The McLaren Racing Formula One Team became the latest outfit to announce the launch date for their 2022 Formula One car.
The new McLaren will be launched on Friday 11th February at 7PMGMT live from the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1HD.
Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O’Ward as well as McLaren Extreme E’s drivers will join the Formula One drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris at the event.
McLaren Racing’s Lando Norris says he is very happy as he didn’t expect to be starting Sunday’s Formula One season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from third place.
The Englishman set a time of 01:22.931s and speaking following the action he said:
“I’m very happy. I didn’t expect to be P3 today, but the car felt in a good position going into qualifying and I also felt like I did a very good lap when I needed to in my second run in Q3. Everything came together and I gave myself the best position for tomorrow to score some good points. So, I’m excited and looking forward to the race, which is going to be tough – but we’ll give it our best.”
Daniel Ricciardo starts the race from tenth place on grid with a time of 01:23.409s and speaking following the action he said:
“It was a tricky session. The new tyre was my biggest problem, I just wasn’t able to take another step with it. I’ve got to look into whether there’s something I can do differently to get the tyre in the right window. It’s on me to try to figure that out.
“Otherwise, we’ll try to do something from where we start tomorrow. Hopefully, there’s a few things happening that we can make the most of. Lando was strong, I’m really happy for him in third. Obviously, we’d love to be further up there with him, but I just didn’t have it today.”
McLaren Racing Formula One Team Principal Andreas Seidl commented saying:
A very good result from the final qualifying session of the MCL35M at the end of a long season. Lando pulled out a sensational final lap to take P3 – he’ll have a front row seat for tomorrow’s championship battle between Lewis and Max. Unfortunately, on Daniel’s side, he couldn’t extract the maximum from the new Soft tyre with his final attempt, which meant P10 for him.
“We’re looking forward to finishing the season on a high. We want to score good points, let’s go for it.”
McLaren Racing announced on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that they have entered into a partnership with Immersive Labs with the McLaren Formula One team beginning with this weekend race on Yas Island.
Immersive Labs empowers organisations to continuously measure and optimise human cyber capabilities, helping large businesses protect against and respond to emerging threats. McLaren Racing will use the Immersive Labs platform to provide real-time data on the cyber knowledge, skills, and judgement of both technical and non-technical teams, map this to risk and optimise human capabilities.
Immersive Lab branding will appear on the front suspension arm of the McLaren MCL35M’s driven by Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris from this weekend onwards.
Speaking about the news, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said:
“People and technology are critically important elements of our team, and we are excited to work with Immersive Labs to support in developing the human cyber capabilities which will empower us to better navigate risk. We operate at race pace both on and off-track, and we look forward to this partnership accelerating the human element of our cyber security.”
James Hadley, CEO of Immersive Labs commented on the new partnership saying:
As the impact of cyber risk spreads across the business, it is no longer the preserve of the geeks in the basement. Organisations must respond as a whole, which means continually optimising the cyber knowledge, skills and judgment of everyone from executives to technical teams, at pace.
“Competing in Formula 1 is no different, requiring technology and humans working together in unison to stay ahead. For this reason, the partnership with McLaren Racing is an excellent fit
The McLaren Racing Formula One team heads into this weekend’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the reconfigured Yas Marina circuit aiming for a strong finish to what has been an extremely long season. Speaking ahead of the race, Lando Norris commented saying:
“I’m looking forward to Abu Dhabi after a disappointing weekend in Saudi Arabia. I think we deserved a lot more and hopefully that luck turns this weekend. It’s a new layout at Abu Dhabi, so I’m excited to try it out. We had a good one there last year, hopefully we can end the season strongly there again this year.”
Daniel Ricciardo is also excited about this weekend’s race and being back on track so soon following the last race and speaking ahead of the event this weekend the Australian said:
“One last time out for the season in Abu Dhabi, I’m looking forward to getting back on track so quickly after the last. I’m hopeful the changes to the circuit should improve the racing, which could make it exciting on Sunday. After a strong result on Sunday last weekend, I’m aiming to score some more decent points and end the season on a high.
