THE MCLAMBO TEST! The Story of the McLaren-Lamborghini Engine Test (1993)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- For 1993, Honda and McLaren ended their successful partnership, leaving McLaren with underpowered customer Ford Engines for 1993, and a star driver looking for more world championship titles to achieve racing immortality and to match the bar set by Fangio.
But while the MP4/8 was a good car to drive, the engine was about 80hp down on the Renaults in the back of the Williams cars, and when the Williams came on strong mid season, Senna was left wanting. Specifically, wanting a Williams.
So enter Chrysler, who wanted to help them out, but Ron Dennis had some other ideas...
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God knows what I've had a reaction to, but I'm redder than Mike Caughlan when he found out that bloke at the copy shop was a raging Ferrari fan...
I hope you feel better soon but also thanks for doing this story again! I live doing the what if team engine combos in the motorsport manager game if you did something like this again could you maybe do the whole thing regarding Toyota suppiling engines to Jordan/Midland or just that whole period for the team from Jordan selling the team to 2009 when the team became good ish again
To be flippant without being insensitive and without wishing to speak for everyone- I think we're all here for the great content. Personally I don't notice your complexion even after you mention it. And to be totally honest you could have a complexion like a pepperoni pizza and it wouldn't make a difference. The content is great and that's why I come. 👍
@@Ricky_Baldy yeah, but if I can make a joke about it before someone with no content and no subscribers comes along to roast me on it, I win 🤣
To this day I still can't comprehend the breath taking stupidity of Coughlan('s wife) taking a confidential 700+ page Ferrari document to a public photocopying shop.
I looks like: "Aidan...was pissed"
On a serious note: Hope all is good :D
Your next storytime should about how Ron Dennis is Ron Dennis' worst enemy.
So true
Lost senna , lost Adrian Newey
@@User-dd2xvLost Mercedes too
Ron Dennis is a god
@@project182r3You clearly forgot Spygate and Honda part 2
People say that Prost called the 1991 Ferrari a truck but according to Alesi what Prost said was that in order to steer the Ferrari you needed a trucker's arms
I'd imagine if this Lambo engine was competitive, Senna might have stayed at McLaren.
And probably would still be alive…
Yes one of those "what ifs" stories that has seismic ramifications 🙏😑
Had they got that Lambo engine it may have convinced Senna to stay and may be changed the course of Formula One history if not the whole world... but, the Lord has other ideas...
Not actually true. Senna had already signed with Williams by the time McLaren started testing the Lamborghini V12. Even if Ron Dennis had decided to go with Chryster/Lamborghini instead of Peugeot in 1994, Senna would still have gone to Williams.
@@Holden308 true. Senna was't stupid, he knew McLaren problems was not the engine alone, also an aero side they had big problems that led to fire Henri Durand. in fast corners the Mp4/8 simply had not the downforce of a Benetton B193. McLaren had that sort of problems for year, only that in Honda era this was covered simply by giving more rear wing because the engnine was fantastic. So Senna needed that Williams. Williams had all he wanted, the only problem was the regulation imposed a passive car for 1994.
i was trackside at the Australian gp listening to these Lamborghini engines...... they are still one of the loudest engines ive ever heard, right up there with the ferrari, honda V12's, and the renault v10.
I agree those sounds were awesome I know there was a onboard from Paul Richard of Eric Bernard driving one probably the Larousse
Can vouch, was there too!
Were they louder than the last couple of v10s?
one of the underrated "what-if"-scenarios from the 1990s. Good to see that finally someone tackles the subject.
It's a shame Senna wasn't in McLaren in 1994 for obvious reasons.
I think that rather than Dennis being worried about Chrysler's commitment he already had wind that Lamborghini would be sold to Mycom Setdco who were not in a position to support an F1 engine program. Something that Larrousse knew which is why he was pursuing Peugeot (only to be beaten to that deal by McLaren and having to use the Ford customer units for 1994.)
Interestingly in 1998 it was mooted that the Ilmore badged engines switch from Mercedes to Chrysler branding when Daimler-Chrysler formed, however Mika winning the title was such a boost for Mercedes that never happened.
There was the chance that Lamborghini (road car production) could be sold and that the F1 racing division stay with Chrysler and continue to be developed.
