP4/4 are surely McLaren’s three greatest F1 cars.

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the December 2025 issue and subscribe today. 

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