McLaren M23

It's easy said: copy

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Introduction

On my middle school diary a slogan was proudly written on the cover in very large letters: "the one who invents is clever but the one who copies is a genius". As far as copying is concerning the Formula One is quite like a school class: team engineers are ready, in record time, to copy whatever solution may be proved effective, and sometimes that imitation activity turned out so exasperated to provoke judicial proceedings: we remind you of the vicissitude of Shadow versus Arrows, or the much more recent one between Ferrari and Toyota. But the history of races teaches us that to copy isn't sufficient, because the real matter is to understand how and in what context certain solutions are working out well. That's the reason why if we limit ourselves to remark the likeness between McLaren M23 and Lotus 72 it may seem a rather restrictive way. In 1970 when Colin Chapman showed his creature to the world, suddenly all that earlier existed on track appeared in neglected and out-of-date state. Two are the main innovations of the 72: the body car, wedge shaped, able to generate a partial aerodynamic load, the radiators that, moved onto the chassis sides, allowed the mass concentration round the barycentre and the use of a smaller and lighter cooling system. To those innovations they added other smaller novelties improving the car performance: first debut of inboard front brakes and of the rear wing with multiple flaps, while suspensions reached a high sophistication standard in any possible adjustment, by making the most of the tyre characteristics. Given the performance of the revolutionary single-seater driven by Colin Chapman, it was obvious that everybody threw himself into copying its solutions and results, but the prize for second placed was certainly given to the McLaren M23. The Woking team was the only one that had ideally interpreted the themes introduced by the 72, by taking those shapes further up to an absolute perfection, meanwhile avoiding certain technical problems that had given lots of headaches to Lotus engineers. Like the 72, the M23 turned out a winning car, able to remain competitive for many years, allowing the team founded by Bruce McLaren to go out of mediocrity and rise to the leading role in the Formula One history.

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Introduction

History

Collage

After Bruce McLaren's death, in June 1970, owing to a tragic accident occurred during a practice session at the Goodwood Circuit, the team reins were held by American Teddy Mayer, the former legal advisor of the New Zealander driver together with Phill Kerr. From the management of the team this unimportant American lawyer soon passed to take over the property, in partnership with same Kerr and Eoin Young. To that tenacious man, keen on skiing, was given the credit for leading McLaren to the top of world motor-racing. In the early 70's the company management was a rather complicated activity because of numerous commitments: besides the F1, McLaren was present at the Indy races, at the exaggerated and millionaire Can-Am and in Formula 5000. The frenetic activity that swallowed vast resources, permitted to pour knowledge what with one formula and another. It was just from one of that pouring that it started the M23 history in the making and the author of such a curious experiment was Gordon Coppuck, one of the key men in the engineering history of that decade. Aeronautical engineer with a motorcycle racer background, Gordon Coppuck made a name for himself in the 1965 motor racing, after a short experience at the National Gas Turbine. It was Robin Herd, responsible for the Can-Am and Formula One designing dept., who wanted him in McLaren. When Herd left for setting up the March with Max Mosley, Coppuck went to work under Jo Marquart's guidance, and then take on part of the responsibility in 1971. The Formula One designing was left to Ralph Bellamy, while Gordon concentrated his efforts on the Indy cars, by designing the M16, inspired by the Colin Chapman's Lotus 72. Therefore, the new car had a wedge shape that could generate an aerodynamic load, side radiators, centred tank, chisel nose, flat and low, with two sideways adjustable wing profiles, balanced by a monoplane large wing on the rear and steadied by a stout tubular. The single-seater had the powerful Offenhauser, 5815 cc, producing up to 710 hp. The American and traditional racing car engine, however, had no bearing functions but had to be supported and slung into the aluminium monocoque by an additional tubular frame which assured the required steadiness to the unit. The gearbox was Hewland LG500 type, three-speed, which highlighted the qualities of acceleration with respect to American traditional two-speed transmissions. The new single-seater turned out to be up to the Colt Ford cars that were dominating the Indy series in those years, and in 1973 