In 2003, the season began in anything but a smooth way for the Woking-based team, still led by Ron Dennis. Already with the MP4/17 from 2002, Adrian Newey had given free rein to his genius by creating a car that represented a significant step forward aerodynamically compared to previous McLaren-Mercedes machines. The English engineer had in fact revived the keel concept under the car’s nose, introduced by Sauber the year before, taking it to the extreme, with the advantage of directing the airflow toward the rear and underbody as desired. Newey’s pursuit of perfection and his tendency to push the envelope with increasingly radical solutions led him to design the new MP4/18 for the upcoming season, a decidedly “extreme” car. Ron Dennis therefore decided to split the design responsibilities into two groups: one led by Neil Oatley, tasked with further developing the 2002 car into the McLaren MP4/17D, to be used at the start of the season; and the other led by Newey, charged with designing and refining the all-new MP4/18.
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| McLAREN MP4-17D, Kimi Räikkönen Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian GP 2003 |
The rest of the technical staff remained unchanged, with only the role of Chief Designer shifting from Matthew Jeffreys, who had been at McLaren since 1991, to newcomer Mike Coughlan, an expert in the twin-keel system developed during his time at the now-defunct Arrows team. Paddy Lowe was still Chief Engineer for Systems Development, Pat Fry remained in charge of race strategy, while the increasingly crucial aerodynamics department was still headed by Greek-Cypriot Peter Prodromou, supported by Phil Adey, who had joined McLaren at the end of 2001. On the engine side, roles also remained unchanged: the designer of the powerful German V10, Mario Illien, continued to work on the new 90° Ilmor-Mercedes FO110P, which needed to be lighter and more reliable than the FO110M used in 2002, notorious for its reliability issues. Tim Goss also kept his role as Chief Engineer for the Powertrain group, overseeing development directly at the racetracks.
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| McLAREN MP4-17D, David Coulthard Imola, San Marino GP 2003 |
Over the winter break, the FIA modified the sporting regulations for 2003, introducing a new qualifying format, stricter limits on using the same engine for the entire race weekend, parc fermé conditions between qualifying and the race, and restrictions on preseason testing in exchange for two hours of running on Friday mornings with the third driver. At the start of the championship, McLaren used the MP4/17D, which had very few differences compared to the “C” version that had closed the previous season, and chose to take advantage of the new rules to continuously develop the car while waiting for the debut of the MP4/18. Despite using the older car, the team’s start to the season was unexpectedly strong: with drivers David Coulthard and Kimi Räikkönen, both retained from the previous year, the team secured victories in Australia with Coulthard, in what would be his final Formula 1 win, and in Malaysia with Räikkönen. The Finn went on to finish on the podium in every race of the first seven rounds, except for his retirement in Spain, establishing himself as a serious title contender fighting on equal terms with reigning four-time World Champion Michael Schumacher. Unfortunately, the Woking team’s energy spent on the design and development of the upcoming MP4/18 distracted the engineers from further developing the capable MP4/17D, limiting its performance during the middle part of the season, even though Räikkönen still reached the final race in Japan with a chance to win the championship.
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| McLAREN MP4-18, Alexander Wurz Silverstone, private tests september 2003 |
Newey himself practically did not touch the development of the MP4/17D, dedicating his entire season to designing the MP4/18. The particularly innovative design of the new car incorporated numerous ideas that were too premature for the time but would later be used years down the line—such as the “blown diffuser” that housed the engine exhausts, eventually appearing on the Red Bull RB7 in 2011. The MP4/18’s issues centered mainly on engine and gearbox cooling. In addition to the new twin-keel concept and a completely redesigned nose that was extremely sharp and low, paired with a very sculpted front wing, Newey focused almost entirely on the rear end, with extremely narrow sidepods. This was achieved by repositioning the exhausts to blow directly into the rear diffuser. However, this design completely compromised engine cooling as well as the side-impact crash structures. The new chassis repeatedly failed FIA side-impact crash tests, forcing McLaren to rework it constantly and losing precious time. Mercedes engineers tried in every possible way to meet Newey’s requirements, but the minimal space left for the radiators made their task extremely difficult. On multiple occasions, Austrian test driver Alexander Wurz, tasked with developing the new car, was forced to return to the pits after only a few hundred kilometers, either with the rear end on fire or with delamination of the carbon structures caused by excessive heat. The new German V10, capable of reaching 890 hp, had a redesigned structure with a lower center of gravity and was paired with a new gearbox built from carbon fiber and titanium. However, the mounting position of the engine/gearbox assembly, as dictated by Newey, was criticized by McLaren mechanics, who more than once broke the chassis mounting points during disassembly due to their heat-weakened condition.
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| McLAREN MP4-18, Alexander Wurz Paul-Ricard, private tests may 2003 |
All these problems remained unresolved well into mid-season. And despite Dennis publicly declaring he preferred a fast car over a slower but reliable one, the MP4/18 never actually made it to a race. The season was completed with the MP4/17D, and its lack of further development perhaps cost Räikkönen the title: he finished the championship with 92 points, just 2 fewer than World Champion Michael Schumacher. McLaren-Mercedes ultimately secured third place in the Constructors’ standings, just two points behind Williams-BMW, but looked ahead to 2004 with the hope of finally having a winning weapon in hand.
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