The MP4/5 was developed under Technical Director Gordon Murray with the design team led by Neil Oatley and including Steve Nichols, Tim Wright, Bob Bell, Mike Gascoyne, and Pete Weismann. Osamu Goto headed Honda engine development. The car was loosely based on the 1988 MP4/4 and built in response to regulations mandating naturally-aspirated engines from 1989 onward, following the ban on turbocharged units. Honda had been developing its 3.5-litre V10 since the latter half of 1987 and through 1988.
The monocoque was constructed from carbon-fibre composite materials produced by Hercules Aerospace. The MP4/5 initially used the Weismann Longitudinal Transmission from the MP4/4; a new Weismann Transverse Transmission was introduced ahead of the Silverstone round and carried over to the MP4/5B. Early in 1989 the car exhibited imbalanced handling in fast corners; Honda addressed this by improving throttle-response smoothness before the second round at Imola. The car started the season on McLaren brakes before switching to Brembo from the Monaco round. Alain Prost had his engine tuned to a richer fuel mixture than Ayrton Senna's, believing it suited his driving style.
During the season, engineers discovered the two-way radio was causing interference with engine-control-unit sensors and rectified the design. A problem with the engine's lubrication system, exacerbated by water ingress during a rain-affected race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, required changes at subsequent rounds. Welding defects inside the oil tanks were also found at Silverstone and proved difficult to resolve quickly. Honda introduced two further engine revisions late in 1989, one for high-speed circuits and one for slower tracks and wet conditions.
For 1990, designated MP4/5B, Oatley's team redesigned the front and rear wings, reprofiled the rear bodywork around larger radiators, and added new venturi tunnels on the rear floor. Honda also revised the engine. Senna carried out extensive development work to improve reliability for the new season.
McLaren won ten races in 1989 — six for Senna and four for Prost. The MP4/5 dominated qualifying, taking fifteen pole positions, thirteen by Senna, equalling his 1988 record. At the Mexican Grand Prix, Senna's 34th career pole surpassed the previous record of 33 set by Jim Clark that had stood since 1968. Scuderia Ferrari's 640 was competitive in pace, particularly in Nigel Mansell's hands, but suffered reliability failures linked to its semi-electronic gearbox. Honda supplied McLaren with eight engines per grand prix weekend.
The relationship between Senna and Prost was under severe strain; their rivalry drove further car development as each driver sought to outpace the other. Despite Senna winning more races, four fewer points-scoring finishes left him 16 points behind Prost in the championship. The title was settled at the penultimate round in Japan. After a collision at the chicane on lap 46, Prost retired on the spot; Senna restarted, pitted for a new nose section, re-took the lead from the Benetton-Ford of Alessandro Nannini, and won, but was disqualified post-race for receiving a push start and bypassing the chicane after rejoining. Prost was thus confirmed champion. McLaren's combined points total secured the Constructors' Championship — the team's fourth of the 1980s and fifth overall, and Honda's fourth consecutive title as engine manufacturer.
Prost left McLaren for Ferrari ahead of 1990, taking designer Steve Nichols with him, citing a belief that McLaren and Honda favoured Senna. Gerhard Berger, who swapped with Prost at Ferrari, joined Senna. The car-number exchange that followed gave Prost and Mansell numbers 1 and 2, while Senna and Berger ran 27 and 28.
The MP4/5B demonstrated clear qualifying pace, regularly locking out the front row, especially at power circuits such as Hockenheim and Imola. Race pace was more contested: the Ferrari 641 nearly cancelled out McLaren's qualifying advantage, particularly on heavy fuel loads. McLaren and Senna won six races, and Berger contributed additional points. The championship was decided at the Japanese Grand Prix when Senna and Prost collided at the first corner of the first lap; Prost was unable to continue, handing Senna the title. McLaren also won the 1990 Constructors' Championship.
Gordon Murray retired from Formula One after the MP4/5B programme to work on McLaren's road-car project.
During 1990, McLaren developed a test mule designated MP4/5C to evaluate Honda's new V12 engine intended for the following two seasons. Test driver Allan McNish drove the car at a three-day test at Silverstone the week before the 1990 French Grand Prix. McNish did not push the car to its limits, but the V12 impressed with early reliability.
The MP4/5B was included in the 2001 video game Gran Turismo 3 under the alias "F090/S" in the Japanese and American versions, where it was the least powerful Formula One car in the game at 700 PS. It appeared as a prize car in several endurance and championship events. The car was also featured in the Codemasters game F1 2019 as paid downloadable content in the Legends Edition, and in F1 2020 as free content. It appeared in Automobilista 2 in the Brazilian Racing Legends Pack Pt1 DLC.
During the 1990 season the car carried sponsorship from Weekly Shōnen Jump. To mark the partnership, Akira Toriyama, creator of the Dragon Ball manga, produced a promotional drawing featuring Goku, Bulma, and Gohan in Senna's car number 27, as well as two original manga comics: GP Boy and The Flash of F1: Ayrton Senna's Challenge, the latter a biographical piece on Senna's career.
In 2024, Lewis Hamilton, seven-time Formula One World Champion and former McLaren driver, drove Senna's MP4/5B at Interlagos ahead of the São Paulo Grand Prix.
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