it won the Usac title driven by McCluskey, while in 1974 the victory arrived at the famous Indianapolis 500 Miles with Mark Donobue, a very good American driver. At the end of 1971, when the M16 was by now ready, Gordon Coppuck had what can be described as a flash of inspiration: he matched the M16 chassis with the Cosworth engine and the suspensions of the Formula One M19. The M23 was born, but nobody was yet conscious of it! In fact, that collage had no immediate consequences, but in the following winter Coppuck passed from designing the cars for Usac to the single-seaters of Formula One and, the M23 project was carried out in nine weeks. It is worth mentioning that in the McLaren staff there was a very young John Barnard: someone observed that the young technician, the future F1 genius in the 80's, had taken up same talent for everlasting and perfect car shapes from Coppuck. The light and stiff aluminium monocoque belonging to the M16 was the basis of the M23. Characteristic front front nose was integrated into the auxiliary structure, which gave the driver a bigger room and a passive safety. In comparison with the rival Lotus, it had less clean lines but its side wing profiles were more elaborated and delimited by sideways bulkheads, thus allowing a bigger aerodynamic load. The small air-intake, high positioned, allowed the cockpit ventilation. The cockpit was featured by a significant forward positioning towards the front axle, necessary for the mid-car location of the big safety tank, which replaced the conventional side cells used in the previous single-seaters. On either side there were lateral small boxes which conveyed airflows towards the water radiators located at the end of air-ducts, before the rear wheels. These structures were a step forward with respect to the ones used on the 72 and the same M16. Their drawing gave a curious arrow shape to the car chassis, besides helping, remarkably, to the absorption of strong lateral impacts. On the monocoque they mounted V8 Cosworth accredited by then of 465 bhp at 10500 rpm approx. As far as Cosworth was concerning, it's worth mentioning that McLaren was developing a special relation with its engineer. In fact, in that period, the Cosworth Company saw a considerable increase of customers and its facilities were no longer sufficient to manage the construction and revision of the required engines. Thus, production was subcontracted by six authorized companies, among which the Nicholson-McLaren Engines Ltd., 50% controlled by John Nickolson and 50% by the McLaren company. In this way the team took advantage of it in regard to the other constructors, being in a position to control the production of its own engines directly. The English V8 was fed by an airbox with a generous square mouth, which left the heads uncovered and incorporated the protection roll bar. Unlike powerful American Offenhauser, Cosworth had a bearing function and it was able to bear gearbox and suspensions without using auxiliary chassis. Transmission was a traditional Hewland DG 400 five-speed transaxle. On either side of the gear-box the self-ventilated disk brakes "Lockheed". As said before, suspensions were inspired by the M19 designed by Ralph Bellamy. They were very innovative ones because of small links, which allowed a rising rate springing system. The rear suspension system was an upper rocker arm and a reversed lower wishbone with vertical inboard damper units and anti-roll bar. The front suspension was made by a top link , a reversed lower wishbone, rod acting on the coil spring/damper unit and anti-roll bar. Suspensions had always been a weak point for the M23: in drivers' opinion the single-seater had its Achilles' heel in out cornering. The drive missing urged Coppuck to find anti squat solutions, by anchoring rear reaction sprags more and more on the top, to avoid doing a car belly flop if accelerating. Thus the drive improved, but the braking compensation got worse. Another weak point was the lack of agility in winding circuits, which they tried to avoid by increasing the wheelbase progressively from the initial 2565 mm to 2743mm achieved in 1976. Standing out for its rationality and cleaning there was the rear monoplane profile: smaller than the one on the M16, was supported by a tapering strut showing the care of designing aerodynamic parts, which offered a more than sufficient load to keep the single-seater stuck to the ground. On either side of the strut there were oil radiators, conventionally located for those years. From its general look the M23 already gave a feeling of aerodynamic efficiency and speed. Showing care in detail but not sophisticated, this single-seater had one of its strong points in its simplicity, which allowed McLaren to sell its chassis to smaller race teams, guaranteeing economy in the management without sacrificing performance. All that the M23 efficacious and clear lines seemed to promise it will be then confirmed by its long and competitive career.

