McLaren MP4-23
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| Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
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| Constructor | McLaren | ||||||||||
| Designer(s) |
Paddy Lowe (Engineering Director) Neil Oatley (Design and Development Director) Tim Goss (Chief Engineer) Doug McKiernan (Chief Aerodynamicist) |
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| Predecessor | MP4-22 | ||||||||||
| Successor | MP4-24 | ||||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||||
| Chassis | Moulded carbon fibre/aluminium honeycomb composite incorporating front and side impact structures | ||||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Adjustable double wish-bone arrangement | ||||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Adjustable double wish-bone arrangement | ||||||||||
| Engine | Mercedes-Benz FO 108V 2.4 litre V8 Naturally aspirated, 19,000 RPM Limited mid-mounted | ||||||||||
| Transmission | McLaren, 7 forward speeds + 1 reverse Semi-automatic | ||||||||||
| Fuel |
Mobil Unleaded (5.75% bio fuel) Mobil 1 Lubricants, newly developed 2008 formula for lower friction and better wear resistance |
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| Tyres |
Bridgestone Potenza Enkei Wheels Front & Rear |
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| Competition history | |||||||||||
| Notable entrants | Vodafone McLaren Mercedes | ||||||||||
| Notable drivers | 22.  Lewis Hamilton23.  Heikki Kovalainen
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| Debut | 2008 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
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| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 1 (Lewis Hamilton, 2008) | ||||||||||
The McLaren MP4-23 was Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes' Formula One car for the 2008 Formula One season. It was revealed at Mercedes-Benz's motor sport museum in Stuttgart on 7 January 2008, and it had its first on-track appearance at Jerez in Spain on 9 January. The car won the 2008 World Drivers' Championship in the hands of Lewis Hamilton, but finished 2nd in the Constructors' Championship which was won by Ferrari. The car, along with its rivals during the season marked the end of an era of complex aerodynamic appendages on the bodywork, which would be banned for the 2009 season.
Following the 2007 Formula One espionage controversy the MP4-23 was subject to FIA inspection before the start of the 2008 season, to determine if any Ferrari intellectual property was on the car. After an admission that the Ferrari information was disseminated more widely throughout the team than was originally thought an apology by McLaren on 13 December 2007, and a pledge that measures would be taken to rectify the situation, caused the FIA to decide that there was no need for a formal hearing and the matter was considered closed.
Revisions from the MP4-22 included a longer wheelbase, the removal of the "bullhorn" winglets from the airbox and a new rear wing which differed both in main profile and its endplates. In the pre-German Grand Prix testing, the car was run with a "shark fin" engine cover, as sported by cars such as the Renault R28 and the Red Bull RB4, but the team did not permanently run it.
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