THE LAST TIME MCLAREN WON THE CONSTRUCTORS! The Story of the MP4/13 (1998)

[@AidanMillward]

Before anyone tries a gotcha about the thumbnail, that is the 13 on slicks for a demo run at the 2018 Japanese GP. Also, you can download the MP4/13 for AC via the link in the description, but it's an incredibly old mod so the external sounds don't owrk after AC updated the sound stuff in teh 1.8 update (I think it was) and it also runs on an old physics engine. But other than that... It's why there was no flyby of the V10 sound.

[@F-Man]

You shoulda paid $997 for a thumbnail picture from 1998.

[@AidanMillward]

@@F-Man I was about to but they’d got three. And none of them fit.

[@F-Man]

@@AidanMillwardskill issue

[@alluvialedaempfer962]

Brutal season as a Schumacher fan. Finally had Williams out of the way and here comes mighty McLaren Mercedes more dominant than Williams in 96 and 97 out of the blue. Grew up in the Mercedes region so I knew many many people whose fathers worked at Mercedes and the hype was unreal. From 0 to 100. For those guys it marked the return of the "Silver Arrow"

[@Daniel-re7ee]

10:02 12:20

[@DN-ds1pk]

Felt exactly that way for me, too. Admittedly I only started watching in '97, so I didn't even know about Mika's crash in Adelaide and its aftermath. Plus, they all seemed so smug to me at the time, apart from me being German and therefore quite naturally being a Schumacher fan. I also didn't read motorsport press or had a relative introduce me to F1, so I hadn't heard about McLaren leaving everyone in the dust at the Barcelona test, for example, or Newey's "talents" and so on. So with McLaren being so unreliable in '97, their '98 success really came outta left field to me.

[@CyanRooper]

The West livery was the best McLaren livery and was a great contrast to the bright red and white Ferraris and blue and white Williams cars of the time. They just looked so deliciously evil.

[@chrisstephens6194]

I have to politely disagree sir. Just imagine it in Marlborough livery ❤

[@fix0the0spade]

The Darth Vader style pit crew helmets added to the effect too.

[@TuomioK]

I disagree as well. The Ferraris were the evil cars. West McLarens were just beautiful.

[@wattyler4624]

Mclaren should be red and white

[@marguskiis7711]

Orange is better.

[@robk181]

Don't underestimate the genius of Mario Ilien. Turned Indy upside down in 1994 with THAT engine built in secrecy

[@PanderingSlats]

Was he the one to suggest beryllium cylinder lining? I recall that from a previous storytime vid

[@richardpurves]

@@PanderingSlats Was the pistons, not the lining.

[@bumblebity2902]

berilium magic watch Aidan old videos about that.

[@SilentShark]

As a F1 fan of a similar age, I share your reverence for the MP4/13. The 98 season turned me into the McLaren fan I remain to this day.

[@JohnSmithShields]

98 was a golden year for liveries. The West McLaren, the red Ferrari, the Winfield Williams. And THAT Jordan.

[@jamiecloughgaming25387]

Not to mention the Stewart white and blue.

[@JohnSmithShields]

@jamiecloughgaming25387 yes, simple and classy.

[@ibex485]

The race pace of the MP4/13 at Melbourne in '98 was insane. I remember watching it live on TV. The FW14B in South Africa (with Mansell at least) & the FW18 in Melbourne had been in a class of their own, they only had to finish to win. But it was like the two McLarens were the only two cars on track, doing a demonstration run (which was prety much the case, with strict team orders). At the time Murray & Martin observed that the last time McLaren strategically launched the car late to allow more development time (at the risk of unreliability, with a lack of testing) had been in 1988 with the MP4/4. And we know how that season went... (Although Ferrari's Goodyear tyres certainly enhanced McLaren's advantage at the first couple of races.)

[@leonardobaracchi7040]

Wasnt MP4/4 the car of 1984 (lauda&Prost)?!?

[@ibex485]

@@leonardobaracchi7040 The MP4/2 was McLaren's car for 1984. Both the MP4/1 & MP4/2 were used for multiple seasons, 3 years each.

[@leonardobaracchi7040]

@@ibex485 ah ok Sorry. I Remember some did multiple yrs but i.was mistaking with the yrs!

