The McLaren MP4-29 was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

racing car designed and built by McLaren to compete in the

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. The chassis was designed by Tim Goss,

Neil Oatley Neil Oatley (born 12 June 1954) is a design and development director in Formula One teams. Born in Britain, Oatley graduated from Loughborough University in 1976 with an automotive engineering degree. He worked briefly outside motor racing before ...

, Matt Morris, Mark Ingham and Marcin Budkowski and was powered by a customer

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powertrain. The car was unveiled on 24 January 2014, and was driven by World Drivers' Champion

Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super G ...

and debutant

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, who replaced Sergio Pérez, after he won the 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 Series title.

Background

The MP4-29 was designed to use Mercedes' new 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged engine, the PU106A Hybrid. The MP4-29 was McLaren's first turbo-powered Formula One car since the

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

engined MP4/4 which powered

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...

and

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...

to 15 wins and 15 pole positions from 16 races in . This was the last McLaren model that was powered by a Mercedes-Benz engine until the

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season, due to the team switching to

in 2015. It was also the last Mercedes-powered F1 car to use ExxonMobil fuel to foster Mercedes' partnership with Petronas. It is the first Formula One car to use the Esso brand since 2009, which applied in some places for the 2014 season and applied fully from 2015 along with Exxon and Mobil in selected locations before switched to

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in 2017.

Season

At the ,

and

finished third and fourth on the road, respectively, but were elevated to second and third after

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's disqualification. This was McLaren's last podium until the

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. The cars sported a Mobil 1 livery to honour the team's 20-year association with the brand. The promising result from Australia was followed by disappointing performances, including both cars unable to complete the due to technical reasons. The team failed to record another podium finish all season, and although statistically, the MP4-29 was the most mechanically reliable car of the season with 36 classified finishes out of a possible 38, they ultimately finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship.

Aftermath

McLaren MP4-29H/1X1

A variation of the MP4-29, known as the McLaren MP4-29H/1X1 was introduced as a development car ahead of the team's engine partnership with

in . After completing a shakedown at Silverstone, the McLaren ran the MP4-29H at the post-season tests at the

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in the week after the , where it was driven by McLaren's development driver

Stoffel Vandoorne Stoffel Vandoorne (born 26 March 1992) is a Belgian professional racing driver who is currently racing for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He had previously competed in Formula One for McLaren from 2016 to 2018. He is currently a test driver of M ...

. The car suffered problems throughout, completing a total of six untimed laps over the two-day test.

Complete Formula One results

( key) Notes: *† — Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed greater than 90% of the race distance. *‡ — Teams and drivers scored double points at the .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaren MP4-29 McLaren Formula One cars 2014 Formula One season cars