Steve Nichols - Talks F1 history 1980-2001

Has anyone else watched this? It took me some time to get through it because its 2.5 hrs long. But I pretty much listened to it all. Extremely insightful to the history of F1, particularly the McLaren MP4/4. Things discussed that I found interesting were:

Why the MP4/4 was so good.
Who designed the MP4/4 (Gordon Murray)
Turbo technology - advantages and disadvantages.
Steve's experience at Ferrari paints a picture of chaos that probably remains there today.
How McLaren changed after he left, and how he worked to change it to get back on track.
Some technical ideas like McLarens 2nd brake pedal.
His first hand opinions of Senna, Prost, and Hakkinen.
His point of view of the Max vs Hamilton battle

Fortunately the creator did put chapters in so its easy to find certain topics of interest. It's well worth the watch.

 

How true that is !!

 

I´´ll take a look, althoguh these things are always the same: when we win it´s me, when we loose is someone else´s fault.

 

True that usually is the case. But at least this gave me knowledge of things I didn't have before, which helps me forms my own opinions and beliefs on the given topics.

Regarding the MP4/4, I had read at one point that Gordon Murray designed it, but never cared enough to look into it. But this interview discusses the inaccuracies of that. It talks about who did what, and the roles they played. Talks about books that were written regarding the car and designer. Certain examples of proof given to clear up an issue that I didn't even realize existed.

 

I guess a good part of the video is about the feud with Murray. I get that both want to sell their cars and want some publicity but well... it´s a bit childish. Yet, still without seeing the video, I´d be willing to bet that Nichols is right about this one. Why? Because Murray is a presumptuous mother****er.

I also bet that he omits that, as soon as Ferrari got the same Bridgestones than McLaren, they begun to go downhill. Yep, McLaren´s resurgence in the late 90s was not only because of his smart double pedal and exceptional leadership skills: it was the damn rubber!!!!

 

Steve Nichols has a car line?

Steve does make a statement about the third pedal and how effective it was, which may or may not be true. I never looked into the results to confirm. The technical explanation was fascinating and the stories that went with were entertaining. I do agree that the Bridgestones were a big factor for McLaren. The car was still very very good in 1999 without the brake pedal, but its fair to say Newey and team was able to design the MP4/14 to not require the device.

 

Yes, a retro remake of the McLaren M1A. He calls it N1A, not very surprisingly.

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At this I think Murray wins hand down.

 

I watched this video a year ago when it was released. Excellent content and well worth the watch. As for Steve Nichols I do not believe he considers himself God's gift to racecar design nor is he in some torrid competitive feud with Gordon Murray.

For decades GM has been saying the designed the MP4/4 and with the ramp up of his own car brand he decided to go on the offensive and berate that other designers had senior design input in the project. If you are going to do that you better be sure of your position and have both the data to back it up and be ready to do so publicly. So far all GM has provided is his word for it while others have come forward with hard physical proof to the contrary. The evidence is pretty damning and GM's silence speaks volumes.

This happens to be a subject I have an interest in and have done plenty of my own research to form my opinion. So far everything points to Steve Nichols' version of events to being the most accurate. Where it appears Murray did offer technical input was in the design of the rear of the car as it pertains to the transmission. He had a long relationship with Weismann Engineering and it stands to reason that they would have worked together on the project. At the end of the day I think it was a collaborative effort among several designers but that Nichol's had the final sign off on the design and as such should be the designer of record for the car.

 

As I noted last year—during the last round of discussions about this video:

What mostly leads me to believe that Nichols was on a bit of a crusade to claim authorship of the car is the pretty obvious obfuscation he was engaged in specifically as relates to the rear end of the car, including the integration of the gearbox, as mentioned by you: after going on about all the work done at the front of the car, he just touches on the rear end with its suspension and especially the integration of the Weismann gearbox like it was just a couple of brackets—the back end and gearbox was, in fact, key to the concept. Nichols makes it sound like David North was part of the established team—when in fact he was brought in by Murray, having worked on the low-line BT-55 with Murray and Weismann.

More of my thoughts here and also an older Autosport article on the subject:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-origins-of-mclaren-hondas-greatest-racer-5102252/5102252/

 

I think the problem Gordan Murray has, is he claimed a lot of credit for being the designer of the MP4/4. He went on record being the only guy consulted in a book about the design of the MP4/4. A book that a lot of the senior staff at McLaren signed off saying was untrue. He claimed to bring drawings and Intellectual Property from Brabham, which would be unethical and perhaps illegal. A lot of his claims have no proof, or were debunked as lies. This definitely hurts his credibility. And if one were to judge a person from attitude through videos, Gordan comes across as an arrogant jerk sometimes.

What Steve says about how the MP4/4 was an evolution of the MP4/3 is hard to argue, at least Aerodynamically. He seems to have much more technical knowledge of the car than Gordan has. While he doesn't seem to outright credit Gordan for things like the transmission, he doesn't deny Gordan had a role in having that transmission created.

Its funny how Steve makes a realistic assumption that Gordan wanted to take credit for the MP4/4 to help sell his cars. Believable. Yet now Steve is much more on record about his side of the story, while launching cars of his own.

Either way, it's unfortunate that the debate of who designed the car somewhat overshadows the features that made the MP4/4 so dominant. At least in the video, many of these features are still talked about.