McLAREN MP4/11 Mercedes

   In 1996, with the new MP4/11, the partnership between Ron Dennis' McLaren and Mercedes-Benz was further strengthened, which through Ilmor officially and exclusively supplied its V10 to the English team. The working group that operates on Dennis' directives is the same that in '95 gave life to the MP4/10, an updated and evolved single-seater in '96 and from which the car for 1996 takes its life. The technical director is still Steve Nichols , Neil Oatley is still Executive Engineer, Matthew Jeffreys is still Head of Vehicle Design, David North is still Chief Transmission Engineer, David Neilson is Chief Suspension Engineer, Henri Durand is the Head of Aerodynamics and Paddy Lowe is still the Head of Research and Development.

McLAREN MP4/11, David Coulthard
Melbourne, Australian GP '96

   Mario Ilien assumes an increasingly important role, head with Paul Morgan of Ilmor who manages the Mercedes V10s. Indeed, the new V10 FO110/3 from the German company turns out to be a very important weapon for McLaren and for Mercedes itself, which is increasingly strengthening its partnership with the figure of Norbert Haug, head of Mercedes Motorsport, as a constant presence in McLaren garage throughout the championship. After solving the problems of youth, which in 1995 had created many problems for the Woking single-seaters, the new V10 with a 75° angle is further developed by Ilien and this season reveals itself to be only slightly inferior in power to the more famous Renault and Ferrari, developing 720hp at 15700 rpm, but with the advantage of weighing only 123kg, a dozen less than competing engines, despite their larger size.

McLAREN MP4/11, David Coulthard
Interlagos, Brazilian GP '96

   In addition to the new engine, the '96 MP4/11 also has a renewed chassis, again made by Hercules Aerospace and built with an innovative system that provides balls of ceramic material embedded in the carbon fiber structure for greater rigidity. The suspensions are only slightly updated and maintain the usual inboard spring/damper operated by pushrod bellcrank/unequal-length wishbones, while the transmission department is completely in-house built, with a six-speed semi-automatic longitudinal gearbox plus reverse. The aerodynamic look is also updated which maintains the high nose introduced in the previous season, but with a more elegant and balanced line that better connects to the passenger compartment area, which from this season is surrounded by the massive side guards introduced by the new regulations in pilot safety theme.

McLAREN MP4/11, David Coulthard
Catalunya, Spanish GP '96

   The slightly higher side pods on the MP4/11 end up with the side bulkheads that connect them directly to the rear wing, while the classic bottleneck tapering is less accentuated than on the '95 single-seater. A particular solution, taken from the MP4/10, is the additional wing mounted above the bonnet just behind the air intake, a solution however shelved in the last few races of the championship. As for the livery, 1996 is the last year during which the McLaren single-seaters wear the classic red and white typical of the tobacconist sponsor Marlboro, which has accompanied the historic English team since 1973 and with which it has seen crowned world champions Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. The new MP4/11 immediately proves to be clearly more performing than the previous version, thanks also to the testing work carried out in the pre-season tests by Alain Prost, and allows the confirmed Mika Häkkinen and the newcomer David Coulthard to obtain performances close to the the most performing Williams-Renault, Ferrari and Benetton-Renault.

McLAREN MP4/11, Mika Häkkinen
Hungaroring, Hungarian GP '96

   In the first phase of the championship, the British Coulthard was the brightest driver, capable of obtaining two podiums at the Nürburgring and in Montecarlo, while in the second part of the season, with the introduction of the slightly evolved and modified MP4/11B above all in the chassis, it was the Finn Häkkinen to rise to the headlines by stringing together a long series of useful results, with the only withdrawals suffered in Germany and Portugal, and to climb four times on the lowest step of the podium. The fourth place conquered by McLaren with 49 points, the newfound competitiveness of the MP4/11 especially at the end of the season and an ever greater technical support provided by Mercedes-Benz bode well for the Ron Dennis team for the future, also given the imminent arrival of Adrian Newey, leaving Williams and about to work on the Woking single-seaters.