Test a McLaren MP4/7 with Senna and Berger

Image: The Cahier Archive

“Although we won a few titles before, we feel that this year is going to be even harder than the last year.” – Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna and his McLaren-Honda team had a new set of Formula 1 World Championships on their mantlepieces at the start of the 1992 Formula 1 season, having taken out the 1991 championship in fairly dominant fashion. But it there was an unease in the air; the sense of an impending storm.

Williams-Renault had been getting stronger and more reliable throughout 1991 as they developed their technologically-superior FW14, and pre-season testing signalled a fresh start to the two teams’ competition. Senna had dominated the opening rounds of the 1991 season, winning four in a row and setting himself up in a commanding position for the rest of the season. Could they manage a similar feat? Would they be the ones to struggle with reliability as they raced to out-develop the FW14B?

“I always said that in five years there will be no car in Formula 1 that doesn’t have the semi-automatic gearbox.” – Gerhard Berger

In this video Senna and teammate Gerhard Berger get to testing their brand-spanking new McLaren MP4/7, with particular attention to their new semi-automatic gearboxes and the trials faced by Formula 1 teams in the pregnant moments in the leadup to the Formula 1 season.

Image: The Cahier Archive

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