It is probably fair to say that no one anticipated the struggles McLaren would have at the start of the 2022 Formula 1 season. Pre-season testing in Barcelona looked good for them before the struggles with brakes in the Bahrain test and then the terribly poor showing in the race. Things did improve slightly in Saudi Arabia however, where Lando Norris finished in seventh before the two McLaren’s finished fifth and sixth in Australia. But things really turned around for McLaren in Imola.

Norris was able to qualify a superb third on the Friday, before he and Ricciardo finished fifth and sixth in the sprint race. Ricciardo had a dismal Grand Prix after he collided with Carlos Sainz at the start of the race, but Norris had a great afternoon in Italy. He finished a superb third after Charles Leclerc’s late spin, and was on track for a fine fourth place before that. It marks an amazing upturn in form for the McLaren team after such a tricky start to 2022, and hopefully it is a sign of better things to come for the rest of the season.

The Issues McLaren Has Faced

McLaren has faced a number of issues since the start of the 2022 season. The first one was related to the brakes, which massively limited their running in the Bahrain pre-season test and hampered them throughout the first race weekend of the year. Both cars failed to score and the team was further hampered by the fact Daniel Ricciardo missed the Bahrain test thanks to…