[@ibex485]

@@leonardobaracchi7040 No worries at all. 🙂 Nothing wrong with querying things.

[@T.E.S.S.]

Hakkinen & Coulthard is one of my favourite team ups

[@aidansmith1354]

I could watch this era 1997-2007 of F1 videos all day. 👍🏻👌 brilliant!

[@robk181]

This was all down to Mclaren rejecting my job application back in 1997 😂

[@theF1oracle]

What role did you apply for ?

[@AidanMillward]

@@theF1oracle light bulb changer

[@mark4lev]

😅. I applied for a job in 2000 at the old factory. Interviewed by Neil Oatley. I can’t remember if I got the job offer.

[@12namleht]

I have overseen maintenance for large facilities such as corporate offices at AT&T... We used to go through 30 -40 bulbs of all kinds per day at the shop...Someone must replace the light bulbs in the shop... You can either pay someone less to do it or have a highly paid engineer stop working, to drag out a ladder & change the bulbs... in a large facility it is an ongoing job.

[@jkraljik]

If ANY part of that KERS story is true, from a technological perspective, that's one of the most amazing stories ever.

[@Luisml8]

What i like the most about your Videos is that u actually give credit to whos its belongs not only the aero designer.

[@Don-Royall]

Talk about the 99 season, by far one of the weirdest, the Ferrari gets accused of being illegal. Brawn comes out and deflects, Schumacher loses the championship

[@regen9918]

1999 is an utterly weird season. Starts as continuation of Hakkinen vs. Schumacher from 1998. Then Schumacher breaks his leg. Should be an easy walk to the title for Mika right? Next three races Hakkinen has a wheel fall off, gets punted out on the first lap by his own teammate then has a puncture, then to top that off bins it all on his own at Monza, and suddenly Irvine is leading the championship with Frentzen as an outsider in a Jordan(!!!). And that's before you even get onto the whole illegal barge board shenanigans at Malaysia.

[@ashmillermotorsport]

Melbourne 98 was the first GP I attended, at 10 years of age. The McLaren duo absolutely wiped the floor with everyone, and the sense of poignancy and occasion resonating around the venue felt like a huge moment in F1 history being forged in real time. When Schumachers engine blew on lap 5, the entire circuit knew McLaren werent going to be touched. Great memories.

[@CookRacingUK]

I remember that Australian and then the Brazilian GP thinking, wow, this season is gonna suck really bad. Is there any point in watching the rest, I feel like we're going to waste an entire year waiting for the inevitable. Oh boy was I wrong...! And that's where you break out the late great Murray Walker phrase: Anything can happen in Formula 1, and it usually does.

[@minibus9]

awesome video. the MP/13 was a great car, love the fact the 3rd brake pedal cost just £50

[@JSmith19858]

Having someone replace lightbulbs isn't as stupid as it sounds. An inspector once told me that one of the first things they look for when they walk in to a machinery space, is how many broken and blown lights are there. If it's all lit and clean then chances are you're going to pass an inspection and the ship won't be impounded

[@UncleJoeLITE]

Great, I can take a chill break with an AM video. Much appreciated. 🇦🇺

[@horsepower288]

After 10 seasons of "Bring back V10s", this is, for me at least, the first mention of the rumoured rudimentary KERS on the Mclarens. However, I haven't listened to their 1997 special race-by-race season review, so there may be knowledge gaps here and there. Thanks for the add-ins.

[@CDeuce152]

Newey pretty much made a no nonsense sleeper as getting McLaren return as a front runner during that time.

[@JohnSmithShields]

The Leyton House, and his Williams cars were also very clean looking too.

[@patrickparisienne1917]

There was considerable aero refinement on that 98 car. The top of the monocoque was loweeed, but used the small fins to meet legality. The bottom corners of the tub were chamfered to allow the vortices of the front wing an unobstructed path rearwards. Some teams shorted the cars to keep the length to track ratio similar to 97 cars, for more floor area, but as Mario Illan to me in Melbourne that year, McLaren kept the length an d longer wheelbase to have a more forward weight distribution. Finally they used a really neat torsion bar and roll bar system in the car, that was significantly lower in Cof G than other cars.

