BY THE MID-1980S THE POWER OUTPUTS OF turbocharged F1 cars had gone berserk. From being little more than a curiosity barely five years previously, now you had to have one of the little 1.5-litre turbocharged engines if you hoped to win a race, and indeed by 1986 the turbo route was the only one allowed by the rules. Up to 1000bhp was often available in race trim, with as much as 1500bhp during qualifying – but only for one lap or so, before the engine was little more than a coffee table.
The sport’s governing body decided to act, and announced that naturally aspirated engines would be making a comeback alongside the turbo engines for 1987, with turbos banned completely from 1989. They would be of 3.5-litre capacity, unlike the 3-litre limit hitherto in place for NA engines since 1966’s ‘return to power’.
During ’87 the turbo cars had to run with a new 4 bar boost limit, but for 1988 the picture changed again, as boost was reduced to a maximum of 2.5 bar and fuel allowance cut to just 150 litres for a race. Now the 3.5-litre cars were more competitive, with teams so-equipped, such as Williams and Leyton House March, running in the top six. Out of the turbo runners, only Honda really took this final year of engine development seriously, given that turbos would be banned altogether for the 1989 season, and subsequently reaped the rewards by winning 15 out of 16 races with its 650bhp unit in the back of the McLaren MP4/4.
For 1989 the pitlane resonated once again with the ear-splitting shriek of high-revving, large-capacity V8s, V10s and V12s. Nevertheless, McLaren was still the class of the
