There are a number of reasons as to why McLaren won the championship in 1998. Yes the short answer would be Adrian Newey, but there were other factors.
McLaren were clearly starting to get on the pace at the tail end of 1997. The Mercedes powerplant was fast becoming the quickest in the sport at the time, (this started to show with Coulthard's win in Monza where it was a clear match for Renault.)
McLaren were just as fast as Ferrari and McLaren at the majority of the circuits at the end of the season. They should have had a 1-2 at the Nurburgring and they obviously ran strong in Jerez. Yes Newey did not have any hand in the 97 car, but there is more to it than one man. the good form at the end of 1997 showed that McLaren's Long-term plans were beginning to come to fruition. The team had got its house in order after its slump in the mid-90s and was preparing itself for the championship.
What ultimately helped McLaren was threefold.
Firstly the fate of Williams and Ferrari in 1997. As the title fight was so bitter,both teams had to thrown tons of resources into it. This in someways led to both teams taking their eye off the ball for 1998 - something which considerably hurt Williams who were losing Renault power for 98.
Secondly you have to remember that, like in 2009, 1998 saw a massive rule change in the sport in a bid to curb cornering speeds. Cars were narrower (among other things) and tyres were now grooved. With Newey on gardening leave, he had plenty of time (along with the team and his colleagues) to properly prepare for the new rules and thus this gave them a good head start.
Thirdly I would argue that the final reason behind McLaren's success was Bridgestone. They did a far better job with the grooves than Goodyear from the get go.
Yes Goodyear caught up relatively quickly, but you have to remember that this was far more possible when the sport was in the middle of the tyre war and teams had no restrictions on testing.
Didnt they have some sort of third break pedal that gave better traction out of corners. I think it was banned after a photographer suck his camera into the footwell on the car. As far as i can remember, bridgstone had the advantage early in the year over goodyear.
Or, if you want a short answer, Adrian Newey.
nah that was '97 - Mp4-12
i think thats why the new road car is the MP4-12C as that car has break steer also
No it was present on the 98 car. It was passed by Charlie Whiting for the race in Australia, only for it to be banned by race stewards' at the next round in Brazil.
how ?