McLaren Racing Formula One Team Principal Andreas Seidl commented saying:
“After a long year of racing, we head to Abu Dhabi ready to give it our all one last time this season. We can be proud of the progress we’ve made this year. At the outset of the season, our aim was to continue to further close the gap to the front of the field and we’ve managed to achieve that. But the job isn’t done yet and with one grand prix left to race, there’s still the opportunity to maximise our performance and score good points. This weekend we’ll be racing with a one-off livery too, marking the launch of our partner Vuse’s Driven By Change campaign. I can’t wait to see it out on track under the lights. Let’s go racing!”
McLaren Racing Formula One Team Principal Andreas Seidl says that it has been an incredible 2021 season and speaking to Paddock Eye following the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix during his post-race media debrief he commended the race organizers for the incredible show that they put on.
In terms of McLaren’s own race, Seidl was happy with the fightback that Lando Norris was able to do as he recovered to finish the race in the top ten while Daniel Ricciardo came home in fifth place.
The McLaren Formula One Team head into the unknown this weekend as the sports to Saudi Arabia for the first time and what is the penultimate race of the season.
Looking ahead to the race, Lando Norris said:
The track in Jeddah is going to be fun, it’s a really fast and flowing track with close walls, which will create a unique challenge. I’ve been driving the circuit in the simulator to get up to speed with the layout, which is really important when arriving at a new venue. Qualifying in these cars at this circuit is going to be a very cool experience, and will set us up for a strong race on Sunday. We’re going to be giving it our all right up until the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi, to finish in the best possible position in both championships.”
Lando Norris
Daniel Ricciardo is also looking forward to this weekend’s race saying:
Coming off the back of an intense but ultimately disappointing triple-header, it’s been good to take some time out of the car and reset for the final two races of the year. We don’t really know what to expect in Jeddah, but we’ve been working hard as a team back in the UK to prepare for the event, and we head to the Middle East ready to fight. We’ll be doing our best to bring home some decent points and end the season on a high
Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren Racing Team Principal Andreas Seidl says:
We head back to the desert for the final two races of the 2021 season, and our first stop is another new venue at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. With two new venues in succession, the team back at the factory has been working hard to prepare, and we’ve used the window between Qatar and Saudi to give the drivers time in the simulator in preparation for heading out on track this Friday.
“Although the last triple-header didn’t go our way, we’re still committed to applying everything we’ve learned during the last race weekends and fighting for the best possible finishes we can achieve between now and the last lap in Abu Dhabi. This season has been an intense and exciting battle, but it’s not over yet and we want to finish it on a high
McLaren Racing announced on Monday that it has officially concluded the deal to acquire a majority 75% shareholding in the Arrow McLaren SP NTT IndyCar Series team.
Arrow McLaren SP will consist of a five person board of management comprising of Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson whe three appointees will come from McLaren.
The board will report directly to McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown as will Arrow McLaren SP President Taylor Kiel.
McLaren Racing is reaping the rewards of having teams competing in Formula One and the NTT IndyCar Series. In 2021, the McLaren Group purchased a controlling stake in the Arrow McLaren SP team with Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist competing for the team full-time.
At the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 in May the team was joined by IndyCar veteran Juan Pablo Montoya who competed in the Greatest Spectacle In Racing.
Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist have visited the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, UK a number of times and O’Ward had a breakthrough 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season, finishing the year in third place in the championship having taken two victories and the NTT P1 Awards.
O’Ward will test for the McLaren Formula One Team next month at the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test which takes place following the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Arrow McLaren SP drivers were with the McLaren F1 drivers, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas.
The McLaren Formula One team also took a race win in 2021 with Daniel Ricciardo taking victory for the team at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza coming home just ahead of his teammate Lando Norris.
The crossover between the Formula One and NTT IndyCar Series teams has brought great success to both teams and it is just a sign of things to come for both teams as the future is extremely bright for both outfits on either side of the Atlantic.
McLaren Racing not only have teams in IndyCar and Formula One but they have also launched an Extreme E team who will make their debut for season 2 of the all-electric SUV racing series with Emma Glamour and Tanner Foust competing for the team.
Ben's News Round-Up 