McLaren MP4-16
Mika Häkkinen at the Grand Prix of Canada 2001
Template: Infobox racing car / Maintenance / stop parameters
The McLaren MP4 -16 was the Formula 1 racing car of McLaren for the 2001 Formula 1 season. It was powered by a Mercedes engine. The tires, Bridgestone made.
Paint and sponsorship
The primer of the MP4 -16 was black on the side pods and silver on the engine cover, as well as the front and rear wings. In addition, there were red accents on the front wing and the side pods. This painting was decisively by the main sponsor, the cigarette manufacturer, West, from. Other sponsors were Siemens, SAP and mobile.
In races in countries where cigarette advertising was banned, the word North was replaced with the real name of the driver.
Driver
Dangers was the MP4 -16 by two-time world champion Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard. They were thus for the sixth time in a row, driving a McLaren.
2001 season
After Ferrari in the 2000 season decided both titles for himself, the MP4 -16 was to bring the connection to the top. However, the great success was due to the superiority of the Ferraris and numerous technical problems in the MP4 -16, so that McLaren had to settle at the end of the season with second place.
David Coulthard was on the season closest rival Michael Schumacher. After the fourth round of the season in San Marino, both drivers were equal on points in the championship. After that Michael Schumacher drove seven times in a row on the podium ( four wins, three second places), while Coulthard only twice on the podium stood ( one win, one third place ). The resulting projection Coulthard could not make up again and was charged with 65 championship points runner-up.
Two-time world champion Mika Häkkinen (1998, 1999) had to fight during the season with technical problems. By the seventh race of the season, he had merely can drive three championship points. Overall, Häkkinen only three times on the podium (two wins in Britain and the U.S., a third place in Canada). He finished the season with 37 championship points as the fifth overall from and ended his Formula 1 career.