McLaren presents their 2022 F1 car MCL36

McLaren held a live video presentation through their social media to present their entire racing program for 2022, including the new F1 car MCL36 that Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo will drive in the new F1 season.

In addition to the F1 program, which is still a priority for McLaren, the company has introduced three other racing programs – IndyCar, Extreme E and Shadow Esports – and new vehicles to compete in individual series.

After three very successful seasons for McLaren in which they finished fourth twice and third once, the team wants to continue on an upward trajectory and further reduce the gap behind the leaders before the new infrastructure is fully ready in 2024.

McLaren returned to Mercedes engines in 2021, for the first time since 2014, and last year’s MCL35M was a compromise solution as the chassis was from 2020, designed for Renault’s power unit.

The new MCL36 has a new, lighter shade of blue while retaining papaya orange as the main color, and technically has a completely different sidepod concept than the Aston Martin with almost no undercut.

The nose is similar to the Aston Martin and is attached to the second lowest element, so that the lowest element has the cleanest possible airflow across its width while the air intakes in the sides are oval, unlike the Aston Martin which has an almost rectangular shape.

Although they have the same Mercedes power units, the way the power unit is integrated into the chassis is not the same, and the MCL36, like the Haas VF-22, did not have horizontal slots at the top, which are allowed again this season and which Aston Martin uses it on his AMR22.

Also, McLaren doesn’t have a bulge in the engine cover like Aston Martin which suggest that area is wider and thereby hides the bulge from the engine intake plenum.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown expressed enthusiasm that they presented three racing programs at once, along with the Shadow Esports program.

“This is the first time we’ve presented three racing programs and it’s fantastic to see how excited the fans were to join us on our journey,” Brown said.

“Our F1 team continues to make great progress year after year with Andreas Seidl at the helm, and this era of rules represents a real opportunity for our team.”

McLAREN MCL36