5 most iconic Formula One cars of all time

With the winter test of the 2016 Formula One season in Spain drawing to a close, all cars were revealed at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, although a few will see livery and spec changes in the lead-up to the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park on the 20th of March.Each team has brought improved cars (or so they hope) to the table, and if testing is anything to go by, the 2016 season promises to be significantly more competitive than 2014 and 2015, which saw proceedings thoroughly dominated by Mercedes.Both Scuderia Ferrari drivers, champions Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen have seen preliminary success, while 2015 strugglers McLaren-Honda have also shown promise, with former World Champion Fernando Alonso seeing quick times, as have Williams.

#5 Ferrari F2002

Michael Schumacher took the F2002 to championship victory

Ferrari had a dominant 5-year rein in Formula One, with by then two-time World Champion Michael Schumacher establishing his rein firmly in 1999, with eventual teammate Rubens Barichello helping spur the team to even greater success in that period.

In 2002, which saw 17 races throughout the season, it became evident no other team or driver – Schumacher – would win the championship, with the German finishing every race either as the winner or in second place.

Only at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit did Schumacher have a lower finish – in third, finishing every single race on the podium.

The car itself, piloted by two very strong drivers was so effective that despite three retirements and two DNS races, Barichello himself finished the other races strongly enough that he was second in the world drivers’ championships – 67 points behind teammate Schumacher.

It was aerodynamically superior to every other car on the grid that year, and back in the day of the V10 engines, sat low, and according to drivers and engineers was far easier to handle than its predecessor, the championship-winning F2001. Despite not having been the best engine on the grid – with the BMW-powered Williams more powerful than its Maranello rival, it was easier to handle and far superior on driveability.

The car saw its gearbox replaced by an improved, lightweight version of the one used in its predecessor, the F2001, with the lightweight titanium reducing speeds by upto 15% that year.

This, and a series of other changes, saw the car more aerodynamically efficient than any of its rivals, and that streamlined movement would win them the 2002 and 2003 championships.

#4 Ferrari F2004

Michael Schumacher continued Ferrari’s period of dominance in the F2004

Like many of its predecessors, the Ferrari F2004 was driven by Formula One icon Michael Schumacher. It had some of the biggest names in the sport attached to its design and concept, among them Ross Brawn.

Michael Schumacher had by then already won 4 championships on the trot from 1999, and during that time the Ferrari F2002 had been one of the sport’s most successful cars with 15 wins of 19 races. The German had also been behind the wheel in that car.

Brawn, Rory Byrne and Aldo Costa based the F2004 on the best parts of the F2002, and worked on tweaks that improved the changes made to its successor, the F2003-GA. The 2003 car had, again, been similar to its predecessor, but saw significant tyre wear, an issue the team wanted to resolve on priority.

The F2004 was just as successful as its ‘parent’ car, the F2002, and won 15 of 2004’s 18 races. 12 of those were won by Michael Schumacher, with teammate Rubens Barichello, who spent much of that season on the podium, pitching in with two wins of his own.

Brawn, Byrne and Costa tweaked the engine for longevity, while the suspension also saw changes to reduce tyre wear, a significant problem with the previous car.

It would see Ferrari and Michael Schumacher win their fifth constructors’ championship in a row – the seventh and final for Schumacher; no driver has since come close.

#3 Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid

Lewis Hamilton won his third championship title and Mercedes’ second in a row in 2015 in the W06

The statistically most successful car in the history of the sport, Mercedes’ F1 W06 hybrid had a 67% win record over rivals Ferrari in the 2015 Formula One season.

Piloted by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, the car won all but three of the year’s 19 races, with all of those three victories going to four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

In addition to the wins the two drivers amassed over the year, at least one Mercedes car was on the podium for 17 of the 19 races of the year. The two had twelve 1-2 finishes and broke a record Ferrari had previously held for consecutive race wins, with 9 for Mercedes in all.

Hamilton won his third drivers’ championship title and Mercedes their second consecutive constructors’ win.

Despite a small rash of technical issues, most notably in Singapore, the car took a landslide victory over all of its competitors; the engine and chassis particularly were so strong that each team – inclding biggest competitors Scuderia Ferrari. Ahead of the team’s home race – the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Internazionale Monza, Ferrari Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene was even quoted as saying their own engine was ‘nowhere near’ that of Mercedes’ calibre.

After the successful W05, the W06 continued the team’s even more dominant run. The German outfit have done well in 2016 testing so far, but it appears as though other teams are now back to competing with them – which had not been the case for the two years prior.

#2 Williams FW14

Nigel Mansell won the 1992 championship title with Williams, driving the FW14-B

This car was used for the 1991 and 1992 Formula One seasons. The team and owner Frank Williams brought Newey on board in the 1990 season, after the team finished second in ‘89, but by a significant enough margin that they did not pose a real challenge to winners McLaren-Honda.

They dropped even lower in 1990 working with the old design, and Newey was deputed to begin work halfway through that season. The Briton, regarded as one of the most technically sound engineers in F1 history, created what was considered perhaps the most sophisticated car on the grid at the time.

Newey had moved to Williams from marginally successful F1 constructors March Engineering, co-founded by former FIA president Max Mosley. Managing to create sound cars on a tighter budget, Newey was very successful with a more significant role and budget at Williams.

His design saw former Williams driver Nigel Mansell, who had since moved to Ferrari, scrap his plans to retire from the sport. The Briton rejoined Williams in 1991 – a decision that bore fruit almost immediately, with Mansell finishing runner-up that year.

The team planned to use the FW15 the next year, but Newey’s improved FW14 – the FW14B was so good that the team shelved the 15 in its favour.

The FW14B, like its successor, saw innovations F1 had not seen thus far. It had a semi-automatic transmission, traction control and even anti-lock brakes, which no F1 car had seen till then.

Mansell won nine races that year – and the championship for Williams as a result.

#1 McLaren MP4/4

Ayrton Senna took McLaren to championship victory in 1988 with the MP4/4

Since 1981, each one of McLaren’s cars has followed the naming system MP4. McLaren, started by eponymous founder Bruce, a New Zealand native, merged with Ron Dennis’ Project Four racing that year – hence the MP4.

The MP4/4 is one of the best cars to have ever been raced in Formula One, and has gone down in its history ever since. It also helped that two multiple world champions, both of whom are considered legends of the sport, drove that car in the 1988 season.

Fierce rivals and sometime friends, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost piloted the MP4/4 to immense success through the 1988 season, when the team won the drivers’ championship with Ayrton Senna, and the constructors’ title as well.

It was so successful that McLaren won every single race that year except one – the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where Prost did not finish the race, and Senna finished in 10th despite starting on pole, with Prost having finished qualifying right behind his teammate in second.

American engineer Steve Nichols, who had previously been working as an aerospace engineer, was brought on to work on the car with South African British-born designer Gordon Murray, who had previously worked with F1 team Brabham on their cars. That influence would find its way to the MP4/4, which was based off Brabham’s BT55 – his own design.

The structure remained similar to McLaren’s 1987 car, which had finished the championships in second. It had nowhere as much success as it needed, with McLaren-TAG finishing over 60 points behind championship winners Williams-Honda. McLaren had nine retirements that year for a number of reasons, and decided to bring in significant innovations to its underperforming engine that year.

Although Prost finished the 1988 season with more points, it was Senna who won the championship with only drivers’ 11 best results from the year considered in the championship.