@@weofnjieofing Yes, although as I said Larrousse who was already using the Lamb engine wasn't convinced that it would continue and so was looking elsewhere with three years left on the contract.
Two of the top men from 1970s Ferrari were involved in this project. Mauro Forghieri and Daniele Audetto.
Here on TH-cam, you can see an episode of the BBC Two programme , Mclaren: A year with the team, where it features the Lamborghini engine test and over at Jodi Kidd channel, she did a tour with Zak Brown and it showed the white Mclaren in storage.
That series is TV gold!
Episode 6 - The Rules Of The Game
Mika testing it th-cam.com/video/_zAeX-SittI/w-d-xo.html
So the Story goes.
Aryton; Ron the cars not that good
Ron Dennis; But you won three races in it.
Aryton; Ron, I won those races not the car
The relationship there had fractured by then
You saw the sheer driving commitment when he went to Williams and put it on Pole every race
For instance, Prost actually said the Ferrari, for some damage in the steering or suspension compartment, handled like a lorry, understandably... Wasn't sacked because of this outing
Prima la scuderia, secondo i piloti.
McLaren has a way of sabotaging itself. Funny how Torro Rosso became competitive with Honda the moment it Honda left McLaren.
Just like Ferrari no? (And Williams)
I didn’t know I could like Ron Dennis less. But Damn, this right here. Had the lambo deal gone threw. We might just still have him here with us today….
You'll always find a way to like Ron Dennis less. Just think, if you've had a bad day, it's Ron Dennis' fault!
@@heliumtrophy That would be a “sub-optimal day, deviating from normal operating parameters” in Ron-speak.
@@BungleBare Revised optimal parameters are not in Ron's vernacular.
I met Ron at a sponsors event in Montreal. He just radiated smug condescension. Hakkinen on the other hand was a cool, normal dude with no ego. The Lamborghini problems I’ve always thought could have been corrected by a top team. I suspect there could have been an oil starvation problem that could have been corrected.
Peugeot seemed like a better option. They dominated le mans with a 3.5 ltr engine. They could do well lasting 24hrs. But turned into ticking random time bombs in a 1.5 hrs formula 1 race.
No 'biggie' about not having any McLambo photos, as by that era of F1, the body lines of all the cars were so similar to each other, that only the body colors, placards, and emblems on them were the only ways to discern the different makes of F1 cars.
I found a 50 second clip of Hakkinen testing that 93 McLaren with a Lambo engine. My goodness what a sound.
I'd like to hear about the McLaren MP4/6 - the only V12 ever to win the championship, unless I'm very much mistaken!
(The Ferrari 312T was flat 12)
Think it might be, actually. I’m going right back into the 60s now to see if there was a Ferrari or a Vanwall that did it.
@@AidanMillward all I can find is that they experimented using a V12 in Fangio's Maserati 250F in 1957. But I don't think they raced it
@@elliotcrossan6290 no constructors at that point either so would it count? 🤔
@@AidanMillward a win is a win
@@AidanMillward lol true. I count cars which won the Drivers' as title winning too
The Lamborghini V-12 broke down is about the nicest way to put it... a huge fireball is a more apt description. I don't believe Andretti ever got the Ford Mk.8 engine but he made do with weaker motor. In his last race at Monza he finished 3rd and passed a Ferrari, Benetton and Sauber at Parabolica to get his first podium. Why don't you do a story on Derek Warwick crashing F1 cars and then starting the race, like Monza and Hockenhiem. Man, that Dude had balls!
Warwick almost punched out Schumacher at the Nurburgring too after Michael tried to chop him on one of the straights.
Makes you wonder if he’d been lamped, he’d have not had those questionable moments of driving standards through his career.
@@AidanMillward That motorsport podcast is such a great one, especially Schlesser going "hit him, hit him!"
I didn’t realize any of this. I was focused on keeping up with how Michael Andretti was doing in F1. Thanks for teaching me something new once again Aidan
07:05 I don't think it's possible to run a car on full tanks without the knowledge of the drivers. Any F1 driver would notice this immediately, let alone Senna and Hakkinen.
They were running with a completely different powertrain, one that required a significant alteration to the wheelbase. Added weight was likely already expected.
@@jsquared1013 Added weight is fine. But 100Kgs (220LBS) is just too much for a car which was around 550Kgs.
Also: I can be wrong.
