McLaren confirms launch date for 2022 car ‘MCL36’

McLaren have joined Aston Martin by announcing the launch date for their 2022 Formula 1 car, the MCL36.

McLaren will not only unveil their F1 car on February 11, but have teased on social media (below) that three of their other operations will also be present at the launch at the team’s Woking base, namely their Extreme E, IndyCar, and Esports squads.

Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris will pilot the 2022 McLaren Formula 1 car and hope to build on last season, which saw the team take the only one-two finish of 2021 (at Monza) and finish fourth – just behind rivals Ferrari – in the championship.

Mean while McLaren CEO Zak Brown previous his team’s 2022 season in a lengthy discussion. He expects new regulations to give everyone equal opportunity to fight for championship in 2022 unlike turbo hybrid era.

Zak Brown on what 2022 holds for McLaren Racing

“The start of 2022 marks a new era for Formula 1 and the next chapter in the continued progression of McLaren Racing. I am excited by the changes in store, both on and off the racetrack for our sport and our team, as we start the new year with a renewed desire to pursue success across all our endeavours.

Built on six decades of heritage, McLaren enters the new season with our racing credentials underpinned by rigorous planning and strategic investment. In Formula 1 we will soon be unveiling our new car, built to reflect the significant changes in technical regulations. We have acquired the Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team and we’ll also be breaking new ground in electric technology thanks to our all-new Extreme E programme. For many reasons, everyone at McLaren is excited by the opportunities that lie ahead this year.

The past two seasons have been challenging for everyone due to the covid-19 pandemic. Not only from a human perspective but also economically and logistically. We have adapted to overcome the difficulties that have affected everyone across the globe. But as we prepare for the coming season, we are confident that throughout the various championships we compete in, the promoters, regulators and our own partners and people will confront any challenges with courage and a determination to succeed.

There are several reasons to be excited for F1 in 2022. The new technical regulations present one of the biggest resets the sport has seen. Not only will the revisions increase the unpredictability of the competitive order as we head to the first round in Bahrain, but the changes to the cars (with an emphasis on ground-effect aerodynamics) should enrich the on-track spectacle for the fans.

The impressive growth of F1 in recent years, particularly in the past two seasons in the face of a global pandemic, speaks volumes to the leadership and determination of F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and his predecessor, and now chairman, Chase Carey and their team. Delivering a record calendar in 2021 and the increase in viewership and the global fanbase is good news for the whole sport and fills me with even more optimism for the future.

We head into the new Formula 1 season with a clear aim to build on the foundations of our recent progress. In the last three years McLaren has enjoyed its best run of form for more than a decade. In 2021 we finished fourth in the FIA Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship, having amassed 275 points, just 48.5 points off third place and comfortably ahead of fifth. But we are still early in our journey to return to the front. We remain ambitious and determined but realistic.

2021 was a strong year for our two drivers, with Lando taking four podiums and his first pole position – and coming close to scoring his maiden F1 win in Russia – while Daniel took McLaren to the top step of the podium at Monza. That was a memorable day for the whole team. To achieve our first grand prix victory since 2012 and our first one-two finish for 222 races (dating back to Canada 2010) was a testament to the hard work of everyone at the track and back at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking.

Success in any organisation is truly a team effort and our on-track progress stems from strong executive leadership and the outstanding efforts of all our people across McLaren Racing. The impressive advance of our F1 team under Andreas Seidl and his technical, operational and racing departments has been underpinned by the excellent work of our communications, finance, marketing and people functions.

The combination of our talent and knowhow with investments from our shareholders, partners and robust financial stewardship has positioned us well for the next stage in our competitive journey. And our opportunity to be competitive has been underpinned with the introduction of the budget cap in F1. With the spending limit reducing to $140m this year and $135m next, the new financial regulations present us – and the sport as a whole – with a fairer framework to compete by reducing the inevitable advantage of the biggest-spending and best-resourced teams.

However, we must continue to drive economic sustainability across the sport. Some teams still look for excuses to raise the cost cap and win world championships with chequebooks. The ongoing lobbying by certain teams to increase the cost cap for sprint race damage is a continuing example. The Saturday sprint race initiative by Formula 1 has added new viewers and raised the profile of the sport to expand its global fanbase. However, these teams continue to demand a raise to the cost cap by an inordinate amount of money, despite the clear evidence that little damage was incurred during these races last year, in a thinly veiled attempt to protect from their competitive advantage being eroded.

The current governance structure of the sport enables a situation where some teams, to protect their own competitive advantage, are effectively holding the sport hostage from what’s best for the fans and therefore the sport at large. These teams seem unable to accept that a budget cap is in the best interests of the sport and cannot kick their habit of spending their way to the front.

In addition, the threat of A and B teams has not gone away, and it is vital that the governance of the sport is strengthened to prevent this. The regulations, as they stand today, are heavily biased towards B teams/customer teams which is not in line with F1’s principle of a group of genuine constructors competing with one another on even terms. It is diminishing what being an F1 ‘team’ means and the fabric of the sport.

F1 needs to be 10 true constructors, where each team – apart from sharing the PU and potentially the gearbox internals – must design and produce all parts which are performance relevant. Right now, there is too much diversity in the business models between teams. Trying to apply the same set of complex regulations to each, and then policing them effectively, is needlessly complicated and compromised as a result. This cost-capped environment should allow teams to become more recognisable entities in their own right within a realistic budget, without the concern of significant performance differences based on how much each team can spend.

In a nutshell, the current situation allows B teams to be overcompetitive compared to constructors, and A teams to be overcompetitive by having the benefit of a B team. Without a correction, the way things stand mean that any team with championship aspirations needs to have a B team in place and that simply is not Formula 1.

On top of this, the voting pressure placed by the A teams on their B teams is not consistent with the promotion of an equitable sport based on individual team merit. As I have said before – and these teams won’t admit to it – there are times when some smaller teams vote against their own interests to satisfy the agenda of their A team.

The election of Mohammed Ben Sulayem last December as the new president of the FIA provides the opportunity for collective reform of the way Formula 1 operates. It is obvious to focus on the events of Abu Dhabi at the end of last season, which are the subject of an FIA investigation, but this was a symptom rather than cause in my view. There have been systemic issues around alignment and clarity on who makes the rules – the FIA or the teams – that have manifested themselves in the past couple of years, at times in a high-profile way.”