McLaren MP4-18 - The car that never raced

This is the McLaren MP4-18, the car designed to be McLaren’s title challenger for the 2003 Formula 1 season.

Michael Schumacher and the Ferrari F2002 was a dominant force. McLaren barely had a chance at winning either of the championships. For the 2003 season, Ron Dennis and his team at McLaren built the MP4-18.

Initially, scale model tests raised good hopes and promised fireworks with the Italian outfit, but then came pre-season testing. There were several problems however during said pre-season testing, including a heavy crash with Alex Wurz at the wheel.

There was also a serious problem with cooling the engine, due to the very narrow side pods. An obvious one when you look back at it. The MP4-18 also managed to fail the FIA’s side impact crash tests twice. Two more times than it needs to have failed.

Eventually, the team decided to abandon the MP4-18 and developed the the MP4-17, the 2002 season car, to race in 2003. This car was highly developed from the original car and was a completely different car underneath, even though it looked the same on top.

Eventually, it was decided that the remaining MP4-18 chassis will be developed into the 2004 car, the MP4-19, which was developed into the MP4-19B during the season. The MP4-19 and its ‘B’ variant were not championship material. With Kimi Raikkonen only winning a single race during the season with only one other podium, it was clear that McLaren really needed to upgrade the car all they possibly could.

Thanks all for reading, drive safe,
675LT-ftw