There are no major changes to the technical regulations for the 1990 season, except for more stringent and specific crash tests, so much so that McLaren is still using the excellent MP4/5, which won both titles in 1989, slightly updated in the “B” version. Following the confirmation of Ayrton Senna as lead driver, the main novelty for the new season is undoubtedly the departure of Alain Prost, who moves to rival Ferrari, taking designer Steve Nichols with him.
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| McLAREN MP4/5B, Ayrton Senna Phoenix, United States GP 1990 |
The French champion is replaced by Austrian driver Gerhard Berger, whose arrival forces Technical Director Gordon Murray, under whom Chief Designer Neil Oatley and Head of Aerodynamics Mike Gascoyne work, to slightly redesign the cockpit. Originally built for the “featherweight” physiques of Senna and Prost, it had to be modified so that Berger could enter and exit the car without assistance within the five seconds allowed by the new regulation. Another minor change compared to the previous car is in the placement of the engine air intake, now slightly higher to allow greater airflow into the intake boxes.
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| McLAREN MP4/5B, Gerhard Berger Monza, Italian GP 1990 |
The suspension, the Weismann/McLaren gearbox, and the carbon fiber and Kevlar monocoque chassis remain unchanged, while Oatley and his team redesign the front and rear wings and reshape the rear bodywork around the larger radiators, which help improve cooling of the revised 3,490 cc Honda RA100E V10 engine, now capable of delivering 710 hp. The attention the Japanese manufacturer devotes to the development of the 10-cylinder engine is evident from the presence of its own engineer, Osamu Goto, within the McLaren technical team, in the role of Chief Engine Designer, with the specific task of developing the engine according to the demands of drivers and engineers.
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| McLAREN MP4/5B, Ayrton Senna Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1990 |
The most important aerodynamic modifications are found at the rear, with the diffuser now featuring five rounded tunnels instead of the single squared-off tunnel of the previous version. With the MP4/5B and the new driver lineup, where the team hierarchy is established from the outset, McLaren enters the 1990 season as the favorite. Expectations are met, and McLaren reaffirms its dominance in both championships: Senna becomes World Champion with 78 points (6 wins, 2 second places, and 3 third places), while Berger finishes the season in 4th place with 43 points (2 second places, 5 third places, and several other finishes). The team, led by Ron Dennis, also wins the Constructors' Championship with 121 points, the sixth in its history and the fifth in six seasons, from 1984 to 1990.
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| McLAREN MP4/5B, Ayrton Senna Hockenheimring, German GP 1990 |
During the 1990 season, a prototype car called the MP4/5C is built to test Honda’s new V12 engine, which McLaren would use for the following two seasons. This car, driven by team test driver Allan McNish, makes its public track debut in a three-day testing session at Silverstone the week before the 1990 French Grand Prix. Although McNish never pushes the car to its limits, the new Honda V12 impresses immediately with its power and reliability, even at such an early stage of development.
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