McLaren presents new MP4-14

Published on 08 February 1999 by Verstappen Info Page

This morning at the circuit of Barcelona, the new McLaren MP4-14 was presented. On the outside, hardly any changes can be seen, but in technical sense the car improved a lot. 90% of the MP4-14 is new. The car has a completely new designed engine, the Mercedes-Benz FO110H V10.
"It is much easier to work on a project like this from a position of strength after winning the world championship. We don't know how the car will preform, but the whole team is very confident", said designer Adrian Newey today.
On his first test session, David Coulthard did not manage to complete the first lap with the MP4-14. Electrical failure was suspected.

De new McLaren MP4-14 in familiar colours

Although, that McLaren is one of the favourites for this years title was made clear during its first test this morning on the circuit of Barcelona. On a cold (8°C) but dry circuit, Mika Häkkinen was with one second, by far the fastest on the track, ahead of Fisichella, Herbert and Alexander Wurz. Jos Verstappen was also present with the team of Honda. This morning Jos drove a total of 24 laps without any technical problems. During lunch the team was busy improving the set-up of the car.


Johnny Herbert finally making great improvements in his Stewart-Ford