McLaren sent its 2022 Formula 1 car, the MCL36, out onto the track for the first time on Monday in Barcelona ahead of pre-season testing.
Most teams have conducted a shakedown of their cars for this year, with McLaren opting to do theirs after setting up at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Teams are allowed to run their cars twice during the year outside of official sessions, however running is restricted to 100km and Pirelli’s demonstration tyres must be used.
McLaren launched the car 10 days ago as it hopes to start the sport’s new era under a fresh set of technical regulations in strong fashion.
The Woking-based outfit ended the 2021 campaign fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, missing out on a top-three spot to rivals Ferrari.
However, its highlight of the year came in Monza, where Daniel Ricciardo ended its nine-year wait for a grand prix win.
Ricciardo returns for a second year at McLaren in 2022, and once again partners Lando Norris who is entering his fourth campaign with the team.
The car will be back on the track later this week when pre-season testing gets underway on Wednesday, February 23.
Man, it’s even uglier on track. There are certain colours that just look strange with an ultra matte finish when on curved objects, resulting in a “playdough” look. Also interesting to see just how bare the car is without the huge Velo sponsors (I assume the brand is banned in certain countries?). Even with them there are significant spots that are still bare. The fact that such a high profile company as McLaren, with a CEO whose former occupation was brokering sponsorship deals for motorsport teams cannot find a way to fill up those spaces must be an indication of how poorly the company is doing, or perhaps few companies want their logos on a car that looks like a neon pumpkin.
Do you not realize that isn’t the actual livery? It’s a test livery, designed to throw off other teams. See Red Bull test liveries…
Calm down with your outrage
Its not a test livery at all. That’s the season livery.
You are wrong. This is indeed the official 2022 race livery. McLaren Formula 1, Indy, and Extreme E teams all use these colours this year. Teams also don’t use test liveries for promotional photos and video for sponsors, which is largely what this track time was for.