[@Lee-eeL86]

The Tamiya 1/20 model kit is so hard to get hold of, especially the Japanese GP version. 😭

[@chrisdavidson911]

Whenever i hear a team say they weren't aggressive enough with their aerodynamics, i can't help remembering these McLarens and thinking "don't you mean you got it wrong?"

[@samueljayachandran2849]

A silver McLaren has always had a place in my heart. I love when McLaren do one-off chrome/silver liveries nowadays. That West livery and even the Vodafone liveries made McLaren the Silver Arrows before the Silver Arrows

[@Gravengaard]

1998 was the year I got into F1 for real and Mclaren was my team for many years to come after that. And Häkkinen my driver. The MP4/13 was such a beautiful car. Had it as 1/18 model as well.

[@simonbyrne1182]

The 1998 Mclaren is my all time favourite F1 car 😍😍

[@martininidragracing7884]

Most beautiful F1 car ever

[@jonnyspa27]

I was privileged to have seen Mika and DC testing at Ricard in late February '98 before they went to Melbourne. I haven't had too many of those behind the scenes moments, but that's DEFINITELY a highlight for me as a fan!

[@reptongeek]

Interesting piece of trivia. McLaren's 98 title came 11 months before I started my current job. Yeah, I've been there a long time

[@MattGP01]

Very tidy design by Newey. Goes to show that complexity is not necessarily always the way to go. It's beauty was in the fact that its speed was hidden in plain sight. Add the West livery, and you've got a truly gorgeous car.

[@dandreani]

I remember the silver and black cars from GP2 and GP3 on the PC. i always choose Hakinnen (even though i didnt understand much about race) just because of it

[@ianwynne764]

Hello Aidan: Yes, I agree with you. The car does look amazing. Have a lovely day.

[@TKMRacer28]

This is one of the most beautiful F1 cars ever made in my opinion. Along with the Williams FW18

[@colinprewett4480]

Your intro music always has me waiting for the Frasier episode to start...

[@treszenrv9401]

I was appointed by the silverish /whitish McLaren livery. The papaya orange one used during testing was so much appealing for me.

[@wilforddsilva7250]

Some F1 car and driver combinations are dangerous for the opposition. This Mclaren & Hakkinen duo is one of the G.O.A.T

[@KyleP133]

The organge test livery makes this car look even cleaner. I think its cleanness and tidiness makes it look like a legitimate contender, it just didnt look revolutionary. It doesn't have any weird bobs and bits on it because it's before that era.

[@PanderingSlats]

Ya know something, that was an era of pretty decked out backmarker and mid-field teams: the Benson & Hedges look, the Winfield cigs look, the 555 vs Lucky Strike zipper livery, black and silver was unprecedented for that time.

[@PropBoyGinge]

I feel your pain on your SI joint. I twisted mine playing rugby in 2001. I still get grief occasionally.

[@AidanMillward]

@@PropBoyGinge it doesn’t help matters that my “job” involves me sitting down most of the day and that I forget I can go outside now I don’t live in that shitty flat anymore.

[@tobihaifisch7558]

5:02 Aidan, have you become Canadian recently? 'The car wasn't all-new, ay?!' 😅

[@stanny_polyglot]

Still one on my favourite cars. 1998 was my first full season and those 1.80m-wide cars looked just amazing. MP4-13 was obviously the best. Of course tyres helped. I've watched race reviews where Benetton, Stewart and Prost drivers yelled at Bridgestone for delivering tyres for McLaren. Something that Bridgestone did again later, but for Ferrari. "We just adapted our suspension for new type and they change it again". This is how Benetton has lost its 3rd place in the Constructors. Bridgestone made new tyres for Silverstone and since then Benetton wasn't able to match Williams and Jordan.

[@stanny_polyglot]

Also, Bridgestone had lesser tyre wear which allowed to stay longer on track before pits. This is how Mika won in Nürburgring and Wurz finished 4th in Argentina being nowhere before the stops. GoodYear was nowhere in terms of performance and tyre wear in the first races. So, for example, Alesi in Argentina made 2 stops and left stands before Villeneuve making 1 stop. Both ran on GoodYear.

[@brokentuskclan1795]

Late 90s was the Makinen-Hakkinen era

[@D3Vlicious]

I think the extra length of the car is understated. Newey had figured out that a longer car was more aerodynamically stable. Ferrari actually had to lengthen the wheelbase of the F300 to match them.

