How the first real F1 2022 launch cars compare

“Launch week” has picked up in pace dramatically after Red Bull kicked off with the audacity to declare that Formula 1’s concept 2022 model was its actual RB18, when it actually amounted to nothing more than a livery launch.

Thankfully, Aston Martin and McLaren have done the lord’s work. Thursday’s reveal of Aston’s AMR22 was a first proper look at an actual 2022 car, and although we expect some degree of variation between its shakedown model and the real deal, the car unveiled at least showed how the Silverstone squad had interpreted the new rules.

Any concerns about variation in the 2022 rules, frequently cited as F1’s most restrictive ruleset, will certainly be alleviated following the launch of McLaren’s MCL36. Most visibly, the sidepods are vastly different to Aston Martin’s preview of concept, and the team has also switched to a pullrod front suspension set up to change the flow interaction to those sidepods – which look somewhat square from a frontal view of the car, but tighten up dramatically towards the rear.

PLUS: Unpacking the technical changes behind F1 2022's rules shakeup

But firstly, before we start comparisons with the other 2022 F1 models unveiled already, let’s talk paintwork – and hot damn. McLaren’s 2022 livery is particularly delightful, dialling back the size of the blue flashes and lightening the shade to align more with the duck-egg blue made famous by the Gulf Racing colours. Since Zak Brown took over McLaren and enacted the switch to the papaya orange, the livery has been through multiple iterations – and this is the best yet, at least in this writer’s opinion.

McLaren's MCL36 in its new livery inspired by the one-off Gulf livery run at the 2021 Monaco GP

Photo by: McLaren

The front end is similar in design to Aston Martin, and yields another design first hinted at by F1’s revised showcar, where the tip of the nose sits upon the second wing flap rather than extending all the way down to the first. This creates a more even pressure gradient on the upper surface of the first wing element, and should also yield a little more control in feeding the underside of the nose with a supply of relatively undisturbed airflow. Any turbulence emanating from that first element’s trailing edge will provide some degree of challenge to control, but it at least reduces any blockage produced by the nosecone.

One of the biggest differences between the ‘proper’ 2022 cars is in the sidepods and engine cover geometry

Although the MCL36’s front wing bears hallmarks of F1’s showcar concept, there are some minor clues regarding how the design will be approached – particularly in recouping the effect that the tip vortices used to produce in the old generation of designs. With all front wing elements now extending all the way to the nosecone, those vortices – which were frequently fired down the flanks of the car to push tyre wake and other turbulence outwards – cannot be produced as they were.

However, McLaren’s front wing flap adjuster situated on the uppermost element will double as a vortex generator, creating a circulation of airflow that can be directed behind front wheels. That’s something that Aston Martin has also cottoned on to, although the green machine has its own variant much closer to the nosecone to create a similar vortex placement compared to the old car.

Aston Martin became the first team to complete laps with a 2022 car at a filming day at Silverstone

Photo by: Aston Martin Racing

Autosport has covered the inclusion of a pullrod front suspension in McLaren’s new car before, and the launch model confirms that; the previous use of a pushrod has a little bit more of an aero benefit in some regards, as its positioning is less likely to interrupt the airflow patterns produced by the front wing. However, the pullrod has a bit more of a benefit in terms of centre of gravity, in that the rockers can be placed closer to the ground. Frequently, front pullrod experiments (Ferrari’s 2012-13 layout and McLaren’s own version in 2013) often get sidelined for a return to the pushrod format, and thus it remains to be seen if the new aero rules make it more of a draw.

One of the biggest differences between the ‘proper’ 2022 cars is in the sidepods and engine cover geometry, and Aston Martin notably opted for a significant overhang in the middle portion to cut the distance that the airflow travelling along the bows of the car has to take along the floor. This also featured an array of gills to improve the cooling, which handed Aston an opportunity to cut the size of the exit at the rear.

McLaren has gone with a design that became conventional within the previous rules, opting for a more slender design overall to reduce the side of the bodywork at the rear. Over the top of the sidepods, the airflow is sent down to the ‘Coke bottle’ region, which opens up the upper surface of the floor. Invariably, that choice does have an effect on the side of the car’s tail, which from top down appears wider than the AMR22’s rear – albeit with a smoother transition. That relationship between the cooling requirement and the aerodynamics at the rear will ultimately prove to be a trade-off, and there will be other teams who no doubt will explore both options.

Another interesting comparison between the two cars lies in their sidepod inlets, and McLaren has opted to show a more conventional opening compared to Aston Martin’s square intakes. Both have a nod to using the front portion of the sidepods to direct airflow outwards before folding back in to tighten up the rear – but Aston’s is a little more obvious in intent.

Given the rear wing geometry is so tightly restricted, as F1 sought to preserve its overtaking effects by controlling the wake of the cars, it’s not a surprise to see that Aston and McLaren have opted for similar paths. The MCL36’s wing is a little more spoon-shaped than that seen on the Aston Martin, although the development for those wings within the bounds of the rules – and for the higher and lower downforce circuits – will serve to provide further interest later in the year.

There’s also a lot more that we’re yet to see in the McLaren; it’s a representation of the actual MCL36 that we’ll see hit the track in F1’s Barcelona pre-season test-that-is-not-a-test, but the Woking team has kept some cards close to its chest. Technical director James Key explained at the launch that "it’s the car we’ll be taking to Barcelona. Yes, we’ve hidden a few bits and pieces for obvious reasons, there are some sensitive areas, but that will all be seen when we’re running the car.”

The big-ticket item is the floor, following F1’s return to a ground-effect style of underbody aero, and that’s an area where the teams will have their own closely guarded secrets.

F1’s onlookers have now been treated to a pair of cars that explore the logical steps in each team’s understanding of the rules and there are patterns emerging

As much as this author celebrated the death of the overly complex bargeboards with the end of the last rules cycle, it seems that there’s an opportunity to play with the floor entry and use some of it in a similar fashion. In McLaren’s case, there’s a small squared-off corner which will generate a little airflow circulation, energising the air being fired over the top of the floor.

We’re also not seeing too much deviation so far in the shape of the front wing endplates, and although that’s another area tightly bound by F1’s rules, there could be a little more wiggle-room to play with the overall shape.

McLaren still kept the key design secrets of the MCL36 well hidden

Photo by: McLaren

It’s not too much of a deductive leap to say that we’ll see more on that front later on, and McLaren’s upper surface at least seems like a straightforward representation of the rules. But thankfully, they’ve given F1’s fans something to work with in their launch, rather than attempting to pass off somebody else’s concept car as the real McCoy.

PLUS: Why F1’s fake war is underway and the real battle is to come

But finally, F1’s onlookers have now been treated to a pair of cars that explore the logical steps in each team’s understanding of the rules. There are patterns emerging, and the teams who have unveiled their cars so far have placed their ride heights low and flat (and avoid being drawn into a rake war) to collect the maximum performance from the Venturi tunnels underneath.

So, thanks McLaren and Aston Martin for bringing a bit of life to the 2022 F1 launch season. May the remaining launches be just as interesting and devoid of lazy showcar rebranding...

Aston Martin flexed its company muscles during its 2022 F1 car launch

Photo by: Aston Martin Racing