Matthew Wrigley driving a 1992 McLaren MP4/7down the pit lane at the start of the Ignition GP 90S F1 demonstration at the 2022 Silverstone Classic
The McLaren MP4/7A was McLaren International's Formula One entry for the 1992 season, and a follow-up to their successful MP4/6 from 1991. his was the first McLaren to use an semi-automatic transmission; it was a McLaren-designed electro-hydraulic clutch and paddle-shift unit with semi-automatic activation (a semi-automatic transmission had been tested during the previous season with the MP4/6 and was on track during practice for the 1991 Hungarian Grand Prix, but the team elected to retain that car's original manual transaxle for the entirety of that car's use in competition). The team's technology partner Techniques d'Avant Garde (TAG) helped with development. This system allowed the driver to keep his foot on the pedal, without lifting from it since the throttle cable was replaced with an electronic sensor. It also controlled engine speed, rev-matching, and clutch actuation automatically during gear changes. [2] The MP4/7A also gained traction control at the Hungarian Grand Prix.[3] A variant of the car, dubbed MP4/7B, featuring an experimental active suspension system, was introduced in testing for that year's Portuguese Grand Prix, though it proved insufficiently reliable and was not used for the remainder of the 1992 season. The system would, however, be used on the MP4/7A's replacement, 1993's MP4/8. With Honda pulling out of Formula One at the end of the 1992 season (after 69 wins as an engine supplier since 1983, 44 of them with McLaren), the team would be forced to use customer Ford V8 engines in 1993, thus the MP4/7A was the last McLaren to use the Japanese engines until the McLaren Honda partnership would be renewed prior to the 2015 season.
Size: 5121px × 3204px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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