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1973-1974: The races for the first title

The new M23 made its debut in the winter between 1972 and 1973 on the Goodwood circuit, driven by veteran Denny Hulme. Its nickname was the Bear, together with Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon, was part of the trio of New Zealander drivers that characterized the 60's. Few people remember the 1967 world championship in a Brabham Repco, and only very few know his success at the CanAm, when this series was at the peak of its popularity. Probably, there are no photographs showing him younger or older than he had ever appeared, either angrier or more pleasure-loving than the quiet look of a gentle and silent man he was portrayed. Eoin Young described him as a craftsman in opposition to Amon, the artist: "if you gave him a car he made it run. And win, if he wanted it." In a few words "Denny was Denny. The Bear" Hulme's statements during those first practices were enthusiastic ones: "it runs as a bomb," he revealed to a present journalist. From the beginning the M23 winning features were appearing: the aerodynamic load was striking and stability in braking was exceptional one. According to Teddy Mayer's philosophy, "If you want to finish first before you must finish", the single-seater was tested for a long time to make all defects of youth come out and for that reason it missed first the two season GPs, Argentine and Brazil. As a news fact, both races were won by Emerson Fittibaldi. M23 debut took place at the South Africa GP, on Kyalamy circuit, where one only M23 was lined up for Danny Hulme. Under Yardley cosmetics sponsorship, the single-seater immediately took the pole position with 1'16''28. But Jacky Stewart was the driver who stole the show of the race and started chasing Fittibaldi on top of the list. From the second Spanish GP there were two M23s, with a second chassis for Peter Revson, the young son and the heir of the family that controlled the Revlon multinational. In spite of good performance in qualification, in race they didn't succeed in keeping pace with Fittibaldi and while the Zealander arrived sixth, the young American was fourth. Still nothing had happened in the following GPs of Belgium and Monaco, where Stewart dominated, but it is certain that the car had no problem of reliability and ended races regularly. First win of M23 was at the Sweden GP: during practices the second driver of Lotus, Ronnie Peterson dominated, but in race it was Danny Hulme who moved up to the top of the podium, he who had taken the lead of the race two laps after the checked flag. Less brilliant Revson, who was seventh in qualification and in race. Was it the beginning of new McLaren domination or was Danny in state of grace? In the following GPs Jody Scheckter had got what it takes to succeed rather than the M23 performance. At the French GP the passionate South African, called for a temporary Revson replacement, placed his McLaren second on the starting grid, then spoiling everything by a crash. However, his performance impressed Teddy Mayer favourably, who offered him a further chance with a third single-seater for the home GP, Silverstone. Jody thought he had better thank his team by causing one of the biggest pileups never seen before in F1: in the multi-car pileup all drivers were practically involved and it took an eternity for the track managers to reach De Adamich, to get him out of the car with his broken legs, and more than an hour was necessary to clear all the scraps away from the track. The race of survivors saw Stewart throwing the certain victory to the wind on account of a banal spin. Revson took advantage of it, thus he scored the second win for the M23, while Hulme got the lowest step of podium. Therefore Kamikaze Scheckter's deeds were not useless. In the following races the struggle for the title was again between Fittibaldi and Stewart and McLaren cars nearly finished in the shade: among Dutch, Germany, Austria and Italy the best scores that the M23 collected were third place at Nurburgring with Ickx and another at Monza with Revson. Well, was Ickx given to the McLaren? Yes, he was, but only for the German GP. Teddy Mayer didn't resist temptation to offer the wheel to the Belgian, just when the driver was on complete bad terms with Ferrari because of a season that borders on the ridiculous little by little that it was evolving. This represented the opportunity for Jacky of sending a message to Maranello people and for Teddy Mayer was certainly a stunt. The Monza Grand Prix of that year, on the contrary, remained in the history for what happened among the Lotus drivers: Fittibaldi set his last hopes on struggling for victory over Stewart and the Italian competition was the last chance to remain in race. Unfortunately the fast circuit in Brianza was also one of the places where Ronnie Peterson could express sprinter talent at his best. Obviously, the Sweden won after a hard fight with his team mate. Emerson took the foul play badly, first because he would have expected a more cooperative behaviour from Ronny, and second he felt as he were fired from Lotus, that evidently no longer believed in the possibilities of his recovering from Stewart, seen that he didn't give any order of team. In A