07:56 the engine was 29KGs (66 pounds) lighter then the one they had (Ford). If the drive is strengthened it had 29 KGs in hand to get back to the level of the Ford + original drive train.
The story I knew originally was this: Dennis had the Peugeot contract in hand when the Chrysler/Lambo engine test took place. And he said he cannot switch the engine deal now, because by braking the contract he will lose credibility and won't get a contract next time from any carmaker for a factory engine (for free). I don't think he needed to play games to trick Senna and Hakkinen, even if Senna said to him, he will stay with the team if they have the Chrysler/Lambo engine for next year (at least this is how I remember the story).
Again: I can be very wrong.
I think Ron Dennis knows the full story. It would be interesting to hear from him.
6:20 somewhere in the world, Jeremy Clarkson is smiling at this blessing
I feel like that deal would have changed Chrysler's international reputation in a positive way if it had gone through. The brand seemed to be in trouble in the decade and a half after it fell through. I feel like chrysler would be much more respected in the late 90's and 00's especially in europe if they had Senna driving one of their machines.
Here’s a video suggestion for you since we are talking about early 90’s Italian V12’s…how Honda ended up working as consultants for the Ferrari engine program in 1993 and were a big part of why Ferrari were absolutely woeful at the start of the year, but led into the first corner at Estoril…
If Mclaren got Lambo Senna woulve stayed and he would still be alive
Definitely
Doubt it. He would have still jumped to Williams.
Great video Aiden, and got some new info out of it especially the tanking of the test to try and slow the thing down. I find it interesting that Whitmarsh told them to put 200+lb of fuel in it and not tell anyone, I'm sure Senna would definitely noticed the extra weight.
Please do Subarus short stint in f1, might be a short video but it’d be cool, nobody seems to know they developed a flat 12 and tried their hand at formula racing.
Ford "allowed" McLaren to have the works engines used by Benetton... I believe Bernie may have had something to do with that.
If memory serves the $1M deal was because McLaren was underperforming and yes Senna would do anything to get into that Williams but also he had nowhere else to go so... he pretty much tried to get his options open to anything but obviously in his mind 'anything' was Williams and Williams only.
Was it around this time he tested to Indy or was it after 1989..?
Anyway the Lambo deal I only read about it much much later and it does sound like the greatest thing that never was...
Had McLaren secured that deal rather than going for the more beneficial deal with with Peugeot (and by beneficial I mean $$$$) Senna could very well have stayed with McLaren as they were getting close to develop a car almost as good as Williams and even if the 1994 ban would to happen with Senna at McLaren (rumors were they banned the super-Williams when Senna signed so he wouldn't dominate the championship. It was rumors so who knows if true...) McLaren could have still be a contender in 1994 with Lambo engines.
And Senna could be alive and Schumacher would have a tougher time being champion and Damon and Villeneuve might not have been champions at all and so on...
But yeah along the Senna-Indy the McLaren/Senna/Lambo was one of the more enticing stories of the early 90s prior to the Imola carnage.
Good video. Thanks for the extra info I did not know about :)
Love this series please keep them coming 🙏
Mclaren truely F..ed theirselves with going for Pugeot
I spoke to one of the McLaren engineers in New Zealand and he told me the Lamborghini engines had the power but were tuned down as they tended to explode and was rather thirsty on its fuel.
I can imagine that loud V12 engine wouldn't be very fuel-efficient.
@@mrdraw2087 worse than the V12 Honda which they ran aswell and less power.
What is it with McLaren; and their poor choices of engine?
Loving the frequency of uploads Aiden. Not sure how sustainable it is but I'm enjoying it whilst it lasts 😁
i think that IF Ron signed the deal with lambo, Senna would've stayed
And would of been alive
Congrats on reaching the 80k mark. Just another 20k to Roberto.
i'd like a McLambo with cheese and a large fries
Now no-one can say say 1st
F1rst
McLaren must of been desperate when the only engines they have to choose are Italian or French...
But what *other* V10/V12 were even available at that time? Only the Yamaha V10.
I just listened to The Race's podcast 'Bring Back V10s' where they talk about this on series 2 episode 5. They said that the McLaren was extended by about 4 inches to take the V12.
They shared some quotes from Chrysler talking about being efficient and economical and that Ron Dennis was worried that they wouldn't get the development budget required to remain competitive. Peugeot were basically offering a blank chequebook so that turned his head.
