Anyone looking at the new McLaren MCL60, which was presented in Woking on Monday, will again notice large black surfaces that contrast with the otherwise colorful papaya design of the Formula 1 car. And if you look very closely, you’ll see that the surfaces aren’t even black – it’s just carbon.
This means that the car is simply bare in many places and has not been pasted over. This practice caught the eye of many teams last year – including McLaren. If you compare the launch version of the MCL36 with the version that later went on the track, it is noticeable that large parts of the papaya paintwork had disappeared, especially in the upper area.
That was solely for reasons of weight. Because although the Formula 1 cars for the 2022 season were significantly heavier at 798 kilograms than before (752 kilograms), many teams had problems getting close to the weight limit.
At the beginning of the season, McLaren is said to have missed the ideal weight by five kilograms. The solution was: The team removed large parts of the paintwork, which is said to weigh around six kilograms in total. Anything that wasn’t really necessary was removed. Large areas of the bare carbon look remained.
And that is also reflected in the new McLaren MCL60. Is the team still having trouble meeting the minimum weight? According to the team, the MCL60 should weigh at least exactly 798 kilograms and therefore not be overweight.
“I can safely say that our engineers have done a good job. They have managed to save weight in several areas of the car,” says team boss Andrea Stella, claiming: “So with our car we are in one in that respect good position.”
With the new car, there is “finally a little more room for orange and white” instead of “removing the paintwork down to the last piece,” according to the Italian. “Honestly, I think all the teams will have made a good step. In the second season of the new regulations, we should hear less about this topic.”
However, he leaves it open why there are still large black areas on the car.