The 2018 season saw McLaren facing a critical juncture. After a fraught partnership with Honda, the team terminated their engine supply deal, citing repeated failures to deliver a reliable and competitive power unit. This necessitated a rapid shift to a customer engine supply, ultimately landing a deal with Renault. However, Renault’s existing commitments to Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso initially presented a challenge. The situation was resolved when Toro Rosso switched to full-works Honda engines, freeing up the Renault supply chain for McLaren and allowing them to utilize the Renault R.E.18 engine. This engine change presented significant design challenges for the McLaren team, led by technical director Tim Goss.
The switch to the Renault R.E.18 engine necessitated a substantial redesign of the MCL33’s rear end. Unlike the Honda engine, which had its turbocharger mounted at the rear with the compressor at the front and the Motor Generator Unit-Heat positioned in the V shape of the cylinder bank, the Renault R.E.18 had all three components attached to the rear. This required a complete redevelopment of the engine bay, gearbox, and rear suspension geometry. Despite the difficulties, the R.E.18 allowed for greater flexibility in the positioning of the fuel cell and enabled the engine to be positioned closer to the driver.
McLaren innovated with a radical rear suspension design, combining all upper suspension elements into a single piece. This minimized bodywork in a key aerodynamic area, reducing drag and improving airflow over the rear diffuser. Early in the season, the car exhibited burn marks on the rear of the engine cowling due to tight packaging and insufficient cooling, prompting a temporary cooling package and subsequent bodywork updates.
The MCL33 also incorporated mandated changes for the 2018 season, including the “halo” cockpit protection device. The addition of the halo, a titanium wishbone-shaped frame, required extensive chassis modifications to meet crash test requirements. Initially, the car was launched with a “shark fin” carbon fibre panel, but this was later removed after McLaren successfully lobbied the FIA for its removal from the technical regulations. Similarly, the “t-wing” was banned by the FIA before the start of the championship.
Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne drove the MCL33 throughout the 2018 season, with additional testing and development work carried out by Lando Norris and Oliver Turvey. The car debuted at the Australian Grand Prix, launching with an orange and blue livery as a tribute to McLaren’s early racing colors.
The season was marked by inconsistency. Alonso achieved the car’s best qualifying results – two top-ten starts – while the team’s drivers were eliminated in the first qualifying session a notable 21 times. Despite these struggles, the MCL33 benefited from the retirements of rivals to score points in the early races, achieving a double-points finish in Australia and Bahrain. Alonso secured eighth-place finishes in Spain, Austria, and Great Britain, while Vandoorne’s best result was ninth in Azerbaijan.
Throughout the season, Renault introduced upgrades to the R.E.18 power unit, including updates at the Canadian and Austrian Grand Prix. However, a power unit failure for Nico Hülkenberg in Austria cast doubt on the effectiveness of the upgrades, with both McLaren drivers reporting no significant performance gains.
Alonso retired from Formula One at the end of the 2018 season, while Vandoorne was unable to replicate his 2017 points tally and left the sport.
The MCL33’s performance exposed issues with the McLaren chassis following the switch to Renault engines. The car’s struggles prompted the removal of the “shark fin” and “t-wing” aerodynamic devices after lobbying from McLaren to the FIA, resulting in changes to the technical regulations.
The MCL33’s struggles highlighted the importance of seamless integration between chassis and power unit. The experience informed McLaren’s subsequent design philosophies, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to car development. While not directly inspiring specific design elements in later cars, the lessons learned from the MCL33’s challenges contributed to McLaren’s efforts to improve its overall competitiveness in the following seasons. The car is currently on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
Gallery · 4 related images