[@bonesdoes6142]

I think the car is elegant. That only really works because of its success though. I was curious about the grooves in the tires,thank you.

[@Understeerking]

I LOVE the Enkei RPF1 wheels.

[@Mind-your-own-beeswax]

Also loved the West livery but personally my favourite was the Vodafone livery.

[@alexshank1414]

Always loved the McLaren liveries from the 80’s(Marlboro)-early 2010’s(Vodafone). But man, that West livery made me think aesthetically if Darth Vader had a team, it would have been West McLaren.

[@tylergoke2524]

I don't know if you've looked into this or not but I think you should look into the start of the 1981 Belgian Grand Prix. It is absolutely Wild. I'm not going to spoil anything

[@LucasOliveira-tt2ll]

I remember when Mercedes was selling special editions of the A Class hatchback with the McLaren livery. Today are as rare as convertible testarossas

[@scottallpress3818]

It’s the Gearbox And Suspension Hiccups that always get me going about f1

[@ThinlaneT]

I did like the papaya test liveries of 97 and 98, like many other car test liveries that should made it to the GPs. Interesting followup on this video, how it went so terribly wrong in 1999? Interesting comparison on laptimes what the mp4/13 would have done ic to the mp4/14.

[@orionexplorer]

LOL!!! You said it was the livery of your childhood well to me McLaren will always be a florescent red and white. I was a teen in the 1970's and McLaren ALWAYS was in Marlboro colors. It's like Lotus, they will always be in the black and gold colors of John Player Special and McLaren will always be in Marlboro colors.

[@Juozapas001]

A useless fact: the mclaren's 26 year drought was as old as i was on this earth, kinda sad they broke it

[@mplsmike4023]

Great looking car, that’s what a late-90s F1 car should look like. But the West livery never really did much for me. Perhaps it just felt like 2nd place after the long time Marlboro branding.

[@FORZAPOTENZA]

With all the 1994 stuff you've posted, another season to think about doing a look at is 2009: Brawn Double diffuser Lie-gate I know you've already covered the split and parts of Toyota and BMW's departures.

[@AidanMillward]

@@FORZAPOTENZA already done liegate and double diffusers.

[@carlhague9102]

I'm pretty sure that Jordan were running, or planning to run, an energy recovery system. Similar to McLaren, they used it to power their electrical systems rather than drawing power from the engine.

[@brickspace9]

Hands down the best west mclaren mercedes, in a season where most cars looked like a narrower version of their 97 version with sometimes unusual liveries and too much inspiration from the special edition released a year prior to 98 (x-wings, on a Ferrari!)

[@AidanMillward]

@@brickspace9 the 1997 car always looked squashed.

[@cocacolaholic]

As good as the West livery looked, it wasnt as good as the marlboro look

[@GobiLux]

The red&white McLaren will always see THE McLaren for me even though I only started watching in '93

[@vinniecross1092]

Mp4/13 still one of the prettiest f1 cars ever

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

Must admit, the McLaren livery from then has always been my favourite of theirs. Closely followed by Lewis era there. Orange has never been my favourite colour, though it doesn't turn me against the team or anything stupid like that. I just prefer the grey/silver ones. I often wonder whether Mika would have won any championship had he not been gifted that first win. I'm not saying he wasn't talented enough, it was just luck. Or bad luck in his case. Each time he nearly won a race off his own back, something went wrong. Would that have continued? Who knows, eh?

[@ben6993]

McLaren really dropped the ball with Honda, they were blaming Honda for all the issues but McLaren weren’t designing the car in conjunction with Honda. As pointed out, they went with a different team and it didn’t take them long to start winning. I wonder what could’ve been had McLaren worked with Honda in a more effective way

[@danielhenderson8316]

Nothing. The problem was Ron Dennis and the people he hired, and it will always be the problem. The only way it could be better is for the same people in charge now at McLaren to be in charge back then.

[@mramaz1ngarry728]

When you said 'if you painted it white'. I just thought of the Stewart-Ford SF3 IN 99 which copied a lot from the MP4/13

[@GobiLux]

Weren't they a carbon copy of the Ferrari that year?