short time this fact will end by getting McLaren also involved. At the Canadian Grand Prix, on the fast Mosport circuit, McLaren again lined up three M23s, recalling Jody Scheckter on track. Under a downpour they ran a chaotic race that saw Peter Revson gaining podium, while Hulme finished 13th and Scheckter, just for a change, didn't see the check flag because of an accident. In the season last GP, at Watkins Glen, three M23s again. On practice Francois Cevert died tragically, Jacky Stewart's fast and talented squire. Tyrrell cars were retired in mourning, with the Scotsman who already had the title in his pocket. Peterson, after struggling hardly with rising star James Hunt, won the race and the constructor's title for Lotus, while McLaren drivers have got only crumbs: Scheckter broke suspensions, Hulme was fourth and Revson fifth. On the whole, the M23 was fast enough in single lap, but not so performing in race, in spite of the reliability that limited its retirements. Were these problems related to a still fledgling car or was it missing a driver able to get the M23 to fly? The 1974 season announced great novelties for McLaren: first of all Phill Kerr managed to negotiate a millionaire sponsorship with two giants: Marlboro and Texaco. Thus the graphic myth was born: the white and red livery that had characterized McLaren single-seaters until 1997. The new sponsor's money was partly used to recruit the man of the moment: Emerson Fittibaldi! The Brazilian will join Denny Hulme, while Revson had signed for the new created Shadow. However, there was money left for a third car: the Yardley Company cannot afford the rising rhythms of investments required to remain in Formula One, but, at the same time, the company did not want to miss this important show for its brand. Therefore, an agreement was reached with Teddy Mayer on an independent organization running a third car that was then given to "Mike the Bike", in the world Michael Bailey Hailwood, a motorcycling legend who got involved into a not very brilliant career in F1. New economic and human resources gave free rein to McLaren engineers' imagination. In fact, the 1974 will be a very creative year for the M23. First of all they carried out a deep development plan on suspensions by introducing an adjustable anti-roll bar. For the Monaco GP they worked out a new nose with two purposes: narrower than the conventional one, it offered a better visibility to drivers and allowed the use of longer wing profiles. During the practices of the Great Britain Grand Prix for the first time a radio set on board was experimented to communicate with paddocks. Then Gordon made some interesting aerodynamic experiments like the adoption of an upswept panel on the underbody. This device had the task to push down the airflow sideways before entering under the central part of the car. A few years later, Collin Chapman applied the opposite concept, trying to increase the airflow under the body in order to produce a depression, but Coppuck's device may be considered as the miniskirts' ancestor later seen on the Lotus 78. Another absolute innovation was the use of an extractable steering wheel to allow an easier and quicker exit from the cockpit. With regard to that one, we need to point out that the frame destined to Fittibaldi had a larger base to hold the champion's generous hips. Then we cannot forget that in the winter 1973-1974 the ghost of oil crisis hung over the world: McLaren engineers tested a Cosworth engine fed by methanol, even if the results of that experiment were completely unknown. The 74' season opened in Argentina and it was immediately highlighted the McLaren rival, that will be the competing car for the whole season. Ferrari went back to the top of Formula One with a new car, B3S, and driven by two new drivers, Clay Regazzoni, from a province of Ticino, and Niki Lauda, from Austria, both coming from BRM. Ferrari with Regazzoni took pole position, but in race it was Hulme who won for the last time in his career. The Neo Zealander was so clever and hard to rule over a young and hot tempered Lauda. In Brazil a fierce duel was fought between the M23B driven by Fittibaldi and the 72'Lotus driven by Peterson: at the beginning Ronnie seemed to get the better of it, but the Sweden had to go into the pit stops because of a puncture and left the lead to Emerson who won in front of a public of fans in frenzy. In South Africa Peter Revson lost his life at the wheel of his Shadow. His death aroused deep impression, in particular on Hulme who started having enough of the races. In race the Brabham driven by Reutemann dominated, while the McLarens, except for the car driven by Hailwood, ended out of scores, but it wasn't a great loss given that no one of the two Ferraris crossed the finishing line. In Spain Ferrari cars expressed all their capacity: Lauda and Regazzoni were too strong and Fittibaldi had to content himself with the third place. The Brazilian driver made up for it in the following Belgium Grand Prix, where he imposed himself on Lauda, while Regazzoni was fourth, Hulme and Hailwood were sixth and seventh respectively. Peterson won at Monaco, favoured by Lauda retirement on lap 32, while Regazzoni, in spite of his going into the pits, managed to take away the fourth place