Apparently one sticking point was McLaren's deal with Shell as Peugeot had a deal with Total in place already. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but by 1995 Shell would be off the car as well, replaced by Mobil.
There was talk of the Renaults going to McLaren as well, but the fuel deal (Elf rather that Total) was a big problem for the same reasons. I'm not sure what changed by 1994/5 with Mobil and Shell, but one wonders if Ron realised the right engine partner was better than the long term sponsor, or that Shell had already jumped ship to join Ferrari and Schumacher.
I would disagree with the assessment that there was no engine development from Peugeot in 1994. The engine became reliable from mid-season, and I kinda remember them taking about evolutions on French TV, when Jean-Pierre Jabouille was being interviewed.
McLaren overreacted from the initial horrible performance of the engine, which was supposed to be just an update from Le Mans-winning one (and thus reliable).
The British always overreact when there are foreigners involved. Especially when it’s the French.
Great timing, I got the see the McLambo in person just a few days ago. Difficult to tell how much longer it is if any, the only real stand out detail is the small bulge on either side of the engine cover
So if Lambo had been signed with, I wonder if there had been a real chance that Senna might have stayed if they could prove that it would be faster than the Williams.
Who knows, probably not as chassis wise the McLaren just wasn't near Bennetton or Williams. Although maybe Senna would've still be in the position of over-driving to combat Schumacher's shithousery with Option 13. Imola could still have happened, or worse later on in the season. I think some times you have to wonder whether the sport would've changed so much if Imola had just taken Ratzenberger's life, I don't think it would've. Not to the extent that it did. Which if that's true, what would have happened in F1 in the following years? Would Belgium 1998 been a total bloodbath?
@@MyWifeHatesThisCar that’s a very good point.
Hello Aidan: In you video on the "spygate" scandal, you quoted another persons view on Ron Dennis. The view was that Ron Dennis was unpleasant. I know understand why someone would say such things. Stay well and safe.
“10 million for the offence, 90 million because Ron Dennis is a cunt”- Max Mosley.
Max and Bernie didn’t like it that Ron would question them.
I have vivid recollection from 1993 of several motorsports affiliated journals making an argument that Dennis decided to go with Peugeot option because of upcoming rule changes, requiring engines to last no less than 2 races, and Peugeot coming from Le Mans series advertised itself as yardstick of reliability. It's weird, but I haven't seen this point ever to be brought again, may be because Peugeot engines ended up being a pile of merde?
It's also interesting to wonder if he'd still be with us now if that had happened.
Crazy to think that while all of this is going on, Andretti is struggling to get to grips with the car. And no wonder he was, McLaren were already involving Hakkinen and working out engine deals and future signings before even thinking about helping Michael with setups and experience. What a shitshow.
Ron Dennis: hey aryton you know those lambo engines u tested that u liked that were really fast ??
Aryton: yea ??
Ron Dennis:......well were having pegueot ones instead...........
Aryton:...............wot ?!!!🤣🤣
Chrysler dabbled in F1, through Lamoweenie, to train engineers. Dodge Viper 1991-2010. Chrysler wanted staff that could develop concepts each week instead of 2 years. It worked.
I've heard somewhere about a crazy connection between a Peugeot deal with McLaren, the new team manager at Ferrari - which was former Peugeot's - and a Ferrari in deep crisis that didn't want to see its worst enemy (Lamborghini) going faster and possibly winning the championship...
For anyone wondering if Ayrton Senna would have stayed at McLaren had Ron Dennis decided to do the deal with Bob Lutz of Chrysler rather than going to Peugeot for 1994.....
No. It would not have changed a single thing. Sorry to burst the romanticism of Senna maybe staying at McLaren Lamborghini and still being here to tell the tale, but it just would never have happened. You see, by the time McLaren started to test the Lamborghini V12, Ayrton Senna had already signed the contract to join Williams for 1994. It was a done deal.
Bob Lutz had approached Ron Dennis at the Munich Motor Show in mid-1993 about McLaren testing the Lamborghini. It didn't happen straight away. McLaren didn't get an engine and have it in their car the next week. It took a full 3 months to re-engineer an MP4/8 chassis to fit the engine (remember that the Ford was only a V8 compared to the Lambo being a V12). By the time it was ready for testing it was the day after the 1993 Portuguese Grand Prix. Senna had already told Dennis, and announced publicly at the Italian Grand Prix 2 weeks prior, that he was joining Williams (Ron Dennis actually knew about Prost's pending retirement for about 2 months BEFORE Prost announced it in Portugal. Senna knew it too because Williams approached him telling him that Prost would be retiring and his seat was Senna's if he wanted it. Senna wanted it.).