[@RubyRoks]

14:40 whoever wrote/speculated this overestimates the parasitic losses of those pumps. It probably would have only netted about 10 horsepower

[@nicobleker8391]

One COULD assume that the black/silver McLaren featuring touches of red was the European equivalent to a certain #3 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

[@tturi2]

call of duty independently started changing the meta by changing the stats in the guns, I'd say F1 has been doing that since forever because of safety and technology

[@calumclark1719]

i will always have a soft spot for that car as i have the whole schematics of it which Mclaren and a letter from Ron Dennis set to me with autographs from Couthard and Hakkinen sent to me for a F1 project i was doing in primary school they did far more that they had to and i was miles away in scotland they could have fobbed me off as a 9 year old but didn't

[@IIGrayfoxII]

Could the grooved slicks be partially used in the wet?

[@AidanMillward]

@@IIGrayfoxII Glock says no. 🤣

[@areasquirrel]

* "...with Ferrari starting to come back from Argentina onwards as they and Goodyear brought upgrades and updates to the tyres." Or Ferrari International Assistance, depending on your point of view. 😏 * The only other name I heard at the time was Ilien, and it was Alien - geddit? - since 11-12 year old me wouldn't have heard of Ilmor (Who? I thought this team was Mercedes?) and even in the days of buying F1 Racing Magazine, I still never really knew who they were or why they were important. I suppose it's like a more recent viewer wondering why German Mercedes are based in Brackley or why Austrian Red Bull are in Milton Keynes. (Jokes asking why *anyone* is in Milton Keynes in 3, 2, 1...) When each department wants to get the credit for success, you're gonna hear all the big guns' names. * There's a multi-second gap between rules sets in Formula E at present, with the addition of 4 wheel drive and maybe, possibly, finally, fingers and toes crossed charging pitstops combined with a hike in energy meaning that Gen3.5 is after only one race seconds faster than Gen3. Monaco this year is going to be terrifying. Watch the tunnel from behind your fingers. * And they say we're crybabies... Stick with the old way just 'cause you're used to it; yep, they've turned into their lazy old dads. It's one of those things where your initial perspective is always the right way, and all that came before and since is wronger than a very wrong bag of wrong things that are wrong. Right? Familiarity breeds contempt, and all that. Case in point, this was my first season (first 'full' season in '99) - so grooves, narrow track and 'pillars' between the nose cone and the front wing looks very correct, and slicks, wide track and wing and nose all in one is hideous. The car is so smooth, so 'clean', it colours my view. Newey shows the way - nothing should 'try' or 'stand out', that's not going to win you championships. While I mentioned in another video that for me, since road cars tyres have grooves, so too should race cars. F1/2/3/Academy's doing it 'wrong', FE's doing it 'right', something like that. Perspective. * Then there's those parallels you mentioned previously. Engine trouble for the Ferrari. Last to First Challenge for the 'lead' Ferrari. 'Lead' McLaren dominates to end a title drought. No wonder McLaren won '24. * My Mika, My Mc- no wait, I've said that eleventy dozen times before. Doesn't change the fact that it is now iconic, it's old enough for that word. Beautiful car, gorgeous livery, awesome drivers. I picked a good year - small 'g' - to start.

[@ibex485]

Almost right about Ron's driveway. The story which went around was that Ron Denis had the gravel on his driveway taken away and washed regularly. (And there may have been some truth to it - iirc Martin Brundle said it was true.)

[@tomasjones3755]

Mark Priestly (F1 Elvis) is a former McLaren crew member. He says that story is true; as well

[@xennabrittain-baker9141]

Q Was it mika who brought down the pit garage in that car? I'm farley remember 98/99 that the roof came in as the car was attached to some lines

[@purvins81]

Of all of McLaren's liveries, for me No.1 is 1993, N0. 2 is 1998

[@dazzlernator]

3:15 To be a pedant, the engine name should be pronounced to the effect of "F-O ONE TEN E" rather than "F-O ELEVEN ZERO E". I remember a article on F1's greatest engines in _F1 Racing_ c. 2001/2002 mentioning the Mercedes FO110 series. In its nomenclature. FO = Formula One, 1 = Ilmor/Mercedes series design, 10 = 10 cylinder configuration and the latter letter represented the evolution of the initial design of the engine.

