The new McLaren provides an interesting comparison with the AMR22

Whereas the car presentations of Haas and Red Bull Racing provided nothing in the way of new insights because they used cars that will never appear on the track, the real cars of Aston Martin and McLaren immediately show a clear difference.

Presentation of McLaren

McLaren presented the new MCL36 on Friday evening and it turned out to be a nice car to compare. Just like Aston Martin, McLaren drives with an engine from Mercedes. Both teams have to pack that engine in their new car in a certain way and it is interesting to see that both teams seem to approach this differently.

The rear of the McLaren looks (always hard to tell from studio shots) a lot narrower than the rear of Aston Martin. The so-called "bottleneck" is narrower at McLaren than it is at Aston Martin in this regard. Teams naturally want to make the car as narrow as possible to reduce drag, but also have enough space around the engine to cool it. So McLaren seems to need this less than Aston Martin, while at Aston the engine 'bubble' is visible in the chassis. This is not visible in the MCL36.

Different suspension in the MCL36

Both teams opt for a round Airbox with about the same amount of space, but the sidepods differ again. The AMR22 stood out because of its narrow square opening with a half-disguised intake next to it, where McLaren reverted to a more 'normal' model. The side pod is somewhat wider and thus provides cooling here.

The most important part of the car, however, is left out by both teams. With the ground effect returning to F1 in 2022 the floor will be more important than ever, but for both teams, there is nothing to be seen on the floor and the bottom of the car is of course not visible.

In the front view, it is clear that the FIA in the rules regarding the nose and the front wing has given little leeway to the teams. Those of both teams in fact look identical. What does differ is the front suspension. McLaren has chosen a pull-rod system and Aston Martin a push-rod system. Opinions differ as to which system works better. The future will tell what works better. It will be interesting to keep an eye on whether other teams also make different choices here.