MCLAREN MCL36 - NEW CHALLENGES, SAME SPIRIT

As a year ago, the presentation of the new McLaren car took place in the evening, at 20:00 CET, so that the American partners and fans of the team could follow what was happening.

In the previous two seasons, the chassis was named MCL35, last year with the added letter M, which symbolized the transition to Mercedes Power Units.

For the new season, the index has changed, MCL36 is a completely different car, built according to the revolutionary regulations for 2022, so the team expects serious progress in the upcoming season.

The MCL36 was traditionally unveiled in Woking with the help of British Sky F1 reporters, popular presenter Natalie Pinkham and former Formula One driver Karun Chandok, surrounded by fans in orange masks.

The presentation started with the introduction of cars and drivers from alternative series, Extreme E, Indicar and virtual races. It all took 25 minutes before the main characters took the stage, Lando Norris, who recently extended his contract until 2025, and Daniel Ricciardo, but they were not the ones to remove the cover from the new car.

At the same time, 2022 livery were displayed for the Four McLaren teams. The colours that first appeared in the 1960s with team founder Bruce McLaren have been retained for the 2022 season, and Papaya's favorite color continues to dominate.

After the extremely positive feedback from McLaren special livery at last year's race in Monaco, McLaren decided to base 2022 livery on that design, but...

James Key, Technical Director: "A new era of regulations is always an exciting moment in our sport. With it comes the potential to totally re-evaluate the philosophy of our package, and these rule changes are no different."

"With a blank sheet of paper, the team here at McLaren have been working hard to establish a competitive platform for this and future seasons. However, we know we’ve only just begun to unlock performance from this regulation set, and that one of the key features of the 2022 season will be the intense development war as teams assess each other’s designs and innovate new ways of generating downforce through ground-effect."

"It’s been some time since ground-effect had such a predominant role in Formula 1, but it provides a great potential to create closer and more exciting racing with these new regulations."

"The team at Woking have been working round the clock to design, produce and assemble this car, under tricky conditions over the last year, as the world still battles the risks posed by pandemic. I’m immensely proud of how the team have risen to this challenge in a safe yet effective manner. Now we put the fruits of their labours onto the track and take the development battle to the rest of the grid."

Lando Norris, #4: "It feels like a long time since we were last on-track in Abu Dhabi, and I can’t wait to get back in a car and put the MCL36 through its paces. Last year was my best in Formula 1 so far, and I’m really proud of what I achieved as a driver, and what we achieved as a team. But I know that the best is yet to come, and my aim is to carry the positive momentum we built up over the last year and take that with me into this exciting new era of Formula 1."

"I’m in a good position heading into this year to build on the successes of 2021. I’ve grown up alongside McLaren and I’m really delighted to have recently confirmed my long-term future with the team. Together, I’m looking forward to finding out what we can achieve, and I’ll be working hard to maximise any opportunities that come our way."

Daniel Ricciardo, #3: "There’s always a nervous excitement around the start of the new season, but that’s turned up to 11 when you enter a new era of regulations. Having been through several regulation changes now, I feel like I’m able to use that energy to help me adapt to new cars, new ways of driving and ultimately new ways of racing. These new cars will feel very different to the previous eras I’ve driven, but I’m hopeful that will come with closer racing and more opportunities to get to the front of the pack."

"Heading into my second year with McLaren feels great and I feel like we learned a lot as a team in 2021, which will help us as we take on this new challenge. Securing the win in Monza was a real highlight of my career, but that’s all in the past now, and I’ll be giving it everything to secure more moments like that for the team throughout the 2022 season."