F1 2022: McLaren MCL36 Unveiled

McLaren kicked off the 2022 motorsport build-up with a bang, unveiling all of its contenders, across different formats. While F1 is the headliner, it had good opening pair with Extreme E and IndyCar. The one we’re focused on is the 2022 F1 car, of course, the MCL36.

The MCL36 has a predominantly orange livery as expected but the blue is lighter and more prevalent. The exact shades are Fluro Papaya and New Blue with black for the rest of it. While the colours are appealing, their balance over the car doesn’t look as good as the livery of the 2021 car (in our opinion) and we would have preferred more of the orange. In terms of its proportions, it is very distinct from the new Aston Martin F1 car revealed yesterday. It looks sleeker thanks to the shape of the mainframe with distinctive side pods. The front wing looks more intricate with its flicks than the 2022 show cars revealed so far. The MCL36 is also the first one to feature a single swan neck mount for the rear wing, with a bit sticking up at the top and just a tad higher than the wing itself. McLaren has also added a bit of colour to the aero discs on the 18-inch wheels with a broad stroke of the blue interrupted only by the orange McLaren logo.

It will be McLaren’s second season with Mercedes in the turbo-hybrid era, using the new Mercedes-AMG F1 M13 E Performance power unit. That’s the new one that will also be powering the title-contenders, so it would be fair to expect the MCL36 to pack a punch in terms of outright performance. It’ll be interesting to see how close or far it will be from what package Red Bull and Mercedes come with in the new era of F1.

Even though they lost the third spot in the constructor’s championship, the British racing team put on a performance strong in 2021 with multiple podiums and even a 1-2 finish. The driver lineup is stacked too with a balance of new-age talent and experience in the form of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. While Norris had his best F1 season yet in 2021, Ricciardo seemed to struggle in his debut season with McLaren. For 2022, we expect to see the smiling duo fighting for podiums more frequently and Norris on the top step at least once. At the helm, McLaren has stuck with Andreas Seidl who has helped the team bounce back after its rough seasons with Honda.

What do you think of the McLaren MCL36? How many races before we a McLaren driver on the podium in 2022? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Auto Loons for more F1 updates and news about cool cars.