Steve Nichols

Stephen Anderson Nichols (born 20 February 1947 in Salt Lake City, Utah)[1] is an American engineer who is best known as a car designer for many Formula One teams from the mid-1980s until 2001.

In 1987 he became Chief Designer of F1 cars at McLaren following the departure of John Barnard to Ferrari.

McLaren's second team driver Stefan Johansson, scored five podium finishes during the season.

The only race the MP4/4 didn't win was the Italian Grand Prix which was won by Gerhard Berger's Ferrari.

McLaren won the 1988 Constructors' Championship by a record 134 points from Ferrari, having wrapped up the title in Round 11 in Belgium.

[2] Senior design engineer Matthew Jeffreys refuted Murray's claims of the BT55 being the basis of the MP4/4: "None of us were looking at BT55 drawings and we wouldn’t have wanted to be either – it was a disaster.

Nichols suggested that Murray claimed credit for the MP4/4 in the hopes that its reputation would overshadow that of the BT55's engine and gearbox issues: Gordon had the Brabham BT55, which was by any standard a terrible car.