from Fittibaldi. The other two Mclarens went off the track. In Sweden, Tyrrells driven by Scheckter and Depailler dominated, while Fittibaldi had to content himself with a poor fourth place, made more precious by the retirement of both Ferrari cars. The cars of the prancing horse made heavily up with the "double" (Lauda-Regazzoni) in the following Dutch GP, where Fittibaldi contented himself with the third place ahead of Hailwood. Hulme was obliged to retire because of injection troubles. The French Grand prix saw the opening of the new Dijon circuit: Peterson won before Lauda and Regazzoni. Fittibaldi obliged to retire due to the engine failure. In England, at Brands Hatch, Lauda and Peterson gained first row with the same time, but in race Scheckter dominated before Fittibaldi: the Brazilian never got to be fast enough to take the lead of the race, but he maximized the punctures that forced Lauda and Regazzoni to go into the pit stop, they finished fifth and fourth respectively. At Nurburgring it was a real massacre for McLaren: at start Fittibaldi and Hulme collided violently. The Brazilian had the suspension broken, while the Neo Zealander was left with a missing wheel. Now, we wonder what on hearth got into Hulme to take possession of the spare car destined to Fittibaldi, being aware of number 5 marked on both sides, just the Emerson race number. This fact was immediately remarked by race stewards that black flagged Hulme. But that's not the end: at the wheel of the only surviving McLaren, Hailwood crashed frontally into barriers, smashing both legs. "Mike the bike" saved his skin, but his career is over and just in his best season. It was an umpteenth joke in a black day, victory to Regazzoni. In Austria it was Reutemann who won, while Fittibaldi didn't take advantage of the Ferrari troubles, (Lauda retired and Regazzoni had a puncture), once again betrayed by his Cosworth. The day was saved by Denny Hulme who gained second place, while the third M23B, driven by David Hobbs, finished seventh. At Monza the world classification was rather interesting: Regazzoni 46 scores, Scheckter 41, Fittibaldi 37 and Lauda 36. Just for a change Peterson proved himself the king of Monza, his allies were the troubles met by both Ferraris that from a certain dominium suddenly passed to retirement. Fittibaldi took also advantage of it by scraping together a second place that let him hope on the world title, but in the last two races he had to give of his best. In Canada Fittibaldi cleared up his intentions and took the pole position ahead of Lauda, but at start he was pipped by the Austrian driver who took the lead firmly for 68 laps, until the sand left on track by Watson betrayed him: Niki car spun right round and Emerson went and won the race before Regazzoni who could do nothing to reach the Brazilian. Thus Clay scored same points as his competitor in the McLaren and there was only one Grand Prix left to the title-giving. Behind them Scheckter had still some hope. The practice sessions of the USA GP offered a Siberian view with winter temperatures and snowflakes falling onto the track. Fittibaldi qualified in the eighth position, behind Lauda (third row) and ahead of Regazzoni (fifth row). In race the Ferrari some troubles to suspensions obliged Lauda to retire and Regazzoni to three pit stops, while Scheckter had to say goodbye to the group for engine failure. Fittibaldi ran consequently and with his main competitors out of scores, it was sufficient for him to be in the fourth position to win his second title and permit McLaren to earn its first constructors' championship in his history. The M23B didn't certainly prove the fastest car in the batch, neither in one single lap nor in race, but its constant performance influenced, besides the management talent of a driver like Fittibaldi, who ran maximizing the results in order to gain a championship.

Encore

The 1975 was a transitory season: Hulme retired from races was replaced by a young German driver, Jochen Mass, who ran the 1974 last two races in a Yardley, proving rather reliable. There was no longer the third car, which had so much contributed to gain the constructors' title in the previous season. From technical point of view, during the season they worked hard on suspensions. Spacers were experimented between engine and gearbox and they tested new car sides closing the space between radiators and rear tyres, prelude to the radical evolution made in the following year. The championship was guncotton for Fittibaldi: in the M23C equipped with an ever seen pull-rod front suspension, he won immediately in Argentina, taking advantage of Hunt's mistake, who was leading the race in his astonishing Hesketh-Ford. In Brazil Pace got the better of it in his Brabham, but Emerson was second before his team mate Mass, who achieved first podium in his career. In South Africa Scheckter won in Tyrrell, while Fittibaldi retired and Mass was only tenth. In Spain Fittibaldi was posing for a photographer, between a practice session and another: he was sitting on the Armco barriers and, probably because of an assembly defect, these ones broke off under his weight, causing the world champion to fall to the ground. No harm, but already at Silverstone, on the occasion of the Champions' Race, Emerson