McLaren has revealed it has already passed a key impact test ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 season.

Last week one of its chassis underwent testing, with James Key, executive director technical, confirming its successful outcome.

It comes as teams begin to ramp up preparations for the 2022 campaign, pre-season testing for which gets underway in February with three days of running in Barcelona.

Prior to that point, teams need to have constructed and crash tested their cars, much of which is already happening according to Key.

“This time of year is typically when you begin to impact test and test the first major components anyway, that’s for any year,” he said when asked about timelines for 2022 by Speedcafe.com.

“It’s a busy period for the teams, for the FIA to witness all these tests and sign off.

He then confirmed that McLaren’s new cell has been given the tick of approval by the FIA.

“We went through that process with a chassis last weekend and in a successful way,” he confirmed.

The comparatively early sign-off is, according to Key, a product of the new financial regulations introduced this year, and a desire not to flirt with them unnecessarily.

“So now I suppose we’re seeing that process playing out, obviously with the cost cap, with a completely new car, you’re not going to push things to the limit in ’22, but ’23/’24 when we’re a little bit more settled down and used to the environment that we’re in, we’ll be able to go a bit later,” he said.

“It’s very much these things are very much visible now,” he added of the physical 2022 cars.

“These cars are feeling very live and real at the moment, they’ve been digital until very recently.”

McLaren will head into the 2022 season with Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris as its drivers, the former embarking on his second season with the Woking operation.