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Originally Posted by Perfectlap
McLaren wishes it had a BMW engine...instead it uses a woefuly unreliable and not-quiet Merecedes-- Ilmor. BMW has its own team now after buying Peter Sauber's team...don't get me started on McLaren those guys sure know how to waste billions(literraly) and not win championships going on 8 years in a row.
p.s. (historical note)
on lighter/less power v. more power/heavier cars...Ferrari established themselves in F1 using this approach at the 1951 British Grand Prix. Fangio's Alfa Romeo had more power but was heavier and consumed more gas so he had to stop more/longer for fuel giving Froilan Gonzales and Enzo Ferrari a historic win.
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Hi,
Sorry, wasn't clear enough I guess - the
Mclaren F1 uses a BMW V-12 motor.
But, you are absolutely correct about Lotus Doctrine of being as lightweight as possible. This stemmed from their Racing Philosophy that a Larger Engine weighed more, burned more fuel, so you had to have a larger fuel capacity which weighed even more and this all but negated the extra HP to begin with.
Colin Chapman's famous quote: "
If you want it to go Faster - add Lightness"
This philosophy worked well. Lotus,
not Ferrari, has the greatest number of Formula One Wins as a % to Starts. Ferrari has the greatest total number of F1 wins, but not as a % of Starts - that Crown belongs to Lotus (for a regular Constructor).
Chapman didn't want any excess capacity (= weight) in his cars at all. He wanted them all to die on the Victory Lap. There are numerous examples of where they didn't quite calculate this correctly, because Lotus also has the greatest number of DNFs in F1 when leading on the Final Lap...
Happy Motoring!... Jim'99