had been noticed for his protesting against the Formulas 5000 entering, as judged risky. He started putting the Grand Prix under a lonely boycott, pointing out the insufficient circuit safety. Nobody followed him in that crusade and he will be the only driver against the race. Sadly, events proved that his reasons were right: Rolf Stommelen went off the track for the rear wing loss and killed two firemen and two photographers. Many other drivers had accidents during a chaotic race, pressing the stewards to interrupt the race: Jochen Moss won, the driver who managed with a clever move to get out of the mess. That will be the German driver's only success in his career. At Monaco the new Ferrari 312T, driven by Lauda, was strongly dominating over the other cars. He set out the pole and won a race characterized by the rain, before Fittibaldi. Left in the shade, because of bad luck and troubles to a still young single-seater, the Ferrari drivers sounded the charge and Lauda won in Belgium and Swede. On the contrary, a more and more formidable Hunt imposed himself in Holland, before Lauda and Regazzoni. During that period the M23Cs disappeared from sports news, suffering several retirements and remaining, however, always out of scores. In France, Lauda was still first on the finishing line before Hunt, but Mass managed to gain the third position and Fittibaldi behind the young team mate. There was a return to smile, at the Silverstone GP where, in an intermittent rain, which forced numerous changes of tyres and a finish ahead of time, Fittibaldi dominated in a chaotic race. His first position was hardly struggled for the victory over Jarier, Hunt, Pace and Regazzoni. Emerson didn't know yet, but that will be his last win in Formula One. In Germany both cars stopped, like many other competitors, because of suspensions and punctures. It was the surviving driver, Reutemann, who won. In Austria rain and chaos again: the race was newly stopped and a totally crazy Brambilla in the March won in an incredible way. At Monza the Brazilian succeeded in spoiling Ferrari enjoyment, by making his way between Regazzoni, the winner, and Lauda. In the States Lauda led the race steadily, but behind him Fittibaldi and Regazzoni struggled hardly for the second place: the Ticinese driver showed himself a bit too rough in some actions and stewards black flagged him, thus Jochen Mass, behind Emerson, could easily be included and complete the podium. Notwithstanding the disappointing period inside the season, Fittibaldi closed the championship for ever, behind Lauda, but in the constructors' score McLaren was overtaken by Ferrari and Brabham. In those days, Fittibaldi's aeroplane was seen to land in Modena surroundings. Has the Brazilian been recruited by Ferrari? Of course, not! Emerson was going to Giacomo Caliri's Fly office, the former Ferrari engineer who had the job of designing the Copersucar. There were all the requisites for doing well on paper: the operation to make Brazil enter the Formula One could rely on money, so much money, from national sugar refineries, Embraer aeronautic industry support and Caliri technical expertise. Moreover, at the Copersucar's Emerson could find a more familiar environment and run beside his brother Wilson. The operation will turn out to be the disaster that will clean his pockets out, the Brazilian sugar refineries funds and it will produce scarce results on track. We have to recognize Fittibaldi's merit to have recovered from those years and began a new and glorious career in the States. The Brazilian driver leaving McLaren brought a new comer that may be considered one of the oddest and, at the same time, extraordinary driver that F1 had ever known: James Simon Wallis Hunt. The ex-medicine student turned to motor racing was a son of flowers who came up from nothing. After a long apprenticeship in minor formulae, where he earned the nickname, not so encouraging, "Hunt the Shunt" because of the number of accidents caused by him, he found his patron in Lord Hesketh. The odd English multimillionaire built a team around the impetuous driver and together they obtained notable results. Besides his brilliant performances on track, Hunt also distinguished himself for his non-conformism: he often walked barefooted, always surrounded by beautiful girls; he smoked like a chimney and didn't object to drink. The comments on his colleagues were very sharp and his behaviour on the track was uninhibited. As regards the M23 was by then technically obsolete. They started the design of a new single-seater, the M26: its working out was long and, in an unexplainable way, full of difficulties. For a short period they began with the M23, conforming the car to the new regulations in force from the Spanish Grand Prix. The new version was called M23D. Under the new regulations the airbox had not to be higher than 850 mm from the floor pan, eliminating those monstrous mouths that were rising towards the sky. The projecting part of rear wing had to be within 800 mm from the mid-rear wheel, instead of one meter, minimizing the load effect and cancelling certain strange interpretations as the one worked out by the McLaren Company for the 1974 Canadian Grand Prix. For the airbox McLaren studied a solution with two air intakes, an