After Red Bull, McLaren also did not show everything at MCL36 launch

12 February 2022 at 07:39

Last update 12 February 2022 at 11:16

GPblog.com

McLaren, according to technical director James Key, can be proud that it has unveiled the "real" car for the 2022 Formula One season, but he admitted that some sensitive elements of the MCL36 were hidden at launch.

None of the Formula 1 teams are expected to show the final version of their new car at the car launch, which means we will only see it for the first time in Bahrain. Earlier, Haas limited its presentation to a digital version of the new car, while Red Bull Racing gave away little more than a "prototype" of the RB18 with redesigned livery.

McLaren didn't show everything at MCL36 presentation either

This makes the Woking-based team the second F1 team after Aston Martin to present its 'real' 2022 car on Friday evening. Nevertheless, McLaren are still keeping a few things hidden from the outside world, Key admitted to the likes of Crash.net.

He confirmed that the MCL36 is the car that will be used during the first test in Barcelona, but also said that all teams are likely to make significant changes to prior to the first race in Bahrain.

"I think we can be proud of presenting a real car, because it absolutely is," Key says. Yet McLaren also chose not to show all elements of the new car. "Yes, we hid a few things for obvious reasons. There are some sensitive areas," said the Brit, who stated that this stage is still mainly a "learning process".