,,,✨ ... I DON'T USUALLY WATCH ALL VIDEO OF THIS TYPE..JUST NARRATION & PICTURES..30 Sec & I'M GONE.. BUT YOURS HAD NEW STUFF WITH GOOD HONEST (IN MY VIEW) I KNOW MY OPINION WON'T CHANGE THE WORLD.. BUT I ALSO KNOW WHAT I ENJOY..SO AIDEN MILLWARD CHEERS ALOT SIR FOR THE ENJOYMENT ✨,,, 🏁🇺🇦🏁🇺🇦🏁🇺🇦🏁
Excelent review on the Mclaren Lamborghini try out. Too bad that the Chrysler / Mclaren deal did not work as planned. We could of seen Ayrton Senna driving for Mclaren for at least two more years. 1994 and 1995.
Actually the Puegoet in 1994 Was quite powerful. The had 797hp on the dyno. Which is on the Level of the Renault, >40 more then the works Ford and around 20 less then Ferrari.
Those Lamborghini V12 F1 engines sounded so good (possibly even better than the Ferrari V12s, and the Hondas too) but unfortunately didn't make the power.
Here after seeing Vettel driving Senna's MP4/8 at Goodwood. I wonder if there are examples of the car still with a V12 on the back, in the Mclaren factory...
Tnx, I've finally learned the exact order of the events (and the hidden gems) about this "not-happening" raging Bull 🤝🤝🤝
Ron: Nah, Lambo's not gonna do any development, lets go with Peugeot
Peugeot: *woefully unreliable and proceeds not to do any development*
Ron: 😮
I will never understand how Dennis and McLaren choose Peugeot engines for the 1994 season?! They handed the Championship to Schumacher who's Team was cheating.
If im not mistaken, Zak Brown showed this car on the walk through of the facility he did last year or two years so.
Another side of the story: After witnessing a mess that is Ferrari in early 1990s, Steve Nichols returned to McLaren in 1995 as technical advisor. And what an aerodynamic mess was that McLaren back then. Nichols set the team at the right track again until 2001 before moving to Jaguar and end his F1 career in 2002.
Remember, this is the same Steve Nichols that pioneered carbon fibre construction in F1 and designed the MP4/4. So he knows a thing or two about how to make McLaren great.
Why does everyone bash the Peugeot engine in 94
It had a few different specs, and as a debut F1 engine, in an established engine cycle (5 seasons of v8s,10s and 12s), scored 8 podiums in 16 races
It also scored two podiums in 95 in the Jordan (the Mercedes engine powered McLaren to the same amount of podiums in 95)
In 96 and 97 the Peugeot engine was the fastest engine in a straight line
Don't get me wrong, not trying to say McLaren made the wrong decision partnering with Merc, but the Peugeot gets such a bad rap, and I don't know why
Yes it had a few fireball moments, but loads of engines had that back in the mid 90s
2:11 The most embarasssing thing in that year when it camer to engines: Ferrari had 15hp less but 2 cylinders more...If you build a V12...than it schould have at least the most hp on the grid...because thats the reason to build a V12 compared to a V10 or V8.
double irony - McLarens Senna switches to Williams and it ends his career. Williams Mansell switches to McLaren, it ends his career.
Better it never materialized: with that deal, who knows, maybe McLaren mercedes whouldn't have been a thing... maybe, in this alternate universe, Hakkinen would never become champion (Shame) and maybe, Mercedes wouldn't have step in at the end of 2009 with no previous F1 knowledge (except for those 2 years with the rebadged Ilmor in the Saubers) and we wouldn't have mercedes on the grid now. So yeah F.. Lambo, better wait a bit more and strike a potentialy better deal, the '93 season was already done by that point and a good team manager has to think at the next 10 year, not at the next race.
That 'fill it up with 220 liters of fuel' sounds like complete balderdash. As if Senna or even Mika wouldn't have realized the car's totally altered handling. It's so insulting to someone of Senna's caliber that you know it's complete bullshitt.
