Honda had powered the Constructors' Championship-winning teams in 1986 and 1987, supplying Williams. For 1988, Honda switched partners to McLaren, who had been struggling with their dated TAG-Porsche engines. The engine's design and development was led by Osamu Goto. Most of the grid was shifting toward naturally aspirated power ahead of the 1989 turbo ban, a transition framed in the regulations to benefit those teams. McLaren and Honda's decision to continue with the turbo in its final season came with a significant constraint: turbo-powered cars were limited to 150 litres of fuel per race, while naturally aspirated cars faced no such restriction, meaning Honda's engine management team was under intense pressure to maximise fuel efficiency alongside outright power.
The MP4/4 was a low-slung, all-new design. FIA regulations required the top of the driver's helmet to remain below an imaginary line from the top of the roll bar to the top of the cowling, forcing drivers into an almost reclined position. This was distinctly lower than contemporary rival cars.
The RA168E engine produced 685 bhp. Steve Nichols has noted that the car ran on a special fuel blend supplied by Shell sponsors, approximately 84 percent toluene to 16 percent methanol for qualifying and around 60–40 for racing — a combination sometimes referred to as Rocket Fuel or Jungle Juice. Nichols also refuted claims that Honda had circumvented the FIA pop-off valves to produce additional undisclosed power, noting that no such manipulation would have been feasible given the strict post-race scrutineering of fuel tank sizes and the 150-litre race allowance.
At Silverstone, McLaren introduced revised aerodynamics that removed the turbo snorkels from the top of the sidepods. Though initially troublesome in qualifying, post-race testing confirmed the imbalance was caused by incorrect suspension settings rather than the aerodynamic change, and the snorkels were not used again for the rest of the season.
Senna was signed to partner Prost on a three-year contract, at Prost's suggestion. The combination proved almost unbeatable. McLaren claimed 15 of 16 race victories, 15 of 16 pole positions — including a record 13 for Senna — and achieved ten 1-2 finishes during the year.
The only race won by another team was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where Senna crashed while lapping Jean-Louis Schlesser with two laps remaining, and Prost had already retired with an engine failure. Gerhard Berger claimed victory for Ferrari just weeks after the death of Enzo Ferrari.
The scale of McLaren's domination was illustrated at the San Marino Grand Prix, the second race of the season. Senna and Prost both qualified the Imola circuit in the 1:27s; the next fastest qualifier, defending World Champion Nelson Piquet in a Lotus carrying the same 1988-specification Honda engines, could manage only 1:30.500 — 3.352 seconds slower than Senna. By lap 55 of 60, both McLarens had lapped the entire field including Piquet.
The MP4/4 retired only four times across the entire season: Prost at Silverstone due to handling problems in wet conditions, Prost's engine failure at Monza, Senna's accident at Monaco — where he had built a 50-second lead by lap 66 — and Senna's accident at Monza.
At Hockenheim, the MP4/4 achieved its top speed record for the season when both Senna and Prost were clocked at 333 km/h on the long straight leading into the forest.
The championship was decided under the Best 11 Scores rule. Prost accumulated more total points across the year, but Senna's eight victories to Prost's seven meant Senna took the Drivers' title. McLaren-Honda wrapped up the Constructors' Championship with a 1-2 in Belgium for round 11, finishing the year 134 points clear of second-placed Ferrari, with a then-record 199 Constructors' points.
The McLaren MP4/4 was preceded by the MP4/3, which had used the ageing TAG-Porsche engine. Its immediate predecessor in the dominant lineage was the 1984 MP4/2, which had won 12 of 16 races — a record that the MP4/4 substantially eclipsed, not only in wins but in qualifying performance. The MP4/4 was succeeded by the Honda V10-powered MP4/5, which gave McLaren another Constructors' Championship in 1989 alongside a further Drivers' title for Prost.
A modified variant, the MP4/4B, served as a test mule for Honda's new 3.5-litre V10 designed around the 1989 regulations banning turbocharged engines.
Six MP4/4 cars were moulded from carbon fibre during the season, with assistance from Hercules Aerospace. All six chassis survive. Chassis 1 and 6 remain with the McLaren Group: chassis 1 is displayed at the McLaren Technology Centre and was driven by Sergio Perez at Goodwood in 2013. Chassis 5 is owned by Honda and is sometimes on display at the Honda Collection Hall at Motegi. Chassis 4 is owned by the Audrain Collection in Newport, Rhode Island.
The MP4/4 was voted the greatest Formula One car of all time by a panel of Formula One engineers and designers and the greatest race car of the 20th century by Autosport readers. It set the record for the highest win rate in a season — 93.75 percent — which stood until 2023 when the Red Bull RB19 achieved a 95.45 percent win rate, also powered by a Honda V6 turbo engine. The MP4/4 was also the last turbo-powered McLaren to win the Constructors' Championship until the Mercedes-powered MCL38 in 2024.
The car has appeared in numerous racing video games including Gran Turismo 3 (under disguised names), Gran Turismo 7, Grand Prix Circuit (1988), Forza Motorsport 6, and the F1 2017 through F1 2020 titles. A Lego Icons set (number 10330) including an Ayrton Senna minifigure was released in March 2024.
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