Lando Norris says the first test of the year at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was positive for the McLaren F1 Team, although it was not as trouble-free as it would have appeared from the outside.
The British racer completed fifty-two laps of the Spanish track on Friday morning and set the eleventh fastest time of the day, but the focus had been on getting mileage on the MCL36 and learning more about the car before the start of the season.
Norris says the hard work being done by the team appears to be paying off so far as the car appears strong and reliable, and he hopes to be able to keep the momentum going when the second test gets underway in Bahrain next month.
“It’s been a good week and start to the year,” said Norris. “Many things have gone well. Of course, a couple of problems here and there but we’ve got through a lot of our test programmes, and we’ve understood the car more.
“As a driver, I’ve been able to get comfortable with the car nice and quickly. Our focus now moves onto learning and reviewing everything we put together and tested, to try to make progress going into Bahrain, and make sure we’re ready for the first race of the season.
“A massive thanks to the team for getting the car ready. I don’t think we’ve had as many problems as a lot of other teams. We’ve had a reliable car and a good car so far that has given me the confidence, so all the hard work is paying off at the minute. We need to keep it up and keep pushing.”
“There’s always something to work on and improve” – Daniel Ricciardo
Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo took over the MCL36 for the afternoon’s running and added another eighty-six laps to the tally, including a few when the track was wet as part of Pirelli’s dedicated wet weather running.
The Australian felt it was a relatively ‘flawless’ three days of testing in Spain, although he acknowledges there is still plenty to learn and adapt to before the second test begins in Bahrain next month.
“It was good to get a little bit of wet running, there was quite a lot to learn from that,” said Ricciardo. “We then got into a different programme to yesterday where we racked up plenty of laps, which was really productive. Now it’s about giving that information back to the team and trying to build on this positive start.
“I think we’re in a good spot, but there’s always something to work on and improve. So, we’ll give the team some data to work with and some areas of work to do, I’ll focus on what I can keep doing better.
“Overall, a pretty flawless three days for the team, a really awesome start to the season. Thanks to everyone back at MTC for putting the hard work in over the winter to put us in this position.”