Dennis and Whitmarsh FFS, what a way to sabotage their own car and team. How amazing would a Lamborghini-powered McLaren have been with Senna at the steering wheel??
If I remember correctly however, it was stated somewhere that Senna would've been ready to stay at McLaren had he known sooner that Ron had the works Peugeot deal lined up.
Now what I don't remember is if it was one of your videos or a book/documentary about Senna.
Remember watching this on the fantastic BBC show Mclaren the inside story
I think the Lambo deal would have worked out fairly well, since Daimler (Merc) and Chrysler would team up soon after. Lambo engines until they start using Merc engines essentially.
All of the backroom bullshit that goes on. Sounds like Zelensky politics.😺
It's one thing to a test drive. Running the car on full tanks and doing a full race distance is a different "ball game". That Lamborghini engine would never have made the distance. They properly made a Pukka engine just for the Mclaren test just so they could get the contract. The Lamborghini engine had no form at all. Out of the two the Peugeot was always the way to go.
It's easy with hindsight to say Peugeot was a disaster and they should have gone with Chrysler etc etc, but something told Whitmarsh and Dennis it wasn't going to work out, so they made the decision. Sadly I don't think the V12 had any competitive future in F1 at that point, indeed it only lasted another two years and that was arguably one too many. Although the Chrysler bench figures were great it's not known if they could do that repeatedly for 200 miles every two weeks.
Asking Lambo/Chrysler to build a reliable engine at the time was like handing all of your money to a homeless man and asking him to invest it on the NYSE.
Wait you are telling us, Ron dennis pulled a dockmove to keep a driver? He would never do that .... No i believe you, this is just the bullcrap Ron loved to pull through out his career as MCL team boss, imo as successful he was, he did more harm to the team then anyone else
Wouldn't it be great if we could lift senna out of his grave and bring him back to life in his prime? Wonder what he would make of all the things that have happened in the last 25 years of F1.
The saltier your attitude the better the video. Sorry my man, life sucks.
The Mc Lamborghini was last seen in a collection in Japan. Just sitting.
So I guess we can add this to the ever expanding list of Ron Dennis screw ups.
I'm starting to think we aren't gonna get that Roberto Moreno vid...
Thanks for the story. There's a very seasoned, well respected Brazilian F1 journalist who tells a somewhat similar story but it's always interesting to hear it from another pov. People here in Brazil are biased af when it comes to Senna but this gentleman took some serious heat when he wrote about this.
If you wanna update this video or make another one there’s a assetto corsa mod of this car on race department now.
Looks like someone got a little too much early May Sun...
I think the Lamborghini deal could've been something special but I also have a feeling that Ron doesn't mix well with people of an Italian temperament hence he probably went with Peugeot which has to be one of the worst bits of business the man will ever do.
Ah yes, Ron Dennis and his hubris always costing McLaren. The usual
nah it was 50bhp down compared to the honda v12 mclaren had the year before.
One of racings “if only” moments :)
A fascinating story from 1993. Thank you for sharing.
@7:26 seems to have a mix up with the links on the bottom of the image (may not be an issue but given the fear of copyright claims guessed it was worth pointing out)
Ah bollocks not again.
Thanks for this video Aidan. Perhaps one of the first stories of intrigue I've heard nothing about. Keep up the good work!
There are many pictures of the test at Estoril
Just remember, if ya ain't first yer last.
These engine numbers in the early 90's remain an enigma for me: was Honda really producing 900 HP at Japanese GP in '92? Did Ligier use the same 780 HP Renault in '93 as Williams, and if so - why they never battled for the lead? I can also recall Senna esily overtook Ligier and Ferrari at Hockenheim in '93 - allegedly much more powerful cars. And seen once an interview where Prost claimed that Ferrari lacked 100 HP to McLaren in 1990.
The Lamborghini story is another weird one - what if Larousse had the second powerful engine in '93 yet performed so horribly bad?
where did you hear 900bhp at suzuka 92? I tohught it was only a little over 800bhp.
I was able to find the McLambo images pretty easily on Google images. Why weren't they allowed to be used in this video, but other pictures were? Different copyright laws?
Yep.
Perhaps if Dennis wouldn't fuck with Peugeot and got Lambo, Senna wouldn't move to Williams and San Marino '94 wouldn't happen (at least with Senna).