[@razvanmazilu6284]

One of the best looking F1 cars ever.

[@GlenDevan1970]

Definitely!!

[@Ketis1985]

Silver arrow👍

[@yorygibson-rc1lw]

The McLean in 2000 was amazing car so fast but it nearly always broke down every race

[@tristanwhite3472]

98 McLaren was a great Car.

[@henkormel5610]

If not for the spy gate penalty McLaren won the 2007 constructors. But officially 1998 was the last time.

[@Holanduzo]

Can somebody confirm 98 tires had the same width than 97 tires? yes, I know they added grooves, but to me they look like wider than 97 tires...

[@AidanMillward]

@@Holanduzo not sure. All I could find is that they could be no wider than 14in at the front and 15in at the rear, and the maximum diameter was 26in for wets in 1998.

[@theF1oracle]

Actual paint jobs on cars back then ! They really did look so beautiful

[@thekauders567]

wish Mclaren could go back to Sliver and Black

[@jacekatalakis8316]

Silver and black can't ever make a bad livery. Even if the 98 McLarenJunior F3000 team had nowhere near the success level,the West livery on an F3000 car somehow was better than the F1 livery Change my mind

[@LordMidichlorian]

That livery was truly beautiful.

[@tristanwhite3472]

Schumacher did a great job in 98.

[@spowell2665]

do you get paid (and by whom) when you are on gardening leave?

[@tristanwhite3472]

Thoose Honda Engine years with McLaren was a Disaster!

[@I_Punch_Demons]

Wasn't this the infamous "Second brake" or "Fiddle Brake" car? I know there is a video on the brake thing, but weird it didn't get mentioned.

[@MRacer001]

1997 I believe

[@AidanMillward]

1997 was the fiddle brake car seeing as they banned it after two rounds of 98.

[@fix0the0spade]

Yes the 1998 car was, but it was taken off the car after two races. In the overall championship it turned out to be not that important. It was also the year of the X-wings, which also got banned.

[@sepporu]

I fucking love Aidan

[@lacosanostra20]

As an american I thank you for using feet and inches

[@AidanMillward]

@@lacosanostra20 wasn’t doing it for the Americans I was doing it for the British

[@JohnSmithShields]

George Washingtin's dreams on SNL are a worthy waste of a few minutes. Thank me later.

[@lacosanostra20]

@AidanMillward ok rude response but ok

[@lacosanostra20]

@AidanMillward I still appreciate that. You're doing it in metric and standard. And I enjoy your videos

[@AlexNicol-d2t]

First

[@YunoYudu97]

Cookie for you

[@F-Man]

Yeah, but 1998 is still the last championship for *real* McLaren.

[@JohnSmithShields]

The real McLaren?

[@hoedenbesteller]

Let’s not forget that Honda was forced by McLaren to make their engine fit in the car (resulting into the poor performance and reliability issues) Stupid management by McLaren

[@Pedro285]

Loved the innovative engineering back then. Anything novel these days is categorised as cheating ..

[@Vislow]

The last time was 2024

[@Aubergineman18]

Ah, yes, the Mclaren mp4/13 I love this car it looks and sounds good

[@cosmostrek2001]

until zac took over mclaren was williams 2.0 , no wins in years no drivers champ since hamilton and no constructors.

[@YunoYudu97]

WTF are these X bots doing lately....???

[@nolancain8792]

Adding two other X’s to their name.

[@matzemunz2827]

Getting deleted by me

[@AidanMillward]

@@YunoYudu97 trying to get into my pants I think.

[@paulwortman483]

Why is David Coulthard sooo good looking??? My God man. Leave some for the rest of us!!!!

[@Eagleracer38x]

lol. Maybe Goodyear should learned how to make a good tire, not whine about the groves, because Goodyear tires are garbage...

[@danielhenderson8316]

All while the same time Goodyear was getting destroyed by Firestone in CART. Goodyear was almost singlehandedly responsible for Team Penske being the worst team in CART because he had a contract he couldn't break saying if Goodyear was in the series, he had to run Goodyear.

[@tomba33]

1998 spa was couthard being stupid or tolt to be stupid

[@AidanMillward]

Schumacher didn’t help himself by pulling back in to the spray.

[@tristanwhite3472]

Terrible engine.