McLaren presented today their brand new MCL36. The British team enters the new era in F1 after last year´s 4^th place in the Constructors championship.

The team is ready to test the result of Winter´s hard work. Team Principal Andreas Seidl explained, “After a couple of months away from racing, all of us at McLaren are excited to get back to the track and discover this new era of Formula 1 regulations head-on. Over the last year the team have been hard at work developing the MCL36, seeking to take advantage of any opportunities we might find in the design and production of these new cars. Formula 1 and the FIA have done an important job developing these new technical and sporting regulations, which, in combination with the cost cap, aim to create closer racing and a level-playing field for competition.”

With the clear objective in mind to get the legendary team to the top he added: “Our objective for this season is clear and consistent with that of previous years: we want to further close the gap to the front of the pack. At the same time, we know and respect the tough competition we’ll face and have a realistic view of where we are on our journey. We’re working through a package of key infrastructure investments, which will provide us with the tools required to compete at the top of our sport when they come online.”

James Key, Technical director is excited to see what the new era brings to the Wotking based team. He knows this is just the beginning of a new era where development will be a determining factor as long as the championship evolves “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 groundeffect. 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.”

Lando Norris who signed his contract extension for four more years earlier this week and who had his best season in F1 last year becoming a regular in the top 10 spoke about the new era with all the challenges this implies for the drivers.

''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 starts his second year with the Woking team after a mixed 2021 which saw him struggling at the start and later celebrating a victory in Monza.

“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.”