overturned L shaped, each side of the tubular roll bar. As for the rear wing the monoplane profile had the Ferrari school arrow configuration, while the oil radiators disappeared from the rear area, moved sideway behind the water radiators, and were vertically positionated. As it was said, the wheel base had still increased, while the Cosworth engine was now powered by 480 hp at 10600 rpm. A new six-speed gearbox permitted to take full advantage of its renewed power and an innovative pneumatic start up system was introduced. Moreover, Hunt's stature forced the McLaren engineers to brush up the old 23/8-2 chassis, longer than the others. Was all that sufficient to make the M23 more competitive? At Interlagos the car seemed to have gained on the single lap, which had never been his strong point in the past: Hunt qualified on pole before Lauda , but in race the Austrian flew away, while James smashed his first McLaren. In South Africa still pole for the English driver and victory to Lauda, but this time James crossed the finishing line in the second position, before his team mate Mass. For the first time the United States GP West was run at Long Beach circuit: on the streets of downtown Regazzoni and Lauda have been dominating from the first to the last lap, while Hunt didn't resist the call of walls and he retired for an accident, leaving his team mate to struggle for the fifth place. Till now Ferrari drivers had only counted on the old 312T: what are they going to do when the new T2 will arrive? A question that kept many persons awake at night. At the Spanish Grand Prix the new regulations came in force: the 72 and also the six-wheel Tyrrell P34 debuted. Hunt qualified on pole before Lauda, but at the race start he was pipped by Niki, who took flight. James didn't lose heart and put pressure on the Austrian till he managed to overtake him and win the race. Unfortunately, after checks his M23 was found 18 mm oversized (2150 mm max allowed width): the McLaren managers justified themselves advancing the pretext of assembling new tyres with a more bulging shoulder, which involved 9 mm wider on each side but it wasn't sufficient to avoid him being disqualified. In Belgium, at Zolder, Ferrari cars still marked "double" with Lauda's victory. Hunt retired on lap 35 because of gearbox breakage, while Mass finished sixth. It was a real unlucky beginning of the season, Bad luck went on at Monaco, where after only 24 laps Hunt was obliged to retire due to engine failure. Lauda won ahead of the extraordinary Tyrrell P34 cars driven by Scheckter and Depailler. Mass scraped up the fifth place, proving more constant than his team mate in this early championship. In Swede Tyrrell cars even got "double" with Scheckter on the top of podium, while this time Lauda had to be content with the third place. Hunt was only fifth, but at least he saw the finishing line. In France the 12-cyl Ferraris let both drivers down when they seemed then to dominate far and white: Hunt took advantage of it having already taken the pole position. In July, in an unexplainable way, it was cancelled the disqualification Hunt had suffered in Spain, but things didn't change to a greater extent: Lauda scored 52 points versus Depailler 26 and 25 got by the English driver and Scheckter. If Ferraris had been dominating as they have done till that time, it was difficult that things might change. In England, Hunt tried to make the most of that positive moment: he qualified second behind Lauda, but at the start Regazzoni bumped into his team mate and crashed into the heap of running cars. James had his M23D smashed in smithereens. He went back to the pits, got in the spare car to run for the second start and then to win the race. Pity that Hunt was allowed to go back to the track only in his repaired car. It was a blunder from his team, with a little help from Ferrari, as they seemed to have manipulated it to make the story come to light. Hunt was disqualified to Lauda's advantage and he fell into depression. Witnesses reported that the English driver did not sleep well and drank everything he found in front of him, so bitter was his disappointment. In Germany, one driver's misfortune brought the luck to the other. At the terrible Nurburgring circuit Hunt gained the pole. At the start, it was raining but already after the first lap the bad weather stopped and drivers were obliged to go to pits to change wet tyres. Lauda went out with slicks. After a few kilometres his Ferrari impacted an embankment, bounced back across the track and stopped to be crashed into Lunger. The Italian single-seater caught fire like a torch. Niki was miraculously extracted still alive from the cockpit, but his burns were so grave that his life was despaired of. Hunt took advantage of it and in a race where drivers could still see the scene of the awful blaze; he nerved himself to win the race. Ferrari didn't go to Austria: Hunt gained the pole, but in race he was only fourth behind Watson (Penske), Laffitte (Ligier) and Nilsson (Lotus). In Holland Mass was absent, while Ferrari entered with Regazzoni only: James easily won ahead of the Ferrari driver. At Monza Hunt produced 46 points versus 58 point of Lauda, but for the English driver the things were taking a turn for the worse: in a superhuman