Senna was already signed for Williams when Dennis and Peugeot signed the deal.
A contract is just a piece of paper. It's not a gun to the head.
@@AidanMillward Yes, but if Senna thought McLaren could be competitive again, with an engine that he knew had development left in it, it's possible he'd have gotten out of his Williams deal
@@arthuralford But the bottom line is that that Lamborghini V12 was never going to be successful in its 1989-1993 guise. It was too heavy, too bulky, too thirsty and too unreliable. It all rested on an all-new V10 or V12 being developed for 1994. That in turn all depended on Chrysler financing the whole thing... And anybody who had a smidgen of insight in how Chrysler was doing in the mid 90's knew that was an uncomfortable long-shot.
Here's the thing: Senna already wanted to join Williams in 1993 knowing how much better the 1992 Williams FW14B was to his McLaren MP4/7. In fact Senna even offered to drive for free(!) for Williams if they only signed him. Unfortunately for him Prost already had a contract with Williams for 1993 and it said Senna *couldn't* be his team mate.
"it's possible he'd have gotten out of his Williams deal" Not a chance. Senna knew that Prost would retire at the end of 1993 and if Senna *didn't* get that Williams-Renault drive for 1994 he knew all-too well somebody else might win the 1994 title. Damon Hill and whoever was hired to replace Prost, probably Mansell. Heck if Senna stays at McLaren for 1994 Prost might even reconsider his retirement. At any rate Senna knows he'd be gambling really high allowing somebody else to take that Williams seat for 1994.
"with an engine that he knew had development left in it," V12's were on their way *out* by the start of the 90's. Only Ferrari endured until 1995 before even they realized V10's were the way to go. Senna's 1991 title with the Honda V12 powered McLaren was more due to his stellar start to the season and Williams' constant reliability issues. By 1992 this was abundantly clear and Honda pondered designing an all new V10 for 1993 before they decided to pull the plug on their F1 program. *Ferrari* struggled with the V12's throughout their final 5 seasons and only won 2 races in total.
As you may know, Ron Dennis tried to broker a deal with Renault to supply McLaren as well as Williams. It never materialized. So unless there is a *Renault V10* in the back of the 1994 McLaren Senna will sign for Williams.
I've never thought anything could have come from this. The Lamborghini was terrible. Fast laps in testing one thing but heavy fuel levels and reliability over race distances is another, neither of which that lump could offer, and it was already half a decade old by then.
Chrysler would have lobbed money at the problem and McLaren would have used their know how to get it fixed.
Even with a full tank it was as fast as the Williams.
You're so good a these. I'd love to see a wrc deep dive serie like these. Keep it up !!
Would love to have seen it.
Mccedes if you will. 9:46
Love your story sections ! Will you do some simracing videos again apart from your Potato Sunday league ?
The race on Sunday I didn’t stream becuase I knew people would rather watch the f1, so we started a bit earlier.
Ended up winning with a grand slam 🤣
But yeah, I’ve got some highlights from Spa to go up.
@@AidanMillward Ha ha oh well I guess not being live brought you more luck and a speed
What about the Isuzu V12 Lotus test
If the McLambo had become a thing for 1994, the course of F1 history would have been interesting.
Senna would have been kept at McLaren, and most likely alive as no Williams Imola crash.
With Prost leaving F1, would we have seen Mansell’s third stint at Williams? Would Alesi ditch Ferrari and become Prost’s French replacement to keep Renault happy?
David Coultard: career over. He stated that he was struggling financially and without the second seat at Williams opening up he wasn’t able to afford continuing as a test driver.
Would Schumacher and Benetton with their factory Ford engines *cough and option 19 launch control cough cough* been able to beat an up on power McLaren?
Would the Lamborghini engine suffer the same reliability issues that plagued the Peugeot engine and cost Senna his shot at a fourth title?
The what if’s are incredible and it’s a shame that Rob Dennis didn’t take the Lamborghini gamble.
Aiden: Imagine it’s 1991 and it’s the Japanese gran prix
My brains translation: Imagine it’s 1944 and it’s the Japanese gran theatre *flash backs*
Winners grumbling about not being competitive is best summed up with a quote:
"Second place is the first loser." - Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Very informative and excellent video! Thank You For all Of Your hard Work....