effort, still deeply affected by the injuries at the German Grand Prix. Niki Lauda was back to defend his score in classification. As it wasn't enough, Hunt could not find a proper set-up for his M23D and in the score list he had to content himself with the 25th place on the grid, before his team mate Mass. In race it was worse and both McLarens were obliged to retirement (Hunt because off the track, Mass due to the injection trouble), while Lauda pulled up a desperate fourth place. The earlier effort damaged the Austrian at the following Canadian GP. At Mosport Park Hunt took another brilliant pole and in race he held out against the Tyrrell driven by Depailler, in spite of being intoxicated by exhaust gas. His win was also more important because Lauda arrived only eighth. In the States James got one pole and one victory again. This time he had to curb an unrestrained Scheckter. Lauda succeeded in placing himself on the lowest step of podium, before Jochen Mass. The final battle for the title was fought at the Fuji circuit, Japan: Lauda qualified on pole steadily, while Hunt was immediately after him, but in the morning of GP it rained. There were many versions of that story but the most well-grounded version was the one referring to a meeting and an agreement made by the drivers in order to stop racing in that downpour. It couldn't be explained the reason why after two laps in the rain, Lauda was the only driver to retire. During the race the weather improved and the track got dry. Hunt drove like a possessed, but few laps before the end was obliged to go to the pits because of a puncture; mechanics met some difficulties in lifting the car with a waste time for James, who was champing inside the cockpit. At the end he got so angry that he didn't realize he had crossed the finishing line third, winning the 1977 championship. When he went back to the stands, he heaped abuse on poor Teddy Mayer, who with difficulty succeeded in getting him to understand he had conquered the championship. Honours were granted to the English driver, while to the Austrian driver was awarded a sort of character assassination from the press and fans. As regards the famous agreement among drivers, there was then a rumour about a plot among the English teams to damage Ferrari. Without the awful Nurburgring accident, Niki would have won with a wide margin and there would have been no history for James: the M23 was not up to Ferrari cars and it was clear that the English driver had to give much of his talent. The real value of the single-seater was most likely given by the average between Hunt's results and a bit duller ones obtained by Mass. It should be also remarked that the M23 had never been as fast in the qualification as when it was run by the English driver: in the previous seasons no McLaren driver managed to collect eight pole positions. Hunt, the inimitable driver, will appear to the prize-giving ceremony wearing an impeccable dinner jacket and tennis shoes. The 1977 should finally see the new M26's debut, but during long private tests the new single-seater didn't prove so fast as the old one, obliging McLaren to let the M23D join again the fight, at least for the first part of the championship: Hunt gained three pole positions in six GPs (Argentina, Brazil and South Africa), but only a second place (Brazil) and scored some good placing by points. Still a poorer score for Mass, who drove the new M26 only three GPs later than Hunt, and he had to go crazy in the old car. After the Sweden GP the M23 chassis were managed by small racing teams like Chesterfield Racing or Iberia Airlines. Marlboro McLaren again entered the M23 at the 1977 British GP to launch Gilles Villeneuve (qualification position 9 and race position 11): Teddy Mayer had been in the right, but at the end of the season Ferrari took away the promising Canadian from McLaren to replace Niki Lauda. On the contrary, at Monza, in the same year GP, a new opportunity was offered to Bruno Giacomelli, destined to join Alfa Romeo orbit. They were not the only future talented drivers to make their debut at the wheel of the old and glorious M23: in 1978 Nelson Piquet, a very young driver, took part in the Austrian, Dutch and Italian GPs with a chassis entered by the BS Fabrications team. The Brazilian collected two retirements and a miraculous 9th place at Monza, a farewell with dignity to the M23 and Formula One.

Stefano Costantino

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• A.A.V.V., Autosprint, anno 1976.
• Montagna P., "Il leggendario Gran Premio d'Italia", A.C. Promotion, Milano 1989.
• Rancati G., "Ferrari che gente", allegato a Ruoteclassiche n°91, Domus, Milano 1996.
• Guizzardi G., Rizzo E., "Cento anni di automobilismo sportivo", Edizioni White Star, Vercelli 2001.
• Young E., "Forza Amon", Haynes Publishing, London 2003.
• Diepraam M., Nyberg R., "Emerson Fittipaldi", 8w.forix.com, 2004.
• Klauss Ewald, "The Great Mac", in researchracing.de.
• Nyberg R., "The Lord and the vagabond", 8w.forix.com, 2001.
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• Galpin D., "Customer Power: the Coswoth DFV story", 8w.forix.com, 1999.
• Allard D., "Elisir di lunga vita", in Autocollezioni magazine n